Guerrero is one of the most violent and economically deprived states in Mexico, but it is also one of the richest in terms of culture and tradition. That drama is part of daily life. Kids, women, and other residents live alongside the poppy flowers. They water, care for them, and harvest them before they are sold to the best buyer. Many people do not know what they are for, or they do not want to know. They see the poppy plant as just another product of the fields. It gives them barely enough to live on, since they can no longer depend on their profits from corn.

Despite all of that, hope remains. People ask their saints for a better rainy reason and for a better poppy crop. They ask the Virgin of Guadalupe for her blessing so that the army or a rival cartel does pests do not ruin the harvest. They ask for their children to be able to go to university with the poppy's help, to end the cycle of violence and poverty in which they have grown. 

The aim of this book is to document the fast changes to the communities of the Mountain of Guerrero and to understand its displacement, isolation, and poverty, as well as the culture, traditions, economy, and dynamics of power.

Photos by César Rodríguez

Poems by Hubert Matiuwaa

KWY Ediciones, 2022

Editorial concept and editing by Musuk Nolte

Layout and design by Vera Lucia Jiménez

Editorial production by Hago Libros

21x29cm

2 booklets of 36pages + 1 booklet of 12pages

Print run of 500 copies

$60 (últimas copias)

Please allow 3-4 weeks for shipping