mexico: the country, its history & the maya world (sample chapters) by swarupa

MEXICO: THE COUNTRY, ITS HISTORY

& THE MAYA WORLD

By SWARUPA N. OVALEKAR

Self-Published Edition

Copyright © Swarupa N. Ovalekar 2010

All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of

the copyright holder.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be

re-sold or distributed. If you would like to share this eBook with another person,

please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this eBook

and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please

return to https://www.facebook.com/TheEpicBookMEXICO or the author’s blog

at https://thegr8wall.wordpress.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for

respecting the hard work of this author.

Warning/Disclaimer

This eBook is designed to provide information about the subject matter covered. It

should be used only as a general guide and not as the ultimate source for

information on Mexico. Although the author/publisher has used best efforts in

preparing this book and making it as complete and as accurate as possible, no

responsibility is assumed for errors or omissions. Furthermore, this book contains

information on Mexico which is current only up to the date of book completion.

This eBook is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes.

The author/publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or

entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or

indirectly by the information contained in this book.

Other titles by Swarupa N. Ovalekar:

Discovering Mexico

A Guide To Mexican Cuisine

The Blue-Eyed Prince of Natlife

To my family for their love and support

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5

POLITICAL MAP OF MEXICO 6

GEOGRAPHICAL MAP OF MEXICO 7

1 INTRODUCTION TO MEXICO 29

2 ANCIENT MEXICO 52

3 THE MAYA WORLD 72

4 THE SPANISH CONQUEST 107

5 THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT 117

6 INDEPENDENT MEXICO 120

7 THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION 126

8 MODERN MEXICO 131

PHOTO SECTION I 8

PHOTO SECTION II 63

PHOTO SECTION III 101

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Swarupa got into book writing in 2008. This was four months after her return from Mexico

where she had spent nearly nine months, some of them travelling solo across the country. She

dedicated a year and a half to her labour of love – an epic book on Mexico – which she finally

completed in June 2010. Hoping to get her book ‘Mexico’ published in the traditional way, she

waited for over two years looking for a publisher who could do justice to her hard work.

Her book received warm appreciation from H.E. Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico.

While she waited for responses from publishers, she wrote a romance fiction novel ‘The

Blue-Eyed Prince Of Natlife’.

In January 2012, she created a Facebook page for her book, got her book edited and

converted it into a three book series on Mexico titled ‘Discovering Mexico’, ‘Mexico: The

Country, Its History & The Maya World’, and ‘A Guide To Mexican Cuisine’.

In mid-September, she finally decided to self-publish all her books.

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Apart from her books, Swarupa is an intrepid traveller and a polyglot. She speaks

English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Indian languages like Marathi and Hindi. She is a

passionate foodie, a huge fan of salsa and ballroom dancing and a great lover of history,

cosmology and world culture. She lives in Mumbai.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheEpicBookMEXICO

Twitter: http://twitter.com/theepicmexico

Blog: http://thegr8wall.wordpress.com

OTHER TITLES BY THE AUTHOR

Discovering Mexico is Swarupa’s chronicle which began with

her new life in the Mexican city of Guadalajara and her wide

exploration of the country she lived in for nine months in

2007-08.

Cosmopolitan Mexico City, world-class beach resorts,

charming mountain resorts, beautiful colonial cities, amazing

archaeological zones, mesmerizing Maya ruins, colourful

indigenous markets…there is never a dull moment for her as

she explores each place with immense gusto.

At each turn, new situations arise, requiring keen perception,

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quick thinking, and ingenuity. When she explores new places and meets new people, she paints each of

them with rich descriptions. Her incurable wanderlust leads her on a three-week adventurous trail

covering seven culturally-rich southern states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas,

Oaxaca and Veracruz, the first five of which fall under the region of ‘the Maya world’.

Discovering Mexico is both a celebration of the joys and revelations to be found in this inexhaustibly

interesting country. This immensely pleasurable and entertaining eBook falls into many categories…it is

about Mexico, Mexican memoirs, Mexican travel, Mexican history and culture, Mexican food and drinks

and of course – Mexicans!

With more than 100 coloured photographs, black and white political and geographical sketch maps of

Mexico, a black and white sketch map of Swarupa’s three-week trip, black and white sketch maps of the

seven southern states and two extensive glossaries – of Spanish words used in this book and their

Mexican Spanish pronunciation – this thoroughly informative eBook is a must-read for everyone.

