Residents of a village in Chiapas, Mexico have become so fed up with their mayor that they decided to do something about it. Eschewing long, bureaucratic legal processes to hold him accountable, residents of a southern Chiapas town decided to hold their mayor accountable for what they said was a public works project so poorly done that it was useless.

A mayor in Chiapas was tied to a tree by his own residents for a job done badly.

🔵🌊🚰 #AlMomento | Este es el #tanque de almacenamiento de agua presuntamente entregado en mal estado por el alcalde de #FronteraComalapa, Oscar Ramírez Aguilar, por lo cual fue retenido. | Servicios informativos de #DiarioDeChiapas

📲 https://t.co/alCcykjwWO pic.twitter.com/HCwXZnYIML

— Diario de Chiapas (@DiarioChiapas) January 12, 2021

Residents from eleven neighborhoods of the Chiapas town Comalapa held their mayor accountable for his inaction on a public works project. According to reports, the residents arrested Mayor Óscar Ramírez Aguilar to a tree in a public area to expose him to the rest of the town. They told the newspaper Diario de Chiapas, that they wanted to expose him for the “bad public servant” that he is and that he shouldn’t be reelected.

The townspeople say the municipal water storage cistern — whose installation they say was a campaign promise — is in such poor condition that it does not comply with water safety requirements. It currently has no water, they said, due to leaks, and the residents accuse the government of merely patching the tank — badly — to stop them.

In a video on social media, residents showed how the concrete patch job is already chipping away and easily crumbles.

“He promised us that this would be a public works project worthy of Comalapa residents, but [this tank is] a farce; the water system doesn’t work well. It’s an old problem that he should have attended to properly and should have been a priority during his administration because he came to see us in our homes with this promise, and now he doesn’t want to live up to it,” a resident told the newspaper.

But the mayor is denying what happened in a social media post.

“No me amarraron, la reunión fue con once representantes de barrios de la cabecera municipal de Comalapa para acordar detalles de una obra de alto impacto, la introducción de agua potable” afirma, en un video, el edil de Frontera Comalapa Óscar Armando Ramírez. pic.twitter.com/UuVMxfkMhE

— Diego Victorio (@ADiegoGael) January 12, 2021

The mayor though has a totally different version of events. After he was released, Ramírez posted a video on his official social media account to counter the residents’ version of the story.

“They did not tie me up,” he claimed. “The meeting was with 11 representatives of Comalapa neighborhoods in order to agree upon details regarding a major public project, the introduction of potable water.”

However, photographs clearly showed the mayor standing before a tree with his hands behind his back.

Three years ago, another local official suffered a similar fate after allegedly failing to deliver promised funds. He was bound to a post in the the central plaza of Comalapa.

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It is important to be a responsible tourist. This means following rules, acting responsibly, and not violating sacred places. That is something one tourist learned the hard way when she climbed the Pyramid of Kukulkán in Chichén Itzá.

Here’s the video of a tourist running down the steps of the Pyramid of Kukulkán.

#ladykukulkan pic.twitter.com/7ei6zOWsKj

— SC (@Lizhueertas) January 4, 2021

The Pyramid of Kukulkán is one of the most iconic examples of Pre-Hispanic architecture and culture in Mesoamerica. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most visited archeological sites in Mexico. In 2017, more than 2 million visitors descended on the site.

Of course, #LadyKukulkan started to trend on Twitter.

Amo el hashtag (y la historia) de #LadyKukulkan.

— Chuy Figueroa (@gsusfd) January 5, 2021

You know that Twitter was ready to start calling out this woman for her actions. According to Yucatán Expat Life Magazine, the woman was there to honor her husband’s dying wish. The woman, identified as a tourist from Tijuana, wanted to spread her husband’s ashes on the top of the pyramid, which it seems that she did.

The video was a moment for Mexican Twitter.

Que 🥚🥚 de esta señora subiéndose a la pirámide! #ladykukulkan https://t.co/8XT5KfsXjg

— MZ ✨ (@michbenberutz) January 4, 2021

Not only was she arrested by security when she descended, but the crowd was also clearly against her. Like, what was she even thinking? It isn’t like the pyramid is crawling with tourists all over it. She was the only person climbing the pyramid, which is federally owned and cared for.

The story is already sparking ideas for other people when they die.

YO: (a mis papás) ¿Ya leyeron lo de #ladykukulkan?
MI PAPÁ: Sí, (a mi mamá) Cuando yo me muera, quiero que avientes mis cenizas desde Palacio Nacional para que te digan "Lady Palacio", suena mejor ¿No?

— Hania JH (@hania_jh) January 6, 2021

“Me: (to my parents) Have you read about #ladykukulkan?
My Dad: Yes! (to my mom) When I die, I want you to scatter my ashes in the National Palace so they call you “Lady Palace,” sounds better, no?” wrote @hania_jh on Twitter.

READ: Mexico’s Version Of Burning Man Became A COVID-19 Super-Spreader Event Thanks To U.S. Tourists

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