Mexican History and Genetics

Portuguese Jewish ancestry in Mexicans

AncestryDNA confirmed the Portuguese Jewish heritage in Mexicans especially those from the city of Monterrey in the state of Nuevo Leon. This is very interesting but not surprising if we look more into the history of Monterrey (Northeastern Mexico in general), Luis de Carabajal y Cueva was a Portuguese Jew from Mogadouro, Portugal who founded and became governor of Monterrey. In the year 1590, while in the midst of prosperity, and seemingly leading Christian lives, he was seized by the Inquisition. Carabajal's daughter, Isabela, was tortured until she implicated the whole of the Carabajal family, who, with the exception of one son, Baltasar, were imprisoned. The latter succeeded in escaping to Taxco, and was condemned to death in his absence. He was found guilty of bringing large numbers of Sephardi Jew families from Portugal especially from the Azorean islands.






Here they compare the city of Monterrey with Mexico and their mtDNA haplogroups, we notice here that Monterrey has a higher percentage of Jewish mtDNA compared to Mexico.




Source:
AncestryDNA Portuguese Jew in Mexicans