A Day Out With Mom

A SHORT PRIMER RELATIVE TO THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE GREAT YOUNG NATION BORN OF OLD MEXICO

Mexico is an ever changing country, a country with an impulse perhaps more vigorous than most other Latin American Nations, its industrial, commercial and agricultural expansion has set a pace for other nations to follow, yet it still has a long road to travel and many goals to achieve that seem to be still very far off in attaining. There is however, a sense of awareness among the people and Government of this nation of Mexico's new strength and role among the Latin American Countries, but at the same time this awareness also embraces our Country's shortcomings which are many. To understand a country well, one must know its history and Mexico has a history as varied and rugged as its landscape. It is very difficult to portray a whole nation and give a precise idea in a few lines.A parallelism in the history of that great country which is the United States and ours may perhaps give us a partial answer as to the "whys" of Mexico's seemingly slow pace in its structural development. When the pilgrims from Europe first arrived to what is now the United States of America they brought with them the hope of escaping religious and ideological persecution; the idea of freedom was deeply rooted in them and the promise of a new life loomed high in this new continent. There were carpenters, blacksmiths, masons and people of many other varied trades and professions. The pilgrims' idea was to strengthen their own communities and preserve their freedom and way of life. When complete independence from England was achieved in the latter part of the eighteenth century, there followed a period of lasting prosperity, the flourishing of the arts and commerce and an expansion unequalled perhaps by any other nation in the world.

Mexico on the other hand was conquered by Spain. It was a nation of rugged mountains covering well over half its area, with no navigable rivers, save for short stretches. The awesome difficulty in opening roads through mountainous terrain and development of communications were unsurmountable obstacles. Since Hernan Cortes soldiers were searching for gold and silver to enrich themselves as quickly as possible, the idea of starting a new life on this New World was really secondary. Spaniards intermarried widely with the Indians; a new race thus came into being, the "mestizo" of mixed blood, which is Mexico's main ethnical stock. The Span-iards subdued both the Mestizos and the Indians, who they treated as slaves. It was of course to the best interests of the Spaniards to keep these people illiterate, for once they started to awaken, they would most surely try to To defend themselves and improve their lot. For this reason the few schools that were built in Mexico at that time, were exclusively for Spaniards or "Creoles" (people of European stock born in Mexico). This oppression continued until 1810 when enslaved mestizos and Indians under the leadership of Miguel Hidalgo (himself a Spaniard) rebelled against their Spanish oppressors and declared war on Spain. (This was 24 years after the 13 American Colonies signed the Declaration of Independence, breaking their ties from England.) After many years of fighting, independence was attained. It was not until 1910 (one hundred years after Mexico obtained political independence from Spain) that the Mexican Revolution broke out. The still oppressed rebelled against their landlords, the insurgents were fighting against the National Government and the protective laws that favored only the wealthy class. After the once enslaved people obtained control of the government, things continued to simmer for several years. There were isolated uprisings, then a period of reconstruction in which Mexico was really trying for the very first time in its history, to govern itself. Those were hard and trying years. Mexico was really experimenting in self-government without help, without experience, without the recognition of most of the world's big nations and without a cent in its treasury. Modern Mexico's stability did not begin until 1936, when the strength of the Central Government was consolidated. So we can see that this nation really has had only a few years of development as compared to other countries. Notwithstanding this fact, Mexico is considered today to be Latin America's most stable nation and on the road to full development. It has been able to channel and adapt to its own idiosyncrasy, outstanding and positive characteristics of both its European and Indian Heritage. Thus the arts started the flourish, paintings of world Renown artists, such as Rivera, O'Gorman, Tamayo, Orozco and many others adorn the world's outstanding galleries. Mexico is perhaps now, the Spanish speaking country which produces, edits and distributes throughout all the Spanish speaking world, the greatest number of cultural and literary works and writings, its music is heard all through Latin America and Europe, its ballets, especially the "Fine Arts Folkloric Ballet" has toured the globe. A new breed of contemporary poets, writers,composers and artists is emerging. Yes there are still many, many things to achieve, many obstacles to overcome. Although relative prosper-ity is recent, the future looms bright and confidence of all Mexicans in their country is positive.