Macedonia Blas Flores (born 1958) is a Mexican human rights activist of hñañú origin. She was a candidate for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 2005, because of the activism she wages against the violence suffered by the women of her tribe, the

Otomi The Otomi (; es, Otomí ) are an indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region. The Otomi are an indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguisticall ...

. Since 1997, she has headed the civil association ''Fotzi Ñahño'', which aids Otomi.

Biography

Blas Flores is from El Bothe, San Ildefonso Tultepec, municipality of Amealco, Queretaro. The mother of 12 children spent decades selling handicrafts. Since 1997, she has worked for ''Fotzi Ñahño'', where she speaks on human rights and gender violence against hñañú. Her work at the association features workshops for women regarding gender violence, prevention of violations among indigenous girls, prevention of women's alcoholism. She is also involved in projects for planting vegetables and she supports women's economic development. She says, "What I do is fine because I do it for all women who suffer violence." In 2003, she was falsely accused by two women (mother and daughter) of adultery. The punishment in her rural indigenous village included being held down and having chili paste applied to her genitals, causing injury. The activist, advised by the human rights commission of the

state of Hidalgo Hidalgo (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Hidalgo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Hidalgo) is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 84 municipalities ...

, filed a criminal complaint against the aggressor, becoming the first indigenous woman to do so. She traveled to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and informed members of Congress about her ordeal, a fact that caught the attention of activists and media. From this, Blas Flores decided to engage more actively in the defense of the rights of women hñañú, which earned her recognition as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. This also spurred her to learn to read and write, and perform basic mathematical operations through

Instituto Nacional para la Educación de los Adultos The Instituto Nacional para la Educación de los Adultos (INEA) is a decentralized public organization of the Mexican federal public administration, grouped in the sector coordinated by the Ministry of Education Public, with legal personality and ...

. In 2005, Blas Flores was part of the proposed candidacy of Association of 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize because of her activism supporting women in her community. In 2017, Blas Flores was awarded the Medal of Honor "Nelson Mandela" of the Legislative Power of Querétaro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blas Flores, Macedonia 1958 births Living people People from Querétaro Mexican women's rights activists Otomi people Mexican women activists Indigenous Mexican women 20th-century indigenous people of the Americas 21st-century indigenous people of the Americas