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A Mexican town watches its ‘Roma’ star shine. Another treasure’s fate is less clear

Olivia Garcia Perez, 26, buys the movie "Roma" in a market stand in Tlaxiaco, Mexico, the hometown of the movie's star, Yalitza Aparicio.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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High on the mountain of Yucunino, where a valley of pines leads you straight to Tlaxiaco, everyone knows about the girl.

La Yalitza, they call her — as if she were a storm that swept through their town. Young and indigenous, she was like so many women here, until she was plucked from her corrugated metal shanty and made a Hollywood star.

Yalitza Aparicio is now up for an Oscar for her role in “Roma,” and her hometown couldn’t be more proud.

But as they eagerly watch to see where fame takes her, Tlaxiaqueños worry about the fate of another treasure in town.

A moto-taxi, a common form of transportation in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
"Roma" star Yalitza Aparicio taught at this private kindergarten in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Parishioners with figurines of baby Jesus after a Fiesta de la Candelaria Mass in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Market day in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Guadalupe Ramirez, right, gives music lessons at the Casa de la Cultura in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
The home where actress Yalitza Aparicio lived with her family.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Paris Chiquito, or "Little Paris," is the nickname for Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
A clock tower is surrounded by an open-air market in the Plaza de la Constitucion in Tlaxiaco.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion Catholic church that anchors the Esplanada Benito Juarez in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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