Black Christ images commissioned, which then went on to their current locations. Another story says that the image was found on the Day of the Cross by an indigenous person at the foot of a tree in the village of Puctlanzingo, which was then claimed by the Mazatecos of the region. Later it was moved on the Papaloapan River on a raft to its current location. According to researcher Carlos Navarrete, the phenomenon of “Black Christ” images follows known Aztec merchant (pochteca) routes. It is possible that these images were a substitution for the deity Yacatgecutli, the god of commerce, which was also black. During the Cristero War in the 1930s, the image was taken by men allied with then governor of Veracruz, Adalberto Tejada, who tried unsuccessfully to burn it. Instead it was decapitated. The headless image returned to Otatitlán and a replacement was made. In 1950, the original head was found and returned, with the replacement head now kept in a glass case. The devotion to this image is a syncretism. It is not unusual for there to be a mass followed by a ritual cleansing by a local “brujo” (roughly witch doctor). The major feast day for this image is 3 May, Day of the Cross, with events beginnings on 28 April and extending to 7 May. The event can attract up to 150,000 people from Veracruz and other parts of Mexico. Geography and environment The area of the Otatitlán town is flat with a few small hills and an average altitude of ten meters above sea level. The soil is loose and susceptible to erosion. The territory is defined by the Papaloapan River, with the only other river of note, the Obispo, a tributary. In 84% of the municipality, the climate is warm and mostly moist with rains in the summer. In the rest it is warm and very moist with very abundant rain in the summer. Average annual temperature is between 24 and 26C with the average annual rainfall varying between 1900 and 2100mm. The wild vegetation here was high and medium tropical forest, but today almost all of the territory (45.9%km2) is dedicated to agriculture, 2.8km2 is covered by water and 1.4km2 is urban. Wildlife includes rabbits, coatis, raccoons, coyotes, doves, parrots, egrets and various reptiles. Socioeconomics The municipality is rural with 32.2% of the workforce involved in agriculture and livestock, 18.8% in industry