Just as Sunday’s “cry of independence” from the National Palace in Mexico City was markedly different from years past, so was Monday’s Independence Day parade.

The parade commemorating the 209th anniversary of Mexican Independence celebrated the ideals and actions of the government of President López Obrador instead of exalting the military might of the country’s armed forces.

There were also two firsts for women in the military.

The show kicked off with 15 paratroopers landing in front of the presidential balcony of the National Palace. Among them was Cecilia Canto, the first female paratrooper to take part in an Independence Day parade.

Later in the ceremony, female pilots were at the controls of two air force planes, also for the first time ever.

Of special significance this year was the presence of the National Guard, the security force that is the centerpiece of López Obrador’s strategy to suppress historic levels of violence.

But it was the president’s so-called Fourth Transformation, the 4T, that was the focal point of the one-hour and 40-minute parade, and what the administration sees as its achievements to date.

Floats representing the previous transformations of Mexico — Independence, Reform and the Revolution — preceded displays glorifying the new one, beginning with a representation of the government’s efforts to curb petroleum theft.

They were followed by children representing the president’s decision to transform the Islas Marías prison into an arts center, a display highlighting the cleaning of sargassum from Quintana Roo’s beaches, and another showcasing the administration’s reforestation project titled Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life).

Then, some 40 minutes after the parade began came the contingents of soldiers and sailors. As they circled the zócalo, F-5 Tigers and other military planes and helicopters flew overhead.

With the contingents of Mexican military marched visiting soldiers from Argentina, Chile, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland.

According to official reports, 13,111 people, 416 vehicles, 74 airplanes and helicopters, 218 horses, 155 dogs and 68 charros  or horsemen participated.

Source: El Financiero (sp)