During Dia de la Revolución, the heart
of San Felipe is yellow-ribboned, clearing the parade
streets for a processional celebration of Madero, Zapata's
and Pancho Villa's efforts to wrest rural Mexico from
the hands of the abusive haciendistas. Children
dress in peasant garb, sporting plastic rifles, bandoleers
and wide-brimmed sombreros, and march down the Malecón.
Kindergartens are represented by youngsters in bright
uniforms, some beating steady rythms on band-drums hung
from their necks. Parents and relatives cheer from the
sidewalks as troops of kids rag-tag a phalanx of red and
green costumes, trying to look stern within the airy discipline
of their youth. Many fail and break out with a giggle
as someone's uncle or mother calls out a name with a reproach
to close rank or stop tripping over their own feet.
The Mexican Revolution of
1910
For most of Mexico's developing history, a small minority
of the people were in control of much of the country's
power and wealth, while the majority of the population
worked in poverty. As the rift between the poor and rich
grew under the leadership of General Díaz, the
political voice of the lower classes was also declining.
Opposition against Díaz did surface when Francisco
I. Madero, educated in Europe and at the University of
California, led a series of strikes throughout the country.
Díaz
was pressured into holding an election in 1910, in which
Madero was able to gather a significant number of the
votes. Although Díaz was at one time a strong supporter
of the one-term limit, he seemed to have changed his mind
and had Madero imprisoned, feeling that the people of
Mexico just weren't ready for democracy. Once Madero was
released from prison, he continued his battle against
Díaz in an attempt to have him overthrown. During
this time, several other Mexican folk heros began to emerge,
including the well known Pancho Villa in the north, and
the peasant Emiliano Zapata in the south, who were able
to harass the Mexican army and wrest control of their
respective regions. Díaz was unable to control
the spread of the insurgence and resigned in May, 1911,
with the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez,
after which he fled to France.
Madero was elected president, but received opposition
from Emiliano Zapata who didn't wish to wait for the orderly
implementation of Madero's desired land reforms. In November
of the same year Zapata denounced Madero as president
and took the position for himself. He controlled the state
of Morelos, where he chased out the estate owners and
divided their lands to the peasants. Later, in 1919, Zapata
was assassinated by Jesus Guajardo acting under orders
from General Pablo Gonzalez.
It was during this time that the country broke into
many different factions, and guerilla units roamed across
the country destroying and burning down many large haciendas
and ranchos. Madero was later taken prisoner and executed
and the entire country existed in a state of disorder
for several years, while Pancho Villa rampaged through
the north, and different factions fought for presidential
control.
Eventually, Venustiano Carranza rose to the presidency,
and organized an important convention whose outcome was
the Constitution of 1917, which is still in effect today.
Carranza made land reform an important part of that constitution.
This resulted in the ejido, or farm cooperative program
that redistributed much of the country's land from the
wealthy land holders to the peasants. The ejidos are still
in place today and comprise nearly half of all the farmland
in Mexico.
Carranza was followed by others who would fight for political
control, and who would eventually continue with the reforms,
both in education and land distribution. During this period
the PRI political party was established, which was the
dominant political power for 71 years until Vicente Fox
of the conservative PAN party was elected. The holiday
itself commemorates the day, November 20th of 1910, when
Madero denounced President Díaz, declared himself
president of Mexico and called for a national insurrection.
The
2006 Revolution Day Parade
Site/articles about the Mexican Revolution
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