Guadalajara Cartel founder Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo. Historical (left), video still (right)
A cartel founder and convicted murderer known as “The Godfather” and “The Boss of Bosses” will remain in prison despite a judge ruling that he could complete one of his sentences under house arrest.
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, who founded the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s, was arrested in 1989. He gained wider recognition in the English-speaking world after he was portrayed as a main character in Narcos: Mexico, starting in 2018.
Taking Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo’s advanced age and poor health into account, a Mexico City-based federal judge ruled late last week that he could complete his 40-year sentence for cocaine trafficking, weapons possession and bribery at a residence in Zapopan, Jalisco.
However, the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has challenged the ruling, preventing the release of the 76-year-old co-founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel. Félix Gallardo has been in prison since his arrest in the Jalisco capital in 1989.
Mugshot of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo from 1989
The newspaper El Financiero said that the convicted narco was expected to leave Jalisco’s Puente Grande prison on Tuesday, but several other reports – published before the FGR’s challenge became known – didn’t cite a specific date and noted that his 37-year prison sentence for the 1985 murders of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala still stood.
Félix Gallardo – who has always denied involvement in the murder of Camarena – has a range of health problems and was hospitalized in July. In addition, he’s deaf in one ear, blind in one eye and has cataracts in the other.
In a 2021 interview, Félix Gallardo described his health as “terrible” and indicated that he expected to die soon, saying that his family was preparing “a hole” in which to bury him.
“I’m a corpse who doesn’t aspire to anything more than being buried … [beneath] a tree,” he said.
Caro Quintero – who spent 28 years in jail for the murder of Camarena before his 40-year sentence was cut short in 2013 after it was ruled that he was improperly tried in a federal court when the case should have been heard at the state level – is imprisoned at the El Altiplano federal prison in México state.
Shortly after his arrest, a Jalisco court granted him an injunction against extradition to the United States before a formal extradition was held. A México state court subsequently validated the ruling, and its decision was upheld late last month after the FGR filed a challenge against it.
Traditional dancers celebrate the festival Guelaguetza in Oaxaca city. DepositPhotos
The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development — Mondiacult 2022 — will be held Sept. 28 to 30 in Mexico City.
The event comes 40 years after the first Mondiacult conference was held in the capital in 1982 and 24 years after the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies for Development held in Stockholm in 1998. The global conference will look at the cultural sector worldwide and seek to find ways to better incorporate the needs of culture and its promotion into policy-making, as well as map current cultural trends, including the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic for arts and culture.
The conference will also look at how culture can assist nations in reaching the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, announced in 2015 and adopted by United Nations member states as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. There are many global challenges faced by the cultural sector worldwide — climate change, job precarity, and freedom and diversity of expression just to name a few. The conference will look at ideas on how culture and the governmental policies that surround it can help to support artists, communities, and organizations involved in cultural promotion.
Ernesto Ottone, assistant director of culture at UNESCO, says that Mexico’s real goal at Mondiacult 2022 is not just to host a successful conference but also help to produce successful results:
“The challenge is that Mexico, with a long and renowned tradition of diplomacy, is able to create consensus around the agenda of the future…. From two and a half years ago when the planning process for this event began, it was understood that Mexico has a role to play in working toward future policies that will go beyond the tools that already exist on an international level.”
The conference will bring together representatives from 193 countries including ministries of culture, members of civil society, non-profit organizations, and other organizations worldwide. The hope is that participants can help to solidify culture as a global public good, and promote its value and importance for the future of society.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, left center meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right center. Foreign Affairs Ministry
Cooperation between Mexico and the United States on economic issues, security and immigration appear to be the talking points during discussions Monday afternoon between high-ranking Mexican and U.S. officials in Mexico City, headed on the Mexico side by President López Obrador and on the United States’ side by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
President López Obrador had stressed beforehand that there was no predefined agenda for his meeting with Blinken during the U.S-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED), which involved Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and other officials on the U.S. side and President López Obrador, Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard on the Mexican side. President Lopez Obrador had not issued any statements on the meeting as of 4 p.m.
