Frontera Corozal is a mostly
Ch’ol community located in the Mexican state of
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
on the
Usumacinta River
The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (Guatemala), Sierra de Santa Cruz ...
, which separates it from neighboring
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. The community was founded in the 1970s by families migrating from northern Chiapas. It is known for its dock with boats called lanchas which ferry people to the otherwise inaccessible Mayan ruins of
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedra ...
as well as to
Bethel, Guatemala. It is also home to a regional museum, which is centered on two steles found nearby at Dos Caobas. The community is located in the
Lacandon Jungle
The Lacandon Jungle (Spanish: ''Selva Lacandona'') is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas, Mexico, into Guatemala. The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Guate ...
, surrounded by
tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...
, but this area has suffered severe damage. There have been recent efforts to promote conservation here, especially on communally owned lands. As of 2010, the town of Frontera Corozal had a population of 5,184.
Description
Frontera Corozal is a community located in the
Ocosingo
Ocosingo is a city and its surrounding municipality (''municipio'') of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Overview
The northeastern boundary of the municipality is the Usumacinta River, along a portion where the river forms the inter ...
municipality in the northeast of Chiapas.
It is a border town, located on the banks of the
Usumacinta River
The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (Guatemala), Sierra de Santa Cruz ...
across from
Bethel, Guatemala.
The town was founded in 1976 by
Ch’ol migrants from northern Chiapas along with a small number of
Lacandon and
Tzeltal families. Relations among the ethnicities are mostly tranquil.
The town and the immediate area consist of nine neighborhoods with about 11,000 inhabitants.
Basic services are concentrated in the center of town near the river.
The town celebrates the Festival of Corn (Fiesta del Elote) in August as well as a ceremony to ask for rain in May at the Tsolkinse caverns.
The town is connected to
Lacanja Chansayab,
Chancalá and
Palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...
. It is connected to Palenque via Frontiza del Sur highway.
The town is about 22 km off the Fronteriza highway. This drive used to be unsafe but security issues have significantly improved. There are vans that provide transportation to the docks from Palenque.
The town was only connected to the rest of the country via paved roads in the mid-1990s, and most people use Guatemalan cell phones if they use phones at all, because the Mexican network does not reach here.
Tourism
![LanchaBoatsFronteraCorozal01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/LanchaBoatsFronteraCorozal01.JPG)
The town is one of the most isolated which contains some tourism infrastructure.
It is located near the archeological sites of
Bonampak
Bonampak (known anciently as ''Ak'e'' or, in its immediate area as ''Usiij Witz'', 'Vulture Hill') is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The site is approximately south of the larger site of the people Yaxchilan, ...
,
Palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...
and
Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to:
* Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico
** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city
* Piedras Negras (Maya site)
Piedras Negras is the ...
in Guatemala.
However, its most important function is its water connection to the otherwise inaccessible site of
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedra ...
, with just about every tour coming here bringing visitors for the site.
The town has a main dock area, with small narrow boats called “lanchas” to ferry visitors to the archeological site 25 km downriver, as well as to Guatemala across the river.
As an aquatic border crossing point (there is no bridge over the river), lanchas in Frontera Corozal bring people one way to the Guatemalan town of Bethel. From there, tours are available to the distant ruins of
Tikal
Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...
. The only government officials in Frontera Corozal or Bethel are respective border agents and it is necessary to check in with both in order to cross legally.
Border crossers number between twenty and 120 people per day depending on the season.
The town has several cooperatives of local residents operating tourism related businesses. One is Escudo Jaguar, which provides boat trips to Yaxchilan and more extensive tours to ruins farther away. There are some small simple hotels as well as camping areas. Nueva Alianza has cheaper and more rustic lodging along with small boats to Yaxchilan.
