Not only is there a significant presence of Yucatecans residing in the United States, but more than half of them use Mayan to communicate, according to a record made by the Institute for the Development of Mayan Culture (INDEMAYA), its director reported, Erick Villanueva Mukul.
The state official detailed that just over half a million Yucatecans live in the neighboring country to the north and that of this number, more than half use their mother tongue to communicate. It is even thought that there may be more since not everyone is 100 percent fluent in Mayan.
“In the United States alone, there are approximately between 500,000 and 600,000 Yucatecans, of which, according to the last survey that was carried out in that country, around 300,000 or a little more of our countrymen said they were Mayan speakers, that is, that more than half of those who live there speak Mayan,” he indicated.
Villanueva Mukul explained that the Mayan is the fourth most predominant ethnic group in the United States, since, according to his latest studies, there is a presence of Yucatecans in 48 states of that country. The director of INDEMAYA said that there is even a presence of countrymen in practically all the countries of the American Union.
In this sense and according to censuses carried out by INDEMAYA, Yucatecans can be found in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, considered part of the United States territory. It is worth mentioning that this is relevant due to the number of remittances that countrymen living in that country send to their families, since in 2023 alone it is estimated that they sent a total of 450 million dollars.
It is important to mention that, by municipality, Oxkutzcab is the one that contributes the most in terms of monthly remittances, since it is estimated that it receives about 60 million pesos in that period, a total of 700 per year.
In another order of ideas, the head of INEMAYA assured that they are promoting that nationals living in the United States participate remotely in the next electoral elections on June 2. He commented that they still do not know how many Yucatecans will vote, but that these figures already owe them the National Electoral Institute (INE). “We are promoting a lot that they vote, because it is very important, however, we take into account that some do not do it out of fear or because they do not have the means, however, in the Migrant House that we have there they can also tell them how to do it”, held.
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