At the end of February, men danced and paraded wearing "Caucasian" type masks (light skin, blue eyes, well-trimmed beards) in the villages and the eponymous capital of the smallest of the 32 states of Mexico (with Mexico City), 120 km east of the capital.

Carved in wood, these masks ("huehue" or "Catrin") imitate the style of the precious dandies lent to the invaders who crossed the Atlantic.

On their arms, women dressed in European style - dresses and hats - seem to make fun of the snobbery of Parisiennes ("What elegance, France" is a kind of ironic proverb in Mexico).

A couple in "huehue" costumes and masks, February 25, 2023 in Tlaxcala, Mexico © Pedro PARDO / AFP

"The population of Tlaxcala laughs at the invaders. Their habits and customs were very effeminate," says a tourist guide, Eduardo Cuautle Xochitemotl, under a 450 m2 mural depicting local history.

The overthrow of the social order specific to Carnival was aimed first at the great Spanish landowners of the 17th century, then at the French bourgeois style prevailing among the elites of independent Mexico at the end of the 19th century.

"When we were conquered, the big haciendas organized grandiose parties with music and dances to which we natives did not have access", says a dancer Carlos Gomez Vazquez.

A "huehue" carnival mask in Totolac, during the Tlaxacala carnival, February 26, 2023 in Mexico © Pedro PARDO / AFP

In 1629, Madrid also wanted to "restrict" the excesses of the carnival and "the destruction of the properties of the Spaniards", according to the guide of Tlaxcala, a city which also houses a museum of modern art and a Franciscan convent.

"In the 19th century, the people laughed at the French style taken over by the government of (Porfirio) Diaz", adds the guide.

In power for more than thirty years until 1910, Porfirio Diaz stimulated Mexico's first economic development with foreign capital and a finance minister of French origin, José-Yves Limantour.

Under the "Porfiriato", Mexico was populated with Parisian-style houses and even private mansions which today make the charm of the central districts of Roma-Condesa, and the happiness of the growing number of foreign residents.

A "huehue" carnival mask, February 25, 2023 in Tlaxcala, Mexico © Pedro PARDO / AFP

Over time, the masks and dances of the Tlaxcala carnival have combined the "two cultures, the Mexican and the French", explains a sculptor of masks, Ricardo Molina Sarmiento, who speaks of "syncretism".

“Today the tradition is to make fun of the politicians of our time,” according to the Tlaxcala guide.

The people of Tlaxcala are known to have supported the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes in his conquest of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521.

© 2023 AFP