# Cold snap



## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

At least one death as winter storm strikes
Temperatures as low as -10 C in communities in Coahuila

Mexico News Daily | Friday, December 8, 2017
The 14th cold front and the first winter storm of the season brought light snow to states in northern Mexico, indirectly causing the death of a homeless man in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

A man of about 40, identified only as José, had built a fire under the staircase of an abandoned building. He was apparently inhaling the contents of an aerosol spray can when it caught fire and exploded in his face.

In the same city a 50-year-old individual who lit a fire in his home to keep warm suffered severe burns to most of his body after his clothes caught fire. Neighbors heard screams and alerted authorities.

The snowfall caused by the first winter storm of the season was reported last night in the border states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.

Emergency shelters began filling yesterday in several locations and many highways were closed by the snow.

Weekend temperatures in Coahuila were expected to drop as low as -10 C in the communities of Mesa de las Tablas, Los Oyameles and Monterreal.

The National Meteorological Service has warned that low temperatures will continue as the cold front travels south, with a high probability of snow in Coahuila and Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Currently we are sitting at 50 with a high today of 61, we have a nice fire burning in the fireplace.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Zorro2017 said:


> Currently we are sitting at 50 with a high today of 61, we have a nice fire burning in the fireplace.


The outside temperature this morning in Guadalajara is 4 C (40 F). Indoors (with no source of heat other than yesterday's afternoon sun) it is 20 C (68 F). Adobe is a great insulator.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We can get ice in the morning in the hills in Chiapas and the people who lot their houses in the earthquakes in the highlands are living under tarp and it is mighty cold for them. There are also major conflicts around Chenalho and Chachihuiltan and many people are living in the hills under tarp as well and it is plenty cold for those people..Yes frost in the morning, the afternoons are warmer but it is freezig in the morning and at night..


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> We can get ice in the morning in the hills in Chiapas and the people who lot their houses in the earthquakes in the highlands are living under tarp and it is mighty cold for them. There are also major conflicts around Chenalho and Chachihuiltan and many people are living in the hills under tarp as well and it is plenty cold for those people..Yes frost in the morning, the afternoons are warmer but it is freezig in the morning and at night..


I'm fine but my wife finds this weather "freezing cold." It snowed in Texas yesterday.

I read about the conflict if it is the same one it all started when the government reestablished the border from the natural river to a straight line moving the ownership of some of the land, a really bad move... if this is the same conflict.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes same conflict..but it is not only there , it is everywhere where there are two sets of laws and borders, the traditional ones and the official government ones.. It is awful and I do not see any resolution coming soon. There is no bad guy or good guy in those conflicts, just people picking sides and pulling the blanket to their side and the government staying out of it as much as it can and washing their hands of the whole thing.
The people who are living in the hills invaded the land when the government changed the limits.. from both sides and it has been going on since 73 getting worst as the indigenous live longer and their number is growing making the land more valuable..


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

SLP was - 1 C here at 2AM when we left a dinner party last night. Very cold wind yesterday afternoon. Cold right now but clear skies.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> We can get ice in the morning in the hills in Chiapas and the people who lot their houses in the earthquakes in the highlands are living under tarp and it is mighty cold for them. There are also major conflicts around Chenalho and Chachihuiltan and many people are living in the hills under tarp as well and it is plenty cold for those people..Yes frost in the morning, the afternoons are warmer but it is freezig in the morning and at night..


For those wanting to know about the conflict, this is a terrible time for these people to be displaced.

More aid is arriving for displaced Tzotzil people of Chalchihuitán, Chiapas, after a roadblock was lifted Tuesday.

An estimated 5,000 people have been forced to flee their homes during the past month due to a territorial conflict with the neighboring municipality of Chenalhó.

The three roads into Chalchihuitán had been blocked by people from Chenalhó but one is now open although under condition that it can only be used to deliver humanitarian aid.

Aid convoys were having to use a roundabout route before the road was opened, a move that was followed by the apprehension by Chenalhó residents of seven government officials who were held for the next 10 hours.

“There were about a thousand people,” one of the victims told the newspaper El Universal. “We were manhandled and even pelted with eggs, and we were kept in a truck.” The seven men, five from the Civil Protection office and two from the Interior Secretariat, were released early yesterday.

After the roadblock was removed, some Chalchihuitán residents attempted to use the road in search of food supplies but they were prevented from doing so by their Chenalhó neighbors.

The Chalchihuitán parish priest said the roadblocks and the tense situation is keeping over 20,000 people in 37 villages from leaving the area of conflict.