A Guide To Mexican Cuisine is a small no-frills guide with a

big purpose: to briefly describe everything about Mexican

cuisine to the readers. Native Mexican diet, staple ingredients,

foreign influences on Mexican cuisine, daily meals and

customs, popular meals, regional meals, festive meals, drinks

and beverages, desserts and candies, a few popular

recipes…this eBook has it all!

From native Indian cuisine to the current flavours, this guide

tells it all like never before with more than 65 coloured

photographs, two extensive glossaries – of Spanish words

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used in this book and their Mexican Spanish pronunciation – and a few simple and easy recipes of popular

Mexican food and drinks.

A girl from Mexico City comes to Mumbai, discovers the

joys of caring and sharing in a large house with seven other

international trainees and falls in love with her suave Indian

boss.

26-year old Mexican, Sara Velasquez, is the new

international trainee at the corporate office of one of India’s

top multinational companies, Natlife. Her blonde hair and

good looks have always made most men treat her with benign

condescension, unwilling to accept her managerial abilities.

Experience has taught her not to trust men for this reason, but

her tall and handsome Indian boss, the 27-year old blue-eyed

Sid Oberoi, is different. He doesn’t question her intelligence only her impulsive nature. She finds herself

battling a deep and irresistible attraction between them only to succumb to it whole-heartedly.

A past incident has shattered Sid’s trust in women. Whenever his girlfriends get too close or serious, he

bolts. He’s not interested in commitment. So why does he harbour strong, unfamiliar feelings for the

feisty Mexican? On learning about the bitter experiences of her past, he’s determined to ensure that she

doesn’t get hurt again. Why does he feel so protective about her?

When misfortune strikes, it brings them both closer than ever. Sid offers her a job in his new business and

room in his house. But, is he ready to offer her a place in his heart?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is one of my three book series on Mexico, a labour of love and dedication that began

in 2008. The long and lonely period of this project saw me working endless hours at the

computer and I owe my eternal gratitude to my family for understanding and accepting this

without a fuss. To my father who made my ‘Mexican Experience’ possible for me, without

which the three books on Mexico would never have been born; to my mother, brother and sisters.

My particular thanks to Shri Krishna Singh for his goodwill and belief in my work.

I’m greatly indebted to H.E. Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, and the Honourable

Gloria Guevara, Minister of Tourism for Mexico, for their warm appreciation and valuable

support to my project.

The photographs in this book have been used with the permission of their copyright

holders. Credits have been given to all the photographs, except those of my own. My special

thanks to the copyright holders for allowing me to reproduce their photographs: The Mexican

Tourism Board (CPTM), the State Tourism Board of Jalisco (SETUJAL), Erick Alvarado –

Owner/Founder of TravelerosMX, Sahid Cervantes and Paty Rodriguez.

Last but not the least, thank you to Writer’s Side for editing this book.

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Mexico: The Country, Its History & The Maya World


A view of Mexico CityPhoto credit: © CPTM: Foto / Ricardo Espinosa-reo

The iconic cathedral of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico


Sand dunes of Bilbao in CoahuilaPhoto credit: © CPTM: Foto / Ricardo Espinosa-reo

The Sea of Cortez in La Paz, Baja California SurPhoto credit: © CPTM: Foto / Ricardo Espinosa-reo


A charro (Mexican cowboy) performing in a charreada, a Mexican rodeo competitionPhoto credit: © Paty Rodriguez

Teotihuacán, the most-visited archaeological zone in Mexico


The archaeological zone of Templo Mayor in Mexico CityPhoto credit: © TravelerosMX

One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, El Castillo (Castle) of Chichén Itzá, in Yucatán


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INTRODUCTION TO MEXICO

What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you hear the word ‘Mexico’? Is it cactus and

desert? Sombrero? Tequila? Cancun and Acapulco? Mexican food? Maya civilization?

More than that, Mexico (México ‘meh-hee-koh’ in Spanish) is a multicultural country

with gorgeous beaches, ancient pyramids, beautiful landscapes, natural and ecological wonders

and a colourful history. The country boasts of one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and

about 24 UNESCO-declared World Cultural Heritage sites. It is also the most populous Spanish-

speaking country and the second-largest Roman Catholic nation in the world.

