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Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, has a Benito Juarez Bulevar. So does Tecate and Tijuana and Ensenada.
Benito Juarez Bulevar runs right through the middle of downtown Rosarito Beach. Who was Benito Juarez? He played a
very prominent part in the history of Mexico. He was a hero. Let’s start at the beginning and see where he fits in.
For millions of years ethnic groups flourished in Central America. Each had its own language, customs and traditions. Then came the Spaniards. The first were explorers, but soon thereafter came the conquerors. The first was conquistador Hernan Cortez. He landed in Vera Cruz in 1521 triggering the painful birth of the mestizo nation, the New Spain, which became the Mexico of today with a new language and a new religion. Cortez was ordered back to Spain in 1528 and was succeeded by Beltran Nuno de Guzman. In 1535 Antonio de Mendoza became Viceroy. For the next 3 centuries there would be a series of 61 Viceroys. Around 1800 Spain became involved in numerous wars in Europe and with the Peninsula War of 1808-1814 simply had to give up her colonies in the Americas, but those in control would not relinquish their power so on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo, a priest, initiated a revolt against the Spanish rule. This date is considered Mexico’s National Day, although independence was not consummated until 1821. But independence was short lived. France would soon show up. Enter Benito Juarez, a well educated full blooded Zapotec Indian. A liberal statesman, he helped shape the history of Mexico in a way that made him a hero. Revered by Mexicans as one of their greatest political figures, Juárez, with great moral courage and honesty, upheld civil law and opposed the privileges of the clericals and the army. He was responsible for the Reform Laws which declared the independence of the State from the Church. He was president when Ferdinand Maximilian of France arrived. The republicans thought allegiance would go to the French who they would control, but when Maximilian was proclaimed emperor of New Spain in 1864 most of the country was hostile to him and loyal to Benito Juarez. He found himself involved in serious difficulties. Juarez was obliged to leave Mexico City, but continued to govern from different places in Mexico. In 1836 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a Mexican general, led the forces that overwhelmed the Alamo. In 1853 Juarez was imprisoned and later briefly exiled in the US for his opposition to Santa Anna, but he ultimately returned to Mexico and became minister of justice in the new government and continued to attack the privileges of the church and the army. Ignacio Comonfort joined Juan Alvarez to overthrow Santa Anna. A French once again force set out to Mexico City in 1862 under the illusion that the Mexican people would welcome them. On the 5th of May, Cinco de Mayo in Spanish, the government of Juárez obtained victory in the Battle of Puebla against the French. A battle was won but not the war, yet Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the USA among the Mexican-Americans to commemorate the overthrow of the French. When President Comonfort resigned, Juárez became acting president. In 1867 he returned to the capital city after the republicans had captured and executed Maximilian. Juarez was again elected in 1871. The Mexican people rallied to Juárez, and the empire fell. An insurrection against Juarez by Porfirio Diaz was being suppressed when Juárez died. Then came the Mexican Revolution in 1911. No one can be said to be more synonymous with the wild side of Mexico than Pancho Villa, one of the rebel generals of the Mexican Revolution who invaded US territory and led American soldiers on a wild goose chase all over the harsh Mexican countryside for months. Along with Emiliano Zapata and Francisco I. Madero, Villa led peasant armies to a swift victory over the corrupt and repressive regime of the aging dictator, Porfirio Diaz. The rebel generals ultimately routed the usurpers and drove them into exile. A constitution was approved in 1917. Thereafter there have been a number of political parties and presidents, not without some accusations of corruption. One party, the PRI, (Institutional Revolution Party) stayed in power for 71 years, until the election of President Vincente Fox of PAN (National Action Party) in 2000. |