The violence between the two municipalities dates back to the 1970s, when the federal government enacted a series of agrarian reforms that established the territorial limits between them.

Instead of following the natural boundary of a river the government decided that the border between the two communities should be an arbitrary straight line. This decision forced both to give away land, generating the conflict.

The Catholic Church in San Cristóbal de las Casas said there was “an atmosphere of terror” in the region that could become more deadly than the Acteal massacre of 1997, when 45 people were killed.

The diocese charged that authorities have failed to offer a solution to the humanitarian crisis.

It called on Governor Manuel Velasco Coello to address the violence in the region, warning that many the armed individuals represented a danger to the people of Chalchihuitán.

Non-governmental organizations continue to warn that the displaced people are living under precarious conditions. The Serapaz (Peace Advisory Services) group said many are sick, especially children, seniors and pregnant women.

The state Civil Protection office reported it has begun taking an official census of the displaced people in order to be able to offer them shelter elsewhere.

Source: El Universal (sp), Univisión (sp)

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/atmosphere-of-terror-in-chiapas-church/


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

The death toll among displaced Tzotzil citizens of Chalchihuitán, Chiapas, rose to six on the weekend.

Mayor Martín Gómez Pérez said three minors and two adults died due to hunger and cold weather and their inability to obtain hospital care because of a highway blockade by citizens of Chenalhó, the alleged aggressors in the two-month-old flare-up of a 40-year territorial dispute.

The first casualty occurred last when when a two-year-old girl died.

The victims of the alleged forced displacement have been living in makeshift camps and caves in the hills that surround the town of Chalchihuitán.

The mayor lamented that all six deaths could have been prevented if the roads connecting what’s left of the town of Chalchihuitán with San Cristóbal de las Casas were open to traffic.

Residents of Chenalhó who are blocking the roads have allowed some vehicles carrying humanitarian aid to pass, but have forbidden all other traffic.

There is another road that goes through the town of Simojovel, explained the mayor, “but it is dangerous and impassable due to the rains . . . .”

Gómez said conditions in the camps, which are housing an estimated 5,000 people, have become worse due to very low temperatures and rain and food shortages.

The most affected are the children, said the mayor, although there are other vulnerable groups among them, including pregnant women and seniors.

Mayor Gómez issued a plea to Chiapas Governor Manuel Velasco Coello for a solution.

A ruling on the underlying territorial conflict between the municipalities is expected to be made by an agrarian court on Friday. But it may not put an end the end to the crisis. Chenalhó citizens have warned that an unfavorable resolution will be followed by “drastic measures.”

Source: El Universal (sp)


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Mexico is very tolerant of citizens blocking roads and even freeways. We left Villahermosa very early one morning traveling from the Yucatan to home and ran into a roadblock by a group of individuals protesting some local politics. My wife and I went to the front of the line and the police were there but they didn't force the people to open the road.

In this case, people, children and the elderly are dying. This dispute has been going on for forty years now, I hope they include those involved in "the ruling to be made by an agrarian court" and end this soon.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I wonder what the historical factors are that have led to the existence of deep enmity between neighboring villages such as Chenalhó and Chalchihuitán? And I am speaking of a history that began long before the agrarian reforms of 1970.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Isla Verde said:


> I wonder what the historical factors are that have led to the existence of deep enmity between neighboring villages such as Chenalhó and Chalchihuitán? And I am speaking of a history that began long before the agrarian reforms of 1970.


Everything I see relates to territory Isla....


Recently, the territorial and agrarian conflict between the municipalities of Chalchihuitán and Chenalhó has worsened once again. It’s linked to a dispute over more than 900 hectares located in the boundaries between the two entities. It’s an old conflict that started in 1973 with the work of recognition and certification of the common lands of both villages by the former Department of Agrarian Reform–at present, the Ministry for Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU). When the measurements were made, the limits respected by both villages (the river as a natural boundary) were not taken into account. As a result, and intermittently, tensions have appeared, some that the populations attempted to resolve in court, others that led to theft, destruction of crops, land invasions, and even murder (2008).

On May 13, officials of the state government and of SEDATU decided that Chenalhó should receive a compensation of 15 million pesos in exchange for giving the lands in dispute to Chalchihuitán. On May 15, the residents of the municipality of Chenalhó rejected the payment. They entered the disputed land and destroyed several landmarks marking the boundaries. Several witnesses report that shots were heard, although no injuries were reported. Both sides accuse each other of using firearms.