Mexico or the land of the Mexica (the Aztec, ‘meh-shee-ka’ in their Nahuatl language)

enjoys a unique cultural blend of different indigenous cultures with colonial Spanish traditions

and modern industrialization. The country is part of the North American continent and is located

directly south of the United States. To the south-east, it is bordered by Guatemala and Belize.

The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea lie on the east coast, and the Pacific Ocean on the

west and south.

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Covering almost two million square kilometres, the ‘United Mexican States’ (its official

name) is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent

nation in the world. It extends all along the 3,100 km-long southern border of the United States,

most of which is formed by the Río Bravo, a major river known as Rio Grande in the

neighbouring country.

Mexico has 31 states and a Federal District (Distrito Federal), where the capital, Mexico

City, commonly called ‘DF’ (dey-efe) is located. The estimated population of the country is 111

million, of which approximately 75 percent live in urban areas. Over 20 million people live in

the metropolitan area of the capital. Two other major cities are Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Under the amended constitution of 1917, Mexico is a federal republic whose head of state

and government is the president, directly elected to a non-renewable six-year term. It has two

legislative houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Since the establishment of the

modern constitution in 1917, a single party, the PRI, ruled over the country till 2000, when the

right-wing opposition party PAN won the national elections. In 2006, the PAN party again won

the elections bringing the present President Felipe Calderón to power.

The Mexican flag has three equal vertical bands of green, white, and red. The coat of

arms, which has an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a nopal (noh-pahl) – the prickly

pear cactus, is centred in the white band. The Mexican peso (MXN $) was the first currency in

the world to use the ‘$’ sign, which was later adopted by the United States dollar. It is by far the

most traded currency in Latin America. As of June 12, 2010, the US$-MXN$ exchange rate was

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12.6741 Mexican pesos against one US dollar.

Geography

From swamp to desert and from tropical lowland jungle to high alpine vegetation, Mexico has it

all. Over half the country is located at an altitude greater than 1000 metres. An extremely

mountainous country, the varied topography and climate in different regions has led to its

regional diversity and uneven economic development. The north is largely arid and semi-desert

with an extreme climate of very hot summers and very cold winters. In some northern regions, it

snows. The south is tropical and heavily forested, with a hot and humid climate. The central

region of the country with its mild climate, is the most developed. At times, the temperate forests

of the central region experiences snowfall at higher altitudes. Overall, the climate throughout

much of Mexico is characterized by high temperatures and moderate to low rainfall, with the

rainy season lasting from June to September.

Geographically, Mexico is divided into different physical regions: the immense Central

Plateau, the Pacific Lowlands, the Gulf Coast Plains, the Yucatán (yoo-cah-tahn) Peninsula, the

Southern Highlands, the Chiapas (chee-ah-pahs) Highlands, and the Baja (ba-ha) California

Peninsula.

The Central Plateau, which begins from the northern border with the United States, is

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flanked by two great mountain ranges – the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west and the Sierra

Madre Oriental in the east – that run down parallel to the narrow coastal plains. More than

halfway down, they are crossed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt that extends 900 km from

west to east across the central-southern region. Mexico City lies in this volcanic highland area, as

do most of the country’s major peaks (several of them snow-clad all year long) and volcanoes

(active as well as inactive). These include the two snow-capped volcanoes, Popocatépetl (5,452

m) and Iztaccíhuatl (5,386 m), both of which are located near Mexico City; and the country’s

highest peak, Pico de Orizaba (5,747 m), located north-west of the city of Veracruz. Due to the

frequent seismic activity, earthquakes are fairly common in the capital city. In 1985 a major

earthquake in Mexico City killed thousands and left nearly 30,000 homeless.

The north-central part of the country is mostly a semi-arid desert: a vast, high, windswept

plateau flanked by the Occidental and Oriental chains of the Sierra Madre. Most of the

population is gathered in several large cities like Chihuahua (chee-wah-wah), an important

industrial and commercial centre as well as capital of Mexico’s largest state of the same name,

and Ciudad Juárez (syooh-dahd hwa-rehs), another important city in the same state.