But topics that did come up, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard’s post on Twitter around 3 p.m., were not surprises.
In a tweet on the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s account celebrating his meeting with Blinken, Ebrard mentioned the three major talking points, adding that in the security discussion, a special emphasis was placed on bilateral cooperation on controlling arms trafficking. Ebrard also said that multilateralism, in the lead-up to the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session in New York City, which opens on Wednesday, was also discussed.
No set topics were planned for the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President López Obrador today, the president said beforehand. File photo
President Lopez Obrador had predicted in the days before the meeting that Mexico’s nationalistic energy policies, which are being challenged under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by both the U.S. and Canada – would be raised and suggested that he might bring up the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. It’s not clear if either of those topics are being discussed between López Obrador and Blinken.
AMLO had said that he would advocate for Assange’s freedom – the 51-year-old Australian faces espionage charges in the United States – if there was an opportunity to do so. The president added that Blinken will likely raise security issues.
“There is a high-level meeting to attend to [USMCA] and bilateral issues between Mexico and the United States,” López Obrador said before the meeting. “… [In my meeting with Blinken] there isn’t a defined agenda, … a special agenda, but we will attend to matters of interest for the two nations and the two peoples,” he said.
Ebrard said last week that he would “probably” speak to the secretary of state about the United States’ travel alerts for Mexico. The U.S. State Department is currently advising U.S. citizens not to travel to six states – Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas – due to crime, and to reconsider travel to seven others.
“We’ve never agreed with the alerts because they’re unilateral,” Ebrard said.
During a tour of Jalisco on the weekend, López Obrador had also predicted that “the migration issue” would also be raised. The United States has long sought Mexico’s assistance to stem the flow of migrants to its southern border, while Mexico is interested in the fair treatment of Mexicans who live in the U.S.
Today I met with Mexican Foreign Secretary @m_ebrard on the margins of the High-Level Economic Dialogue to discuss our continued cooperation on security, migration, and advancing prosperity—priorities for both our nations. pic.twitter.com/J26bgx9m1C
“Our migrant compatriots shouldn’t be mistreated,” López Obrador said.
In a statement published last Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the central goal of the HLED – which was relaunched last year – is to foster economic development and growth, job creation, global competitiveness and the reduction of poverty and inequality. He also noted that the dialogue is built on “four central pillars”: Building Back Together, Promoting Sustainable Economic and Social Development in Southern Mexico and Central America, Securing the Tools for Future Prosperity, and Investing in Our People.
“… Mexico and the United States are partners, allies and friends,” she wrote. “… At the Economy Ministry we’re convinced that the HLED is an effective cooperation mechanism.”
Taxco, a popular tourist destination in Mexico Comisión Mexicana de Filmaciones from México D. F., México, CC BY-SA 2.0
International tourists and visitors spent almost US $16.5 billion in Mexico between January and July, an increase of nearly 65% compared to the same period of 2021, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco reported Sunday.
Data from the national statistics agency INEGI show that just over 36.8 million tourists and visitors (day trippers and cruise ship passengers, for example) spent $16.48 billion here in the first seven months of the year.
The monetary figure is 64.6% higher than that for the same period of last year and 8.3% above that for 2019, when the tourism sector hadn’t yet been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Foreigners’ expenditure last month totaled $2.67 billion, a 21% increase compared to July 2021.
In a statement, Torruco also said that just under 21.7 million international tourists came to Mexico between January and July, a 25.5% increase compared to the same period of last year, but a 17.3% decline compared to 2019.
Tourists on a Mexican beach/Twitter
They spent an average of $719 each while in the country, an increase of 32.9% compared to last year. Those who arrived by air – just over 12.5 million people – spent $1,131 on average, a 3.4% spike compared to 2021.
In a Twitter post on Sunday, Torruco highlighted the increase in tourism revenue, declaring that it showed that Mexico is on a “good path.”
In another post on Monday, the tourism minister predicted that more than 2 million Mexicans will travel within the country this upcoming Independence Day long weekend, injecting an anticipated 29.6 billion pesos (US $1.5 billion) into local economies.
