Agave fourcroydes

Henequen (Agave fourcroydes Lem.) is an agave, a plant species native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman Islands and the Lesser Antilles.

Overview

The leaves of Agave fourcroydes yield a fiber also called henequen which is suitable for rope and twine, but not of as high a quality as sisal. Alternative spellings are Henequin and Heniquen. It is the major plantation fiber agave of eastern Mexico, being grown extensively in Yucatán, Veracruz, and southern Tamaulipas. It is also used to make Licor del henequén, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink.

The plant appears as a rosette of sword-shaped leaves 1.2 to 1.8 meters long, growing out of a thick stem that may reach 1.7 meters (5 ft). The leaves have regularly spaced teeth 3–6 mm long, and a terminal spine 2–3 cm long.

Like the sisal, A. fourcroydes is a sterile hybrid; the ovaries never produce seeds. The plant does produce bulbils that may be planted, but commercial growers prefer to use the frequent suckers, which develop more quickly.

Henequen (film)

Henequen (Hangul: 애니깽; RR: Enikkeng) is a 1996 South Korean film directed by Kim Ho-sun. It was awarded Best Film at the Grand Bell Awards ceremony.

Synopsis

This historical drama, set in 1905, depicts the difficult plight of Korean henequen field laborers in Mexico. The story follows the love between the daughter of an aristocratic family fallen on hard times, and the son of a butcher.

Background

The film tells the story of Korean people that were brought to Yucatán under false promises of a good life, including wealthy Korean people, but instead ended up forced to work as slaves by the Yucatán henequen industry landlords, which were proud Spanish descendants of the Yucatecan upper class. At that time, it was the main industry of the Yucatán state and henequen was referred as the "green gold", as it made many Yucatecan families very wealthy.

This part of the history where Korean people were used as slaves under brutal conditions(and even killed), didn't appear in Yucatecan history books up to recently. When the movie was filmed outside of Mérida, Yucatán, it became a real eye opener of the Yucatecan society about the horrible abuse inflicted to Korean people decades ago, which they were not aware of.