The large basin where Mexico City is located has been known historically as the Anáhuac

Valley or the Valley of Mexico. Situated close to the capital are the ruins of the pre-Hispanic

cultures of central Mexico: the massive Pyramids of Teotihuacán (teo-tee-wah-kahn) and the

Toltec capital at Tula. The Central Highlands, north of Mexico City, boast of many colonial

towns like the silver-mining towns of Zacatecas and Guanajuato (gwah-nah-hwa-toh) and

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historic centres like San Miguel de Allende (san mee-gel deh ah-yen-deh) and Querétaro (keh-

reh-tah-roh).

To the north-west lie the beautiful states of Jalisco (ha-lees-koh) and Michoacán (mee-

cho-ah-kahn). Between them, these two states share some of the most scenic country sights in

Mexico along with a reputation for producing some of the finest traditional crafts. The beautiful

historical state capitals of Guadalajara (gwah-dah-lah-ha-rah) and Morelia are a testimony to its

rich cultural heritage.

The Pacific Lowlands which lie between the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Pacific

Ocean (including the Gulf of California) are home to famous resort cities like Mazatlán. The

Gulf Coast plain between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Gulf of Mexico is characterized by

swampy lowlands and numerous lagoons. The country’s most important port, Veracruz, is

located in this region, which is also the site of many of Mexico’s petroleum discoveries. This

region gets abundant rainfall and is frequently prone to hurricanes that often cause extensive

damage.

In the south-eastern part of the country, the Yucatán Peninsula (extending toward Cuba)

separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. It comprises of the states of Quintana Roo,

Yucatán and Campeche. The northern Peninsula is a hot and semi-arid flat, low-lying region

without surface rivers while the southern Peninsula gets abundant rainfall and is covered by

dense tropical rainforests. The famous international tourist destination, Cancún, is located along

the eastern coast of the Yucatán in the state of Quintana Roo (keen-tah-nah roh). The eastern

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peninsula also boasts of many magnificent Maya cities like Chichén Itzá and Uxmal (oosh-mahl)

and exotic tourist zones like the beautiful Riviera Maya.

The Southern Highlands consist of steep mountain ranges, deep valleys, and dry plateaus.

The Sierra Madre del Sur, a continuation of the two northern ranges, runs through the southern

states of Oaxaca (wah-ha-cah) and Chiapas. It runs parallel to the Pacific coast, creating a

rugged coastline where the mountains meet the sea. This is where one finds coastal resort cities

like Huatulco (wah-tuhl-koh), Acapulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo (iks-tah-pah see-wah-tah-neh-ho),

Manzanillo (man-sah-nee-yoh) and Puerto Vallarta (pwehr-toh vah-yahr-tah) in the states of

Oaxaca, Guerrero, Colima and Jalisco.

The beautiful mountainous state of Oaxaca is home to some of the largest populations of

pure indigenous groups. Its capital, Oaxaca City is one of the most enticing destinations in the

country with an extraordinary mix of colonial and indigenous life, colourful markets and

fascinating archaeological sites.

The Chiapas Highlands are home to many high mountains and dense tropical forests.

Some of its mountains rise to more than 9,000 feet. The beautiful mountainous state of Chiapas,

best known as the centre of the Zapatista uprising of the mid-1990s, has remained a favourite

tourist destination. The region’s heavy rainfall feeds its numerous scenic waterfalls and the lush

surroundings offer plenty of opportunities for adventure tourism. The indigenous cultures

prevalent in this region, the beautiful town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the picturesque Maya

ruins of Palenque together with a number of lesser-known Maya ruins continue to dominate the

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itinerary of most tourists.

The west coast of Mexico incorporates the Baja California Peninsula, comprising of the

two states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. Stretching from the U.S. border south-east

for 1,300 km, the peninsula is extremely arid and mountainous, with a very narrow coastal plain.

Its long coastline of fine white beaches, peaceful bays and imposing cliffs attracts numerous

American tourists. The largest city in the northern state of Baja California, Tijuana (tee-hwa-nah)

is situated on the Mexico-US border adjacent to its sister city of San Diego, California. This

border is the most frequently crossed international border in the world, with 250 million legal

crossings per year. At the southern tip of the peninsula in the state of Baja California Sur, lies the

scenic tourist resort of Los Cabos, the popular destination of the rich and famous, especially

from the neighbouring United States.