Hotel occupancy of 60% or higher is expected in several destinations including Acapulco, Mexico City, Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos.
Passenger numbers at airports in the last three cities exceeded 2019 levels in July, providing evidence that the tourism sector is recovering from the pandemic-induced downturn.
Wixárika community members in Mezquitic, Jalisco, told the president that organized crime's presence there is affecting people's freedom of movement and daily lives.
Highlighting the presence of “very powerful” crime groups, President López Obrador on Saturday promised that the federal government would develop a security plan for the Gran Nayar, a mountainous region that encompasses parts of Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango and Zacatecas.
Speaking during a meeting with members of the Wixárika, or Huichol, community in Mezquitic, Jalisco, the president said he would ask Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval to present “a comprehensive plan for the entire region.”
He said that residents of indigenous communities in all four states that comprise the Gran Nayar had requested the presence of the National Guard, the three-year-old security force that superseded the Federal Police.
“The communities … have conserved the tranquility of their towns, but there are now very powerful crime groups and the support of the state is needed,” López Obrador said. “… We can build the necessary National Guard barracks so that you have security and protection, as you deserve,” he said.
Among the Wixárika community’s main requests were the issuance of a decree to protect five sacred sites and assistance in recovering dispossessed lands.
Patricio Ortiz de la Cruz, an official in the Wixárika community of San Andrés Cohamiata, told the president that locals are “very concerned about the high levels of insecurity and violence in our region.” The presence of organized crime affects people’s capacity to move freely about the region and their daily lives, Ortiz said.
He and other representatives, — including the head of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, Adelfo Regino, called for National Guard barracks to be built in Mezquitic, the neighboring municipality of Bolaños and Valparaíso, Zacatecas.
“Reinforcing security in the already identified strategic points is essential,” Ortiz said.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the dominant criminal organization in Jalisco and Nayarit, according to a recent report by the United States Congressional Research Service. In Zacatecas, the organized crime group is engaged in a turf war with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The president said he would ask Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval for “a comprehensive plan for the entire region.” One Wixarika leader said he wants National Guard presence in already identified strategic points.
Formerly led by notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa Cartel is the dominant criminal force in Durango, part of which is located within the opium poppy and marijuana-growing region known as the Golden Triangle.
At Saturday’s meeting, Wixárika representatives also presented a “plan for justice” for the Wixárika people. Among their main requests were the issuance of a decree to protect five sacred sites and assistance to recover lands of which they have been dispossessed over the years.
Ortiz said that the dispossession of land began in colonial times and hasn’t stopped, asserting that “our struggle has been tireless.”
The Wixárika people also called for improvements to educational, health care and highway infrastructure and the implementation of environmental programs. In response, López Obrador said that the federal government would “comply with the plan” presented to it.
“We’re going to confront the land problem, I feel that it’s the main problem in this region,” he said.
“It’s already been going on for a long time; there have been differences, there is confrontation and it’s very clear that it’s a fight between indigenous communities and small, medium and large private landowners,” López Obrador said.
“… There has to be an agreement so that the underlying problem is resolved. … We have to speak with the private landowners … and offer them alternatives, compensate them; it’s called indemnity,” López Obrador continued. “We can do it. … That’s what we’re doing to return the land that was taken from the Yaqui people.”
Add a special something to your butter — it's so easy!
How can something that’s already so good be even better? Well, that’s what compound butters are all about.
Using the freshest, best-quality butter you can find, you mix in small amounts of ingredients that add bold or subtle flavors. Then the butter is rolled into a log and stored in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it.
Finding good butter in Mexico can be challenging; most brands have vegetable oil added that may not be listed on the label. (Regulations as to what qualifies as “butter” are different than in the U.S. or Canada.) Your best bets will be imported butters like President from France or the Danish Lurpak.
Some lucky folks will have a local dairy that sells fresh butter or be able to find the delightful Flor de Alfalfa brand butter from an organic dairy in Querétaro. But you can also just use whatever butter or margarine you normally eat.
