November 20th is an important holiday in Mexico as it represents the starting point of renewal for a nation that had not achieved the ideals promulgated by President Benito Juarez (the first and only full-blooded Indian elected to the presidency) in the second half of the 19th Century.
What was a plan of democracy for the masses led by Juarez was first stymied by the French imposition of an Emperor and than the Conservative dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz who sought to modernize Mexico from the “top down” and on the backs of the poor.
In his manifesto called El Plan de San Luis (6 of November, 1910), Francisco I. Madero proclaimed a call to arms by November 20th of that year if President Porfirio Diaz did not abdicate another run for the presidency. Diaz decided to stay in power and the Mexican Revolution officially began on that date.
I first developed an intense interest in the Mexican Revolution while reading literary works that describe its human effect on novelistic characters. I was particularly taken by Al Filo de Agua (The Edge of the Storm, 1947) by Agustin Yanez who captured the last moments in a small town in the State of Jalisco before the Revolution swept everything aside.
I also modeled much of my thinking about identity on Pedro Paramo (1955), a novel that brings into focus the power of the rich over the poor. In this story, Pedro Paramo, the strong man of the region, manages to manipulate the revolutionaries and then deliberately lets his hometown, Comala, starve to death.
The daily restlessness, anxiety and uneasiness of ordinary people swept up by the Revolution in Al Filo del Agua contrasts sharply with the greed and eternal damnation of those that sought to exploit it. In that context and at that time, the Mexican Revolution came to have a special sense and meaning for me as it provided a new insight beyond the great personalities of the war and the chaos it created.
Octavio Paz once called the Mexican Revolution a great fiesta where friends killed each other just to prove their mutual love. The chaotic magic of the great and epic event transcended time as well as destroyed institutional frameworks that opened the door to the later creation of a modern Mexico.
There are very few other revolutions that destroy the institutional past and create a new future. Perhaps among them are the French Revolution that sought new democratic forms, the Russian Revolution that did away with monarchical rule and instituted a radically different design and the Cuban Revolution that turn its back on the past.
The celebration of the Mexican Revolution on November 20 has been of vital importance to the regime of President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. He has based his tenure on those ideals and has gone as far as to name each year of his presidency after a revolutionary hero.
This has garnered him the support especially among the poor that constitute 54 percent of the population. That is a testament to his popularity and the reason that his party will keep its majority and win the next presidency.
As I talk to my friends in Mexico, I hear that the preparations for the celebration on November 20th are in high gear. The high schools, for example, are preparing to commemorate particular aspects of what was the Revolution. I especially like those that dress in revolutionary outfits and ride on horseback. I also like the armed Adelitas in their epic roles.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of laVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