Mexico follows three time zones. Most of the country follows Central Standard Time

which is six hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. The northern states of Chihuahua, Nayarit,

Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur follow Mountain Standard Time while Baja California

follows Pacific Standard Time. The Central Time Zone is two hours ahead of the Pacific Time

Zone, one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone.

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People & Culture

Mexico’s varied population reflects its rich history. Mexican people are genetically distinctive

among the world's populations. They belong to diverse ancestral genetic groups. Those of

European blood are mostly descendants of the first Spanish settlers but there are others of

French, Italian, Portuguese, Basque, German, Irish, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and British

descent from more recent migration. The majority of Mexicans are mixed-race mestizos who

make up the core of the country’s cultural identity.

After the Spanish Conquest, the intermingling of races and cultures led to the emergence

of a multiracial society comprising a mix of native Indians or indios, Europeans and Africans.

The number of mestizos grew rapidly, as many Spanish men took native Indian wives and had

large families. Before the 19th century, the indigenous people accounted for nearly two-thirds of

the population of the country. But later, the racial composition began to change from the distinct

Spanish and indigenous population, to one made up largely of mestizos. Shortly after the

Conquest and over the course of the colonial period, an estimated 200,000 African slaves were

brought into central Mexico (though there is strong evidence proving the existence of Africans in

Mexico over thousands of year prior to the arrival of the Spanish). Racial mixing and

intermarriage produced a sizable population of mulattoes (of Spanish and African descent), as

well as zambos, who were people of African and native Indian descent. By the end of the 19th

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century, the mestizos formed the largest ethnic group in Mexico.

Post-independence, Mexico had to gradually create a national identity. Being an

ethnically diverse country, the only common element amongst the newly independent inhabitants

was Catholicism. In 1925, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic

Race), defined Mexico as the melting pot of all races, extending the definition of the mestizo not

only biologically but culturally as well. He rejected Charles Darwin’s views on the problems of

race mixture and instead proclaimed mestizos to be the highest form of human evolution. This

new nationalist ideology, called Indigenismo (een-dee-heh-nees-moh), brought about the

revalorization of Mexico's native heritage, including its indigenous cuisine based on corn. This

exalting of mestizaje (mehs-tee-sah-heh) was a revolutionary idea that sharply contrasted with

the idea of a superior pure race prevalent in Europe at the time.

Today, about 60% of the population is mestizo while about 30% is of pure indigenous

ancestry and 9% of direct Spanish ancestry. The remaining one percent comprises Africans

intermarried with indigenous people and mestizos, living in the coastal areas of Veracruz,

Tabasco and Guerrero.

Although the official language of Mexico is Spanish, there are about 63 legally

recognized languages. More than ten million people speak an indigenous language of which

more than 1.6 million people (of Aztec descent) speak Nahuatl, the largest spoken indigenous

language of the country. This is apart from the numerous languages spoken by immigrant groups

who settled in Mexico centuries ago. Today, the country is home to the largest number of US

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citizens abroad, representing almost 1% of the Mexican population, and 25% of all the US

citizens abroad. There are many Central and South American immigrants too with the Argentine

community forming the second largest foreign community in the country.

How does one identify an ‘indigenous’ Mexican? A variety of factors are used – customs,

language, dress, food, and residence, for example… The native Indians are often dressed in their

traditional attire which distinguishes them from mestizos who generally wear American-style

clothes. The indigenous community is mostly concentrated in the central, southern, and south-

eastern states, regions with indigenous civilizations at the time of the Conquest.

Mexicans like to socialize and place a high value on family and traditional values. Male

chauvinism is commonly reflected in their culture. They have a great feeling of patriotism which

is strongly visible in their Independence Day celebrations with main squares, commercial

centres, etc. dressed in patriotic decorations of reds, whites and greens – Mexico’s official

colours. Excluding Mexico City and the large cities in the northern states, the rest of the country

is deeply religious and conservative.

One of Mexico’s most important religious holidays, is the Dia de los Muertos (diah deh

lohs mwehr-tohs) or Day of the Dead, celebrated on the 2nd of November, to honour the

deceased. The roots of this tradition go back to ancient times. Although the day is passionately

celebrated throughout the country, the traditional fervour is high in small towns. In the month of

December, from the 16th to the 24th, Mexicans celebrate the traditional Posadas (‘Inns’). On

each of these nights, processions go from door to door to re-enact Joseph and Mary's search for

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an inn in Bethlehem. The Christmas party scene continues right till the Dia de los Santos Reyes

(diah deh lohs trehs reh-yehs) or Three Kings' Day or Epiphany which is celebrated on the 6th of

January.

