Handicraft vendors block roads to Mexico’s Chichen Itza ruin

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of handicraft vendors in southern Mexico have blocked access roads to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. The vendors are mainly Mayans from nearby towns who have long sold goods at the entrances and parking lots of the ruin site. The vendors set up protest lines on roads late Monday to demand greater access to the complex to sell their goods after security guards threw some out. The ruin site is operated by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, and its boundaries are somewhat vague, with local communities claiming some of the land. On Wednesday, the institute’s director said vendors were “invasive” and want “to sell Chinese merchandise in front of the pyramid.”