Liven up whitefish with buttery chives and garlic!
Now comes the fun part: compound butters can be used in ways you’d never consider for regular plain ol’ butter. They’re an easy way to liven up basic cooked or grilled meats, veggies, chicken or fish, and it impresses guests as well.
Put a slice of garlic-parsley butter on a just-grilled burger right before serving for a rich finish; top a salmon filet with lime-herb butter to add lush citrusy overtones; sauté shrimp in ginger-curry butter; brush bleu cheese butter on grilled steak or vegetables; add any flavor to pasta, soups or stir-fries.
All of the recipes below use the same process. Put slightly softened butter in a food processor or bowl. Add the other ingredients and salt to taste; mix well — or for a different look, only mix a little, so that the add-ins create more of a marbled effect.
Scrape butter onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper large enough to tightly roll into a log about 1½ inches in diameter. Twist the ends to seal and refrigerate. When ready to use, just cut off a slice. Voila!
Garlic-Parsley Butter (Beurre Maître d’Hôtel)
Great on burgers or steak!
1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz.) softened
¼ cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbsp. juice plus 2 tsp. zest from 1 lemon
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine butter, parsley, lemon juice, zest and garlic in a food processor or bowl; pulse until garlic and herbs are chopped and juice is incorporated, or mix well by hand. Season to taste with salt and pepper; pulse to combine. Wrap butter tightly and refrigerate.
Lime-Herb Butter
2 tsp. fresh lime juice + zest from 2 limes
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
8 sprigs fresh cilantro
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. black pepper
⅛ tsp. cayenne or pinch of red pepper flakes
Finely grate zest from 2 limes; set aside. By hand or in food processor, combine butter, ginger, 8 sprigs cilantro, lime zest and juice. Process until smooth.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne/red pepper; process again, wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Chipotle Butter
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
1½ Tbsp. canned chipotle pepper, minced
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
¼ tsp. coarse salt
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Jalapeño Lime Butter
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
½-1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded, minced
Juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp coarse salt
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Garlic-herb compound butter livens up grilled steak, fish or veggies in a flash.
Smoked Paprika and Rosemary Butter
1 stick unsalted butter (4oz.)
1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. salt
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Cinnamon Maple Butter
1 stick unsalted butter (4oz.)
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Ginger-Curry Butter
1-2 tsp. freshly grated peeled ginger
¼ – ½ tsp. curry powder
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
Salt to taste
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
Blue Cheese Butter
1 stick unsalted butter (4oz.)
½ cup blue cheese or gorgonzola (add more or less as desired)
Salt and pepper to taste
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Garlic-Herb Butter
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
¼ tsp. coarse salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
Combine butter, zest, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor or bowl; pulse until thoroughly combined or mix well by hand. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed; mix again. Wrap butter tightly and refrigerate.
Sundried Tomato Butter
1 stick unsalted butter (4oz.)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes
¼ tsp. coarse salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
By hand or in food processor, combine all ingredients. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.
The president shakes hands in 2020 with a newly minted member of the National Guard, a federal civilian police force that, thanks to a congressional vote on Friday, now answers to the military. Presidencia
There’s a lot going on with the justice system lately.
What’s not going on? Major changes in how justice happens (or doesn’t, for that matter) in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the country’s security problem hasn’t seen any real improvement in a very long while. Impunity reigns as much as it ever did, and while there have been a handful of accomplishments — ridding the state of Michoacán of many of its illegal checkpoints, for example — our security situation remains much the same, only now with more uniformed gun carriers than before.
What needs to be done first, second and third to get things moving around here?
To begin, choose your own metaphor regarding our current attempts: we’re filling a car with gas when the problem is four slashed tires; throwing bandages at stomach cancer; repainting a house whose main problem is a series of burst pipes. The only thing we know for certain is that what we’re doing isn’t working.
Now that he’s president, he seems to have embraced militarization with an unexpected fervor even though, as Transparency International Defense & Security details, “the military is one of the least transparent state institutions and benefits from a privileged position that exempts it from standard reporting, disclosure and transparency requirements.”
