Surviving Mexico

March 21, 2019 · 1:00 pm

Benito Juarez’s Birthday

There isn’t hardly a town in Mexico that does not have a street named after President Benito Juarez so it’s no surprise that his birthday is a national holiday. Benito Pablo Juárez García was born on March 21, 1806, to Brígida García and Marcelino Juárez, Zapotec peasants. After the death of not only his parents but also his grandparents, he was raised by an uncle. He became a servant in the same household as his older sister in Oaxaca and began formal schooling at age 12 when a prominent citizen arranged for him to attend seminary school. He later went on to study law, graduating in 1834. Juarez was elected to the Oaxaca city council in 1831 and appointed as a civil judge in 1841.

In 1842, he married Margarita Eustaquia Maza Parada, the daughter of the man he served as a child. Margarita was of upper class, Italian descent and 20 years younger than her husband. The two had 12 children (including twin girls) together, however, 5 died in childhood. Benito Juarez also had two children with a woman named Juana Rosa Chagoya prior to his marriage, Tereso and Susana. There’s isn’t much information about Juana although it seems she died before Juarez married Margarita. Although most biographies record that Juana Rosa was the mother of both children,Tereso had a different last name than Susana which makes it appear as if they had different mothers. (Tereso Juarez Ortiz/Susana Juarez Chagoya). One source names Tereso’s mother as Cruz Ortiz. While Susana was always acknowledged as the natural daughter of Benito Juarez, Tereso was denied legitimacy when he tried to obtain it after Juarez’s death. Susana was said to be mentally deficient in some way and never married which was convenient for the legitimate heirs of Margarita Maza.

Benito Juarez became president of Mexico in 1858 when President Ignacio Comonfort was forced to resign. Juarez was the head of the Supreme Court, so by order of succession, he assumed the position of president and remained president until his death in 1872.

He was president during the Reform War (1858-1860) which was a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives. He was also president during the French Invasion (1862-1867) although he and his family lived in exile for some time.

Juarez was a Freemason and opposed to the power of the Catholic church in Mexico. La Ley Juarez made it so that neither the military nor the clergy were exempt from civil laws. La Ley Lerdo went one step further and confiscated church lands not directly used for religious purposes. It also abolished communal land which impacted the indigenous communities as well. Although Juarez did not draft La Ley Lerdo, he did pass the Law of Nationalization of the Ecclesiastical Property (Ley de la Nacionalización de Los Bienes Eclesiásticos) in 1859 absorbing church-owned assets and properties into the national treasury.

Further undermining the authority of the church, Juarez created the Civil Registry for births, marriages, and deaths. Juarez also secularized cemeteries and hospitals. He decreed freedom of religion in 1860 (Ley de Libertad de Cultos) and established national holidays apart from the Catholic church as part of what is known as Los Leyes de Reforma.

Did you know that Benito Juarez was honored as Companion of the Third Class of the Pennsylvania Commandery by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) in 1866 which was typically reserved for civilians who made a significant contribution to the Union war effort? He and his wife spent some time in exile in the US and even met President Lincoln. That isn’t something that would happen nowadays though. Just think, an indigenous man from Mexico with his white wife and mixed-race children seek asylum in the US? Not on your life buster!

Benito Juarez is the face you’ll see on the 20 peso bill along with the scales of justice. On the back is the archeological site Monte Albán found in Oaxaca, the symbol for the Bank of Mexico and the symbol of a Cojijo.

The 20 peso bill is heading out the door to be replaced with a coin. However good ol’ Benito is the new face of the 500 peso bill, replacing Frida Kalho and Diego Rivera. This new bill looks enough like the 20 peso bill, down to the color, that some confusion is inevitable, at least until all the 20 peso bills are finally out of circulation.

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Do you want to learn more about Mexican holidays and traditions?

Then check out A Woman’s Survival Guide to Holidays in Mexico!

Aniversario de la Expropiación Petrolera–Oil Expropriation Anniversary

On March 18, 1938, President Lázaro Cárdenas appropriated all petroleum reserves, facilities, and companies in Mexico for Mexico claiming that all mineral and oil deposits belonged to the government. In June of the same year, Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) was formed which until very recently maintained exclusive rights over exploration, extraction, refining, and commercialization of every drop of oil in Mexico.

