Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and Mexican Consulate celebrate 90 years of the Mexican Garden

On the morning of October 2, 1935, Mexican and Brazilian authorities inaugurated a statue of Xochipilli, the Aztec god of flowers, in a garden plot at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. These ties were renewed on Tuesday, October 3, 2025, when the Consulate General of Mexico and the JBRJ celebrated the 90th anniversary of this event that marked the creation of the Mexican Garden.

The statue of Xochipilli was presented to Brazil by the Mexican government through the then Mexican ambassador in Rio de Janeiro, Alfonso Reyes (1889-1959), who was a frequent visitor to the Botanical Garden during his stay as a diplomat in the then Brazilian federal capital from 1930 to 1936.

Reyes, an important intellectual, writer, and essayist, sought to promote cultural and scientific exchange between the two countries. He wrote dozens of essays on Brazil and Rio, dedicated the poem El botanico (The Botanist) to the Garden, and brought seeds of the Mexican peyote plant (Lophophora williamsii) to enrich the institution's cactus collection, whose director at the time, Paulo Campos Porto, was a cactus expert.

Called by Campos Porto the “ambassador of culture and friendship,” Reyes was responsible for offering the statue of Xochipilli to the JBRJ. This statue, which still stands today in the Mexican Garden next to the agave plants, is a replica of the one found in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, representing the Lord of Flowers. The original was found at the foot of the Iztaccíhuatl volcano and dates from the late post-classical period of Mexican culture (1250-1521 AD).

The celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Mexican Garden at the JBRJ was a moment to remember this historic milestone in diplomatic relations between Brazil and Mexico and to affirm the friendship and cooperation between the two countries in the present and in the future. The ceremony was attended by the president of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute, Sergio Besserman Vianna, the consul general of Mexico in Rio de Janeiro, Héctor Valezzi Zafra, the consuls of the United Kingdom, Colombia, Japan, Peru, and Uruguay, and authorities from the Rio de Janeiro State Government.

The Mexican consul and the president of the JBRJ planted seedlings of the species Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotsch (Euphorbiaceae), popularly known as poinsettia, native to Mexico, where it is called nochebuena (Christmas Eve).

Brazilian-Mexican researcher Léia Scheinvar was honored at the event. After the 1964 coup in Brazil, Dr. Léia took refuge in Mexico, where she developed a brilliant career as a cactologist. At the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), she directed the cactology laboratory for over 30 years and created the Cactology discipline at the University's Faculty of Sciences. She also collaborated with the Cactus Collection at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in the 1990s, in partnership with UFRJ.

Sergio Besserman Vianna was moved to reunite with Dr. Léia Scheinvar, whom he met at the age of 18 when he and his parents went to Mexico during the dictatorship in Brazil. The president of the JBRJ also highlighted the role of Brazil and Mexico in defending freedom and democracy on the continent and the importance of scientific cooperation between institutions in both countries. Consul Héctor Zafra stated that the Botanical Garden is his favorite place in Rio de Janeiro and recalled the important work done by Alfonso Reyes for relations between the two nations.

The event was also attended by students from the Brazil-Mexico Intercultural Schools CIEP 413 Adão Pereira Nunes (São Gonçalo), CIEP 370 Professor Sylvio Gnecco de Carvalho (Duque de Caxias), and Colégio Estadual Antônio de Jesus Gomes (Vassouras), a partnership between the Consulate General of Mexico and the Rio de Janeiro State Department of Education. The program teaches Spanish through knowledge of the country's culture.