Amid the ash, life goes on under Mexico’s most dangerous volcano

For months now, the volcano has been spewing molten rocks and shooting massive columns of ash into the sky.

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World News

May 25, 2023 - 4:25 PM

Popocatepetl volcano spews incandescent material as seen from Paso de Cortés on May 23, 2023, in Amecameca, Mexico. Photo by (Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images/TNS)

SANTIAGO XALITZINTLA, Mexico — Each spring, residents of this village tucked at the base of one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes trek up to a cave near its crater to make a peace offering.

Their gifts of fruit, flowers and turkey cooked in sweet mole are meant to placate Popocatépetl, the nearly 18,000-foot-high volcano viewed by many here not just as a geological wonder, but also as a mythological being whose whims have long shaped the lives of those in its shadows.

These days, the consensus among villagers is clear: Popocatépetl isn’t happy.

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