Latin Americans celebrate Day of the Dead

Today is the Day of the Dead- a holiday of remembrance to one’s deceased ancestors. The origins of the Day in Mexico stem back at least 3000 years to the days of the Aztecs and Mayas. In Haiti, thousands of followers of the Voodoo religion journeyed to the country’s largest cemetery to observe the holiday. Meanwhile, Mexicans domestically and in the U.S. commemorated the Day of the Dead in traditional ways such as building altars to the dead at home and by eating special foods like the bread of the dead.

Update: El Salvadorans also commemorated the Day of the Dead, yet with a notable pall from the country's civil war that lasted between 1980 and 1992. (Links via International Herald Tribune).

Image- Pravda (Russia)

Links- Wikipedia, CBS News, Reuters AlertNet, Houston Chronicle, Oregon Daily Emerald, The Arizona Republic, OC Register, Iowa State University

Tags- Day of the Dead, Haiti, Mexico