In 21st century, threats 'from all sides' for Latin America's original languages

Teacher Blas Duarte shows letters in the Maka language at a school used by children of the Paraguayan ethnic group Maka, in Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay July 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno

VALLE DE LAS PALMAS, Mexico (Reuters) - At school in Tecate in the 1950s, a city sitting on Mexico's border with the United States, Josefina Meza was welcomed by a chorus of children's chants in a language she did not understand.

"Pinches indios, pinches indios," her peers called out. At first, Meza thought they wanted to be her friends. But her brother clarified: Using Spanish, which she had yet to learn, they were humiliating her, chanting a slur for indigenous Mexicans that rang as strong as the "n" word in English.