Or is that part of the appeal?
What I personally don’t understand is why he presents the military as more honest and less corruptible than —admittedly notoriously corrupt — civilian forces. Wasn’t a former army general just implicated in the murder of several Ayotzinapa students, after all?
It’s hard to say what brought about his change of heart from his “man of the people, speaking truth to power” days to his actions as president. I’m not sure which reasoning I hope more to be true: that the president really does believe that security has immensely improved during his administration, or that he’s simply a cynic like most humans expect their politicians to be.
I’m admittedly no security expert. All I know is that a bunch of people in uniform carrying big guns makes me personally feel less safe, not more. I mean, it’s not as if the majority of those with even a little bit of power (and firepower) around here have ever gone out of their way to not abuse that power.
And yet, AMLO seems determined to continue increasing the influence of the military over daily life and is ever-careful to point out his (sometimes imagined) accomplishments — while making sure to place the blame for continued high crime rates on others.
On the one hand, yes, bringing attention to potential corruption amongst judges is important. On the other hand, publicly shaming them rather than quietly firing them seems to use spectacle to communicate this message to the public: “See? It’s not my fault. How do you expect me to get anything done with people like this around?”
He may have a point there, but he certainly doesn’t have a stellar track record on taking rule of law seriously, given his habit of dismissing real complaints and insisting that everything is fine. Meanwhile, there are many who go to prison because a police officer made up an accusation in order to make an arrest. Poor prisoners who don’t have money for private legal counsel have been known to languish in pre-trial detention for years before trial.
As Saskia Niño de Rivera, president of the nonprofit advocacy Reinserta, pointed out, “Forty-seven percent of people in prison have been waiting for years for their culpability to be determined.”
Chale.
So, I don’t know if increasing the presence of the military in Mexico will help (though I think I’ve got a pretty guess). I don’t know if publicly shaming judges will help. I suspect that putting a limit on how long those accused of crimes can sit in jail before facing trial and possible conviction would help, as would independent international organizations brought in to audit our police and military forces and implement changes. If you come, would you mind hanging around for like 20 years to make sure it really sticks?
I just hope that we decide to replace the tires, start treatment, and finally call in the plumber.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com
This image of Miguel Hidalgo appears in just about every history textbook in Mexico, credited to Luis Garcés.
Last year, Mexico News Daily published a primer about Mexico’s War of Independence for the upcoming holidays. This year, we focus on Mexico’s independence hero, Miguel Hidalgo.
“Father of the country” is not a concept unique to the United States. Many countries have figures honored with that title, and in Mexico, that man is Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.
For those of us raised to revere George Washington as a near-saint, it’s perhaps curious that Hidalgo is remembered not only as the father of his country but also a Catholic priest — and despite the latter detail, the father of two daughters.
Born in Guanajuato in 1753, Hidalgo was a criollo, a person of Spanish heritage born in New Spain. They were the second highest-ranking caste in New Spain, under peninsulares, those born in the mother country. This class system was significant to both Hidalgo’s life and Mexico’s War of Independence.
Mexico’s “founding father” attended school in Valladolid (today Morelia, Michoacán) and Mexico City. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1778. Some sources emphasize that Hidalgo was not a particularly pious priest, in it more for the position and economic gain, but that was not uncommon during the time period.
Jose Clemente Orozco’s portrait of Miguel Hidalgo in Guadalajara, one of the most famous modern images of the rebel leader. Salvador alc/Creative Commons
In 1803, he landed the position of parish priest in Dolores, in the state of Guanajuato; it was a wealthy community. Aside from his salary, he earned money through various businesses, including the raising of olives and grapes, which were both banned in the colonies by the Spanish crown so as not to compete with Spain’s imports.
Charismatic and intelligent, Hidalgo had good relationships with people in all of New Spain’s castes, including the mestizos (mixed-race) and the indigenous. However, some of his behavior, like having mistresses, got him in hot water with his superiors. He was also influenced by Enlightenment values and other then-radical ideas which led him to work for the economic betterment of the poor. This did not often sit well with hacienda owners.