It is operated by the Sociedad Cooperativa de Bienes y Servicios Nueva Alianza, which is a
Ch’ol organization. The cooperative has wildlife, a nursery for crocodiles,
lowland paca
The lowland paca (''Cuniculus paca''), also known as the spotted paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from east-central Mexico to northern Argentina, and has been introduced to Cuba and Algeria.
The animal is cal ...
s and deer.
There are other smaller cooperatives just along the docks with also provide boating services.
Regional museum
![RegionalMuseumUsumacinta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/RegionalMuseumUsumacinta.JPG)
The community has one local point of interest called the Museo Regional de la Cuenca del Río Usumacinta, which has exhibits on the indigenous communities of the area.
The museum was founded in 1976 focusing on the biology, culture and history of this area.
One impetus behind the founding of the museum was the finding of two Mayan
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
at a site called Dos Caobas. The two monuments were moved to a communal house and now are in the museum after having been restored. The museum came under the direction of the state cultural agency CONECULTA to provide resources and direction for the collection.
Stele 1 or Stele of the King, dates from the reign of
Itzam- Balam (Jaguar Shield) who governed Yaxchilan from 681 to 742 CE. The stone is worked on both sides. Side A contains three personages with Itzam-Balam on the right, standing erect, in profile with a military stance. In his right hand he holds a large lance with a shield in the left. On the left side of the stone, another individual is also erect and in profile but in a submissive stance, with his right hand over his head and the left grabbing the middle person by the hair. This middle person is located in the lower part of the scene and in a stance associated with the ritual extraction of blood from the penis which appears between his legs. On Side B, Itzam-Balam appears standing and in profile, in front of a captive seated in profile. The king is richly adorned and crowned with a semicircle of feathers in two layers. The king also has a large lance in his right hand and a shield in his left. The prisoner is simply dressed with his arms bound as he is prepared for sacrifice.
The second stele is worked on only one side and contains four people, two men and two women. The main personage is Itzam-Balam, who is seated on a throne pointing to another man at his feet on the right. Both of these are depicted in profile. The king is richly attired in jewelry and feathers. The lower man may represent the ruler of Dos Caobas, which was under Yaxchilan's dominion at the time. He extends his left hand to the king with something that looks like a flower. Behind the king, there are two women standing and looking at the scene that is developing.
Environment
Frontera Corozal is located in the
Lacandon Jungle
The Lacandon Jungle (Spanish: ''Selva Lacandona'') is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas, Mexico, into Guatemala. The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Guate ...
where it borders the Usumacinta River and the northern edge of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve.
The surrounding ecosystem is perennial tropical rainforest with plant species such as
palms,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
*Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
* ...
,
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
, ''
Platymiscium'' (legume family), sapodilla (''
Manilkara zapota
''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, naseberry, nispero or chicle, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the ...
''),
rubber tree
''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now pa ...
s, pine,
cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
, romerillo (a type of
conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
),
Montezuma cypress
''Taxodium mucronatum'', commonly known as Montezuma bald cypress, Montezuma cypress, or ahuehuete, is a species of '' Taxodium'' that is primarily native to Mexico and Guatemala, with a few populations in the southwestern United States. Ahuehue ...
,
manchineel
The manchineel tree (''Hippomane mancinella'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.
The name "manchineel" (sometimes spel ...
,
ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
and guarumbo (''
Cecropia
''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees.
The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...
'') . Wildlife species include
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
, bats, deer,
skunk
Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...
s,
pumas, turtles and various types of snakes and birds.
However, the rainforest area has been badly damaged due to overexploitation and clearing. In early 2011, over 600 communal farmers from the area entered into an agreement with the government to conserve the environment on their lands in exchange for payment under the Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación Evitada plus (REDD+) plan. The communal land owners created seven reserves on their lands. In exchange, each member of the communal organization received 2,000 pesos as a first payment, brought personally by the state's governor,
Juan Sabines Guerrero. The agreement calls for monthly payments as well as assistance in creating tourism opportunities and groves of palm oil trees on non reserve lands.
References
{{reflist
Populated places in Chiapas