The Mexican Revolution Has Legs(B3)
The Mexican Revolution started in 1910 and it began as a rebellion against President Porfirio Díaz. Once the revolutionaries’ first goal was accomplished, they started fighting for a land reform, a democratic government, liberty and equality for the people, and workers’ rights, among others. Once Diaz was out of the presidency and people saw no changes were being made by the new president, then the counterrevolution began. This counterrevolution and some enemies, accomplished to remove Madero and future presidents from the presidency, people saw no big changes being made by these other presidents either. Many of the presidents used the things people were fighting for, as slogans/promises for their campaigns, but once in power, they would of forget about their promises. During that time, assassinations, bribes, corruption, and “violence also characterized political life at the regional and local levels” (Gonzales, 2002, p.266). This happened until Cardenas was in power and “instituted Mexico’s most comprehensive land reform. Cardenas sought to destroy the traditional hacienda, provide villagers with economic independence, feed the nation, and create strong paternal ties with grateful peasants” (Gonzales, 2002, p.264). Even though he encountered a lot of opposition and “although he did not achieve all of his objectives, Lazaro Cardenas remains Mexico’s most appealing twentieth-century president… [, as he was the president who truly cared about the poverty of the foot soldiers of the revolution]” (Gonzales, 2002, p.258–259).
Many moons and many presidents have passed since 1910. I would love to say that the Mexican Revolution and Counterrevolution achieved all of their goals, but I would be lying. The Mexican Revolution and counterrevolution created the foundation that later transformed the country and forced politicians to pay more attention to the campesinos’ rights and agrarian reforms, invest in education, create better labor rights, and work on the nationalization of some industries. Sadly, things like a democratic government, liberty and equality for the people, assassinations, bribes, corruption, and violence are some of the issues that not even a Revolution was able to fix. The Mexican Revolution still has meaning and power in Mexican politics, culture, and social relations, not exactly because of the goals or good intentions behind it, but because of the unsolved issues that are likely to upheaval the Mexican country again. People’s constitutional rights have been ignored constantly. Situations like the Ayotzinapa case and how the journalists are treated in Mexico show how badly the countries’ political and judicial systems are being handled. I think that as explained by Carmen Boullosa and Mike Wallace in A Narco History, “the fury aroused by the Forty-Tree affair, and the subsequent determination of Mexicans to pursue fundamental changes, might best be directed not only into indispensable remakes of its political, economic, and criminal justice systems, but also into ending the century-old criminalization regime itself, which we believe has in large part been responsible for the current situation (Boullosa and Wallace, 2015, p.26). Another way in which the Mexican Revolution still has meaning and power in Mexican politics, culture, and social relations is by how it has been used by politicians as a way to “unite” people into supporting them, but with the same result, not fulfilling their promises and feeding into the public discontent over and over again. People are fed up with the injustices, corruption, and neglect that they have experienced over the years with each president. I would not be surprised if future books talk about a second Mexican Revolution, and if this happens, I hope the ending results will be favorable for the Mexican people.
References
Boullosa, C., & Wallace, M. (2015). A Narco History: How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the “Mexican Drug War.” Retrieved from WNMU Canvas.
Gonzales, M. J. (2002). The Mexican Revolution, 1910–1940. University of New Mexico Press.
National Endowment for the Humanities. (2012). The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910. Retrieved from https://edsitement.neh.gov/closer-readings/mexican-revolution-november-20th-1910