On May 28, the Parish Council of Chenalhó called on the parties “to put aside every word and every action that can lead to violence and to realize that this conflict between brothers should be resolved through peaceful dialogue.” They asked the three levels of government to recognize that “this problem is due largely to their own irresponsibility.” They invited them to realize “that not everything can be fixed with money as they think. The authorities must understand what justice should be the first to respect the laws so as to set an example for the people. They should be open to respectful dialogue and should be aware that they can not solve any problem if they do not allow free and responsible participation of the people.”

On May 22, the Las Abejas Civil Society also referred to the land problem between Chalchihuitán and Chenalhó, noting: “If the called Agrarian Reform (now defunct), had not made a bad execution in defining the territorial limits, there wouldn’t be problems between the two Tzotzil peoples. We regret that this old conflict has not been resolved to date, because, sadly, political and economic interests of the same agrarian and municipal authorities and of some private individuals interfere to do so. Instead of resorting to wisdom and the ancestral mode of dialogue to solve problems between brothers, they have chosen the path of institutional dialogue that always end up manipulated politically and economically. Hopefully someday those who still believe in evil government will understand that the conflicts and political differences that have led to killings and massacres in our villages have been planned and fostered from above, by the bad government itself. “

For more information (in Spanish):

Conflicto territorial Chenalho – Chalchihuitan, retroceso de 7 años (Chiapas Paralelo, 29 de mayo de 2014)

Iglesia llama a privilegiar el diálogo (Cuarto Poder, 29 de mayo de 2014)

Pronunciamiento de la parroquia de Chenalhó (28 de mayo de 2014)

Comunicado de la Sociedad Civil Las Abejas (22 de mayo de 2014)

https://sipazen.wordpress.com/2014/...municipalities-of-chenalho-and-chalchihuitan/


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Mexico News Daily | Friday, November 10, 2017
A longstanding territorial conflict between Tzotzil communities in Chiapas escalated last night but there has been no word on casualties.

Reports began emerging late last night from the municipalities of Chenalhó and Chalchihuitán that there was rifle fire in the communities of Yabteclum, Polhó, Majompepentic and Yibeljoj.

Chenalhó native Roberto Pacencia told the human rights advocacy group Ku’untik that he had spoken by phone at about 10:30pm with his sister, who lives in the border between the two warring municipalities, and could hear gunfire in the background.

Paciencia said he understood that some houses had been set on fire.

Other reports said residents from at least two of the communities have fled their homes.

Ku’untik director Diego Cadenas called on authorities to implement measures to ensure the safety of residents of the communities in the two indigenous municipalities.

But apparently authorities outside the area have been unable to reach their counterparts in either Chenalhó or Chalchihuitán and get a report on last night’s events.

A dispute over territorial boundaries has fueled confrontation between the two municipalities for years.

On Wednesday, a truck driver was attacked with firearms in Chalchihuatán, where a home was set on fire.

A resident of that municipality was killed last month after being attacked by a group of armed men from Chenalhó.

Source: El Universal (sp)


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Isla it is very simple. in the indigenous campesina culture land is everything. You must have a piece of land to build your house on it and to have a milpa that will feed you and will provide some income, either via cash or interchange.

That area is a coffee growing area as well which provides cash the milpa is to grow the corn for the year and to cultivate the beans and chilis that are the basic diet. The chicken are fed corn heck even the cats and dogs eat tortilla and corn.. corn is life so getting land is a survival necessity.The surplus get sold in the weekly markets..The women do so kind of artesania for extra cash as well.
In the Santa Marta community I know a man who has status because he is the medical person for the community , he gets 500 pesos a month to be on call 24h a day for emergency situation, to give shots, take blood pressure, remove the nasty parasites that bury themselves in you to lay their eggs etc.. It is a status kind of thing in the community but 500 pesos a month is not a whole lot of cash.. 
Some rents like rent of ceremonial attire is done in kind, a hat for a year will cost you some chicken and corn etc... so land is everything, all men are farmers in that culture the better off ones have small coffee plantations( cafetal) .
In that culture it is not surprising people kill each other for land as less and less land is available and not doubt people have been fighting for land for generations. So land is the source of income , power at fealty, you owe the service to the community the land is part of, land is power.
Once you have land in a community you owe that community service, you get drafted for police, road maintenance, keeping up the church and cemetery, taking care of the saints etc.. There is no distinction between civil and religious duties so you can see why being evangelist who refuse to do work for the catholic church goes over.. In some communities the non catholics are accepted and have land apart from the center that is catholic and in some other communities the dissidents are kicked out. Their life is based on the principle that everyone marched in the same direction so religion and political parties threaten the social order and promote conflicts.
Being rich is suspicious as you probably stole from other.. being poor means you are lazy and no good.. sticking out of the pack is not a good idea in that culture.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

citlali said:


> Isla it is very simple. in the indigenous campesina culture land is everything. You must have a piece of land to build your house on it and to have a milpa that will feed you and will provide some income, either via cash or interchange.
> 
> That area is a coffee growing area as well which provides cash the milpa is to grow the corn for the year and to cultivate the beans and chilis that are the basic diet. The chicken are fed corn heck even the cats and dogs eat tortilla and corn.. corn is life so getting land is a survival necessity.The surplus get sold in the weekly markets..The women do so kind of artesania for extra cash as well.
> In the Santa Marta community I know a man who has status because he is the medical person for the community , he gets 500 pesos a month to be on call 24h a day for emergency situation, to give shots, take blood pressure, remove the nasty parasites that bury themselves in you to lay their eggs etc.. It is a status kind of thing in the community but 500 pesos a month is not a whole lot of cash..
> ...


Citlali, thanks for this very complete answer to my question. I wonder how much this way of life has changed from the pre-Hispanic period to the Colonia to the post-Independence period to the present.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I would think not much, the Mayas had city states that were fighting between each other before the Spaniards came.. then the indigenous were vanquished by the Spaniards and worked for them with a few rebellions and warfare between villages that continued and . the warfare within and between the villages continues so except for the cell phones and the radios and better health with longer life expectancy and the addition of foods and junk food that is killing a bunch of people, I bet you not a whole lot has changed..
Of course I am thinking of the poorer and more remote villages.. Towns like CHamula have prospered incredibly in the last 15 years. I cannot believe the mansions that are going up in and around Chamula now..all connected to legal business and remittance money no doubt.....


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Death toll hits 8 as Chiapas ruling issued
Ruling went in favor of the alleged aggressors in the territorial dispute

Mexico News Daily | Thursday, December 14, 2017

The death toll among Tzotzil people displaced by a longstanding territorial dispute in the mountains of Chiapas has risen to eight, while an agrarian court ruled yesterday in favor of the municipality of Chenalhó, home to the alleged aggressors in the conflict.

Four children and four elderly people have now died in camps set up by more than 5,000 people who were forced to flee their homes in the municipality of Chalchihuitán due to the threat of violence from armed men trying to reclaim the disputed land.

The state government has opened an investigation into the deaths, which are all believed to have been caused by hunger and exposure to cold weather.

An elderly woman who passed away Tuesday in the town of Pom was buried yesterday. She was one of two senior citizens who died this week due to sleeping outdoors and being exposed to cold temperatures, parish priest Sebastián López said.

The Catholic Church and the Frayba Human Rights Center warned last month that a humanitarian crisis was under way but road blockades set up by citizens of Chenalhó have made getting aid to the displaced people difficult and also prevented the sick from accessing hospital care.

The Catholic Church in San Cristóbal de las Casas warned that there was an “atmosphere of terror” in the region that could become more deadly than the Acteal massacre of 1997, when 45 people were killed.

But the ruling handed down by the Unitary Agrarian Tribunal yesterday, which returned 365 hectares of disputed land to Chenalhó, gives some hope that peace will now be restored to the region and the displaced persons will be able to leave the makeshift camps.

For more than 40 years, the two municipalities have intermittently clashed over a contested boundary area, with violence flaring up again just under two months ago and leaving one man dead.

Following the decision yesterday, authorities from both municipalities ratified a peace agreement first signed in 2015, effectively committing to respect the latest ruling.

State authorities explained that the decision came with 15 million pesos (US $787,000) compensation for Chalchihuitán, an undertaking to build 300 new homes for people who lived in the disputed area and a pledge to implement projects to benefit all residents of the municipality.

Chalchihuitán citizens will meet today to discuss and analyze the ruling, a residents’ spokesman said.

In accordance with the decision, the federal Secretariat of Agrarian Development and Urban Planning (Sedatu) will be responsible for marking the new municipal boundaries.

The state government has deployed police and civil protection personnel among other authorities to oversee its implementation and will also seek the support of the United Nations (UN).

Chenalhó Mayor Rosa Pérez — whom displaced residents have accused of buying weapons for the armed men responsible for the violence that caused them to flee — said the ruling represented a win for her municipality. The roadblocks have been lifted in response to the decision.