Now the history books like to say that this is because the foreign oil companies were mistreating their workers but really, it was a shrewd move to keep the wealth found in Mexico in the country. It looked like the whole shebang was going to falter for awhile, but fortunately, World War II created a huge demand and Mexico shot to oil stardom. Now Mexico is the fourth largest oil producer in the Western Hemisphere and the eleventh largest producer of oil in the entire world.

So here we have this national holiday in honor of this momentous event except there have been some changes under President Peña Nieto. In 2013, he changed the constitution to allow direct foreign investment in the oil sector which was approved by Congress in 2014. While things seem to be slow starting, experts predict that this was another shrewd move by the Mexican government.

Captura de pantalla (161)

Of course, even if the government seems to be making out well with the change, there has been no benefit to the average Mexican consumer. Gas prices continue to skyrocket while wages remain stagnant. (México la evolución de los gasolinazos 1940 – 2017) Then of course, the gaspocalypse in January didn’t make matters any easier.

So Happy Oil Expropriation Anniversary to you too!

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Do you want to learn more about Mexican holidays and traditions?

Then check out A Woman’s Survival Guide to Holidays in Mexico!

Women in Mexican History–Sor Juana de la Cruz

Did you know that a radical feminist Mexican woman poet is featured on the 200 pesos bill? So even though Frida’s gotten the boot (she and Diego have been replaced by Benito Juarez on the new 500 pesos bill), there is still some representation!

Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana was born on November 12, 1648, near Mexico City in San Miguel Nepantla which is now called Nepantla de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Her mother, Isabel Ramírez de Santillana de Cantillana, belonged to the Criolla section of the Mexican population. Her father was a Spanish Captain by the name of Pedro Manuel de Asbaje y Machuca. As she was illegitimate, her baptism lists her as ““hija de la Iglesia” (a daughter of the Church) rather than her father’s daughter. She was the second of three daughters born to Pedro and Isabel. Her mother had three more children with Diego Ruiz Lozano later, whom she didn’t marry either.

Juana was raised on her grandfather’s hacienda in Amecameca which is pictured on the reverse of the 200 peso bill. She was somewhat of a prodigy if the accounts are to be believed. Educating females was strictly forbidden however somehow Juana was able to write in Latin by age three, do account by age five and composed a poem on the Eucharist at age eight.

Her astonishing accomplishments didn’t stop there. As a teenager, she was versed in Greek philosophy, teaching Latin to younger children and fluent enough in Nahuatl, which she learned from the slaves on the hacienda, to write poems in that language.

In her teens unable to attend the university because of her gender, she became a lady-in-waiting at the viceroy’s court. The Vicereine Leonor Carreto became her patroness. She declined several offers of marriage and instead entered the St. Joseph Monastery in 1667 as a postulant. She took her vows in 1669 at a different monastery, El Convento de San Jerónimo, because she desired “Vivir sola… no tener ocupación alguna obligatoria que embarazase la libertad de mi estudio, ni rumor de comunidad que impidiese el sosegado silencio de mis libros” (to have no fixed occupation which might curtail my freedom to study).

Although she was a favorite of the court and had several powerful patrons, she wasn’t beloved by all. One of these, the bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, told her she should give up writing as it was not befitting for a woman. Her vehement defense of education for women earned her other enemies in the church.

For her scandalous words and activities (writing heresy in the form of promoting educational opportunities for women and other such nonsense), she was forced to do penance which included giving up her books, musical and scientific instruments.

Sor Juana contracted the plague during her ministrations to other nuns and died on April 17, 1695.

Mexico remains a misogynist country and yet Sor Juana has been honored, not only by being featured on the 200 pesos bill but also by having her name inscribed in gold on a wall at the congress building in 1995. Furthermore, numerous schools throughout Mexico have taken her name including the convent where she spent most of her life.

You have to admit, some of her poems are pretty intense. You can find several translations of Sonnet #145 here. You can also find an English translation of Hombre Necios (Foolish Men) here. I don’t think I’m up to the task myself. If you would like a more extensive selection of Sor Juana’s poetry, check out Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works.