Hidalgo’s independence career began in literature-reading circles — a popular pastime for criollos. These literature circles were not only social but political. They provided cover for those sharing banned news and ideas. A pivotal moment came when Spain was invaded by Napoleon in 1808, installing his brother onto the Spanish throne.
As Spaniards, the criollos of Mexico could not accept the usurper, but as “Mexicans” they saw an opportunity in Spain’s chaos and weakness. Also a factor: the new French-installed government in Spain began to economically squeeze the colonies, to the detriment of both criollos and the lower classes.
The first revolts against Spain’s control of Mexico were quickly put down, but this did not settle anything. Although he’d been active in rebel circles beforehand, Hidalgo’s main shift towards independence came through a group known as the Querétaro Conspiracy.
The group planned to start the revolt in December 1810, but before the time came, they realized that they had been exposed. Rather than run, Hidalgo decided simply to push the start date up two months.
His first move was to ring the bell on the Dolores parish church to convene the locals. With a speech that is now known as the Cry of Dolores (El Grito de Dolores), he urged the mestizos and indigenous to “free themselves” from the “hated Spaniards” under the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who was already a Catholic symbol of Mexico, said to have appeared in visions to an indigenous man here in 1531.
Hidalgo’s social status and charisma brought several hundred recruits to serve under his command with Ignacio Allende, a professional soldier who would be remembered as another Independence hero. Really a mob, this “army” marched on cities in Guanajuato, starting with San Miguel el Grande (now San Miguel de Allende), plundering and gathering more recruits by the thousands.
President López Obrador’s first Grito, or reenactment of the Cry of Dolores done by Miguel Hidalgo. Xinhua
On September 28, Hidalgo took the city of Guanajuato, with the mestizos and indigenous taking vengeance on the city’s elite. Hidalgo did little to stop them despite being a priest, and both he and Allende were quickly excommunicated as a result.
Hidalgo’s army took Valladolid (i.e. Morelia) on October 17 and Toluca (today in México state) on October 25.
On October 30, Hidalgo was outside of Mexico City, where a royal regiment was sent to confront the rebellion. At the ensuing Battle of Monte de las Cruces, Hidalgo and Allende won, but it was bloody. What happened next is something of a mystery.
Allende urged Hidalgo to press on to Mexico City, but Hidalgo decided to retreat. There is no documentation as to why.
One story states that Hidalgo was upset over the carnage. Another says that he received false information that royalist forces in the capital were far stronger than they really were.
History records the retreat as a catastrophic mistake. Recruits began to desert and the royalists were in pursuit. Hidalgo managed to get to Guadalajara in November 1810, where he was greeted as a liberator, but the rebels were attacked again, forcing Hidalgo and Allende northward to look for help from the United States. However, both were captured in Coahuila on May 21, 1811.
Hidalgo was executed by firing squad on July 30, 1811, supposedly putting his hand over his heart to indicate to the soldiers where to aim. His body was beheaded and the head sent to Guanajuato city to be displayed there as a warning. It did not work. The reins that fell from Hidalgo’s hands were taken up by José María Morelos.
One possible lesson from Hidalgo’s story might be not to believe your own hype. His charisma and initial successes made him impervious to questioning. He would not listen to Allende, although the latter had the needed military knowledge.
Hidalgo carried a banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a “Mexican.” The Guadalupe virgin was already considered a symbol of Mexico at that point. Marcuse/Creative Commons
If Hidalgo had decided to attack Mexico City, it is very possible that the War of Independence would have ended then, but it is doubtful that it would have ended the bloodshed.
First of all, there is no indication that Hidalgo would have made a better head of state than he did a general. The coups and civil wars of 19th-century Mexico just would have started 10 years sooner.
What Hidalgo provides is an inspiring figure and story on which to hang the concept of Mexican independence. This is evident with the reenactment of the Cry of Dolores each year at 11 p.m. on September 15, done by every ranking politician in the country, including the president, whose Grito is broadcast on national television.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
A National Guard member at a 2021 military parade in Mexico City. Twitter @Luis_R_Bucio
The National Guard will be placed under the complete control of the army after the Senate passed a bill to that end early Friday.