However, one representative from Chalchihuitán said the ruling would only be recognized if a presidential resolution from 1975, favoring the municipality, was also respected.

Source: El Universal (sp)


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

In other words more of the same.. new boundaries from the government , money flushed down the drain on housing that will not be built and more people dying... etc..
The area is a little warmer than San Cristobal , thank God but it is mighty cold to live outside..Of course I know people who lost their house due to the earthquake in Zinacantan. They are living under tarps and it is really cold in Zinacantan.. no help there either..

Some of the opposition to Rosa Perez in Santa Marta ( Chenalhó. are saying the same thing: she is using whatever money to arm men to go and terrorize people.). I do not know if this is true but someone is buying weapons for the poor campesinos, no doubt about it..
But she is verde and so is the government and Chenalho never was verde before she came to power so you cannot expect verde to push her to hard..


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> In other words more of the same.. new boundaries from the government , money flushed down the drain on housing that will not be built and more people dying... etc..
> The area is a little warmer than San Cristobal , thank God but it is mighty cold to live outside..Of course I know people who lost their house due to the earthquake in Zinacantan. They are living under tarps and it is really cold in Zinacantan.. no help there either..
> 
> Some of the opposition to Rosa Perez in Santa Marta ( Chenalhó. are saying the same thing: she is using whatever money to arm men to go and terrorize people.). I do not know if this is true but someone is buying weapons for the poor campesinos, no doubt about it..
> But she is verde and so is the government and Chenalho never was verde before she came to power so you cannot expect verde to push her to hard..


You are not alone in your assessment that the mayor is supplying weapons..

Court ruling fails to end territorial dispute
Displaced Tzotzil indigenous people vow to remain in camps, call ruling 'a government lie'

Mexico News Daily | Friday, December 15, 2017
A ruling handed down by an agrarian court looks unlikely to end a longstanding territorial dispute in the mountains of Chiapas that has displaced thousands and indirectly caused the death of nine people from hunger and exposure to the cold.

The Unitary Agrarian Tribunal (TUA) decreed Wednesday that 365 hectares of contested land be returned to the municipality of Chenalhó but authorities from neighboring Chalchihuitán say that they will appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

The ruling illegally revoked a presidential resolution from 1976 that set the boundaries between the two feuding municipalities, the authorities argued.

A spokesman for the Chalchihuitán land holders who fled their homes due to the threat of violence said that contrary to the views of the state government and Chenalhó Mayor Rosa Pérez, the ruling doesn’t favor either municipality.

“What the tribunal is ordering is that the job of marking the boundaries between both municipalities has to be done again; that means that the ruling doesn’t favor anyone, legally it doesn’t guarantee the triumph of anyone,” Nicodermo Aguilar Sánchez said.

Pérez said Wednesday that the ruling, which includes compensation and new housing for Chalchihuitán residents, was a win for her municipality. *Those displaced have accused the mayor of supplying weapons to the alleged aggressors who forced them off their land.*

In contrast, appealing the decision in the Supreme Court was a way of defending their land and rights without resorting to violence, Aguilar said.

“No to violence, no to aggression, we are indigenous brothers, there is no need to proceed with violence,” he insisted.

Aguilar and other Chalchihuitán authorities also took aim at state Governor Manuel Velasco for the displacement and deaths that have occurred, claiming that the ruling was made more than a month ago, on November 6, but was not made known until this week, a day before judges were due to go on vacation.

“The forced internal displacement of the indigenous people who are still sick, living in the mountain and putting up with temperatures as low as four degrees without food should have been avoided, as well as the roadblock, the firearm attacks, the threats and the terror,” he said.

The court should be independent and not comply with the whims of the government, he added.

There was hope that the court’s ruling would bring peace to the region, allowing displaced persons living in the various camps scattered around the region to leave.



But the residents themselves say they are staying put because their safety is still not guaranteed. They also remain defiant, with people in one camp in Pom called the court’s ruling “a government lie.”

“The lands of Chalchihuitán are not for sale and we will not leave even with the verdict of the TUA,” Ausencio Pérez Paciencia said.

“In a peaceful way, we’re going to try to recover what is ours . . . we have the plans of those lands [and] the presidential resolution that confirms us as the legitimate owners of the 365 hectares.”

Source: El Universal (sp)


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Not my assessment but what the locals that are being attacked told me. One young guy I know is PRI and his whole family and paraje)was PRI and were blocking roads last year and help the other mayor kick out Rosa Perez then I do not know what happened but many of them became verde and by pure chance some of these guys now have machine guns.. go figure..


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