The Voices of the Workers | Maria Itaka & Sergio "Yeyo" Beltran (ENG)

In this episode, we are joined by friends in Oaxaca, Maria Itaka and Sergio "Yeyo" Beltran.

Born  and raised in Oaxaca, María has a major in English Language and  Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM),  with a specialization in translation. After many years of working for  tourism-based projects, she now works independently, providing  specialized content production services that create authentic, soulful  material that aims to benefit the places where the work is being done.

Sergio Beltrán Arruti -better known as Yeyo- was born and raised in Mexico City. He moved to Oaxaca in 1997 to support and learn from indigenous communities. Sergio is the co-founder of the Universidad de la Tierra in Oaxaca (Unitierra) and of Herramientas Para Buen Vivir, AC. In 2010, he was part of the pioneering team of the Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations in Spanish, and has organized multiple intercultural meetings around the world using these tools for dialogue.

Together, we discuss about the invasion of post-pandemic tourists/expatriates in Mexico, the consequences of gentrification in Oaxaca, the drought here, the idea oftravelers versus tourists, the eco-washing of the tourism industry, and the McDonaldization of tourism. We then continued with themes of "cultivating versus consuming culture," worker solidarity in the tourism industry, the notion that charity is not solidarity, and bringing a foundation of philosophy to the tourism industry.

Season 2 is dedicated to our late friend and mentor Gustavo Esteva, grandfather, sage, and co-founder of Universidad de la Tierra in Oaxaca, Mexico. These episodes have been planned and organized in collaboration with our colleagues from Unitierra Oaxaca.

They are dispatches of the resistance.