Senators with the ruling Morena party and its allies voted in favor of the bill, ensuring its passage through the upper house.
President López Obrador, who announced the plan to put the National Guard under military control last month, will now sign the bill into law.
The National Guard is currently the responsibility of the Security Ministry, although it operates under army leadership on the ground.
The vote in the Senate was held in the early hours of Friday after a contentious debate that lasted almost 12 hours. A total of 71 senators voted in favor of the bill while 51 opposed it. Morena Senate leader Ricardo Monreal abstained due to concerns about the bill’s legality.
Opposition lawmakers indicated they would challenge the constitutionality of the soon-to-be law in the Supreme Court.
“Public safety is not achieved by violating the rule of law, by violating the constitution,” said Senator Claudia Anaya Mota of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
The National Guard was established in 2019 under a constitutionally-enshrined civilian command but the bill that passed the Senate on Friday reforms secondary laws rather than the constitution.
National Action Party (PAN) lawmakers hold a banner reading “Militarization is not the solution” to protest the passage of the new law. Twitter @AccionNacional
National Action Party (PAN) Senator Lilly Téllez accused Morena senators of being subservient to López Obrador and his plan to further militarize the country.
“You are not legislators, you’re subjects of the pejelagarto [a kind of fish],” she said, referring to the president by one of his nicknames.
López Obrador, who has relied heavily on the military since taking office in late 2018, argues that the National Guard needs to be under the army’s control to prevent corruption and guarantee its professionalism.
Amnesty International (AI) said Friday that the move would lead to more human rights violations.
“We have already seen the disastrous results of the militarization of public security forces in Mexico over the last 16 years,” Edith Olivares Ferreto, director of AI in Mexico, said in a statement.
“We call on the executive branch to design a plan for the progressive withdrawal of the armed forces from the streets, prioritizing the strengthening of civilian police forces and the development of public prevention policies aimed at guaranteeing public safety.”
Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif also raised concerns about the bill approved by the Senate, saying that “the reforms effectively leave Mexico without a civilian police force at the federal level, and further consolidate the already prominent role of the armed forces in security in Mexico.”
López Obrador responded on Friday by questioning why human rights groups and international organizations didn’t speak out when abuses were committed during previous governments.
“[They] kept silent like accomplices during the whole period of massacres and torture, and protection of organized crime. They never said anything and now they are so worried about militarization in Mexico,” he said.
Michael Scott, the incompetent manager from the sitcom The Office, also stars in this ad for the business administration program at Innova University in Veracruz. Facebook / Universidad Innova Veracruz
Innova University in Veracruz went viral this week with the publicity posted to their social media channels about its specialty degree programs.
The tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull from the movie Matilda advertises the courses in teaching. Hannibal Lector in full straitjacket and mask announces the psychology degree and Saul Goodman, the shady lawyer from the hit TV series Better Call Saul, encourages future lawyers to join the law program, saying there is a difference between being a criminal lawyer and a lawyer who’s a criminal.
The publicity coincided with the university’s announcement that they would provide scholarships to cover up to 50% of the school fees for their new degree programs.
The publicity for the degree courses has received thousands of likes and comments on Facebook and greatly enhanced the visibility of a university unknown to many students before this.
Instead of experiencing fallout from using proprietary images that aren’t in the public domain, it seems that the university has received nothing but positive feedback from this publicity gamble. The school has gotten the attention of the Mexican arm of Netflix, the giant streaming service conglomerate which always keeps on top of viral trends on social media. The company produced its own parody advertisements using characters from its most popular series. Mob boss Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders publicizes the business administration program, Woo Young-woo from Extraordinary Attorney Woo is teaching law, and Number Five from the Umbrella Academy, engineering.
“Because you can’t take your future lightly,” says the Netflix post, “come study today at UNINETFLIS, the University for you.”
Perhaps this viral marketing campaign will become part of the publicity degree curriculum at Innova, with a minor in Netflix binging?