In Mexico, one can often hear music in the streets and plazas of towns and cities.

Mariachi bands, made up of guitars, violins and trumpets, are the best-known kind of Mexican

musical groups. The mariachi musicians dressed in silver-studded charro (Mexican horsemen)

outfits – usually black – and matching wide-brimmed hats play melodies and sing traditional folk

songs. They can be seen playing in plazas, at parties, restaurants and weddings. They are often

hired to serenade women, to sing Las Mañanitas (lahs mah-nyah-nee-tahs) or the Mexican

birthday song, and during occasions like a quinceañera (kin-seh-ah-nyeh-rah) – a girl's fifteenth

birthday celebration which follows the colonial tradition of a coming-out party for girls. In the

South-East and along the Gulf Coast, traditional music played on the marimba is very popular.

Mexico’s blend of indigenous and Spanish influences has also enriched much of its

handicrafts. Ancient indigenous arts such as ceramics, sculpture, and weaving with intricate

designs and bright native colours were blended with Spanish art techniques to create a unique

Mexican style. Many of Mexico’s most popular modern crafts such as textiles, pottery, silver

jewellery and furniture borrow designs and techniques from the indigenous culture.

Since pre-colonial times, Mexican painters, writers, and musicians have produced a rich

cultural heritage. The best-known modern Mexican artists are the muralists, whose important

work dates from the first half of the 20th century. Diego Rivera is the most well-known figure of

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Mexican Muralism. Many of his works, as well as those of José Clemente Orozco and David

Alfaro Siqueiros, can be seen in buildings throughout Mexico. The famous painters among

others include Rivera’s wife, Frida Kahlo, and Rufino Tamayo. Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes

are two Mexican writers who have attained international recognition. Ballet Folklórico de

Mexico, a folkloric ballet ensemble, is internationally acclaimed for its dance and music.

The most popular sport in Mexico is association football or soccer. It is commonly

believed that soccer was introduced to Mexico at the end of the 19th century by miners from

Cornwall working in the silver mines of Pachuca and Real (reh-ahl) de Monte. The Estadio

Azteca (Aztec Stadium) is the official home stadium of the Mexican national soccer team.

Besides the XIX Olympic Games in 1968, the country has also hosted the FIFA World Cup

twice, in 1970 and 1986. Other popular sports include the charreria, the central component of

which is the charreada or Mexican rodeo, where men and women dressed in traditional charro

(cowboy) clothing present their skills and styles in a series of events involving bulls and horses

in a circular arena approximately 40 meters in diameter; lucha libre or professional wrestling

which is the Mexican version of World Wrestling Entertainment; and los toros or bullfighting

which runs from November to March. Almost all large cities have bullfighting rings. The

55,000-seated Plaza México in Mexico City is the largest bullfighting ring in the world. Baseball

is very popular too, especially in the Gulf coast, Yucatán Peninsula and the Northern States.

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Religion

Catholicism has been the dominant religion of Mexico since its introduction during the Spanish

colonization in the 16th century. During the colonial era, many native Indians and mestizos were

forced to adopt the Spanish language and convert to Roman Catholicism, the religion of their

conquistadores (con-kis-tah-doh-rehs) or conquerors, but the rural and indigenous people were

never fully converted to Christianity, retaining some of their indigenous beliefs; local priests and

bishops accepted the combination of some indigenous practices with Catholicism.

The patron saint of Mexico, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, recognized as a symbol of all

Catholic Mexicans, is said to represent both the Virgin Mary and the indigenous goddess

Tonantzin (some claim she is Coatlicue, the Aztec mother goddess). This syncretism may have

provided a way for the 16th century Spaniards to gain converts among the indigenous population

of the New World as well as a method for 16th century indigenous Mexicans to covertly practice

their native religion.

The enormous Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe built on the Tepeyac hill near

Mexico City, at the spot where the Virgin Guadalupe is said to have appeared to an indigenous

boy, Juan Diego in 1531, is one of the most revered religious places in the country. Its location,

on the hill of Tepeyac, was a place of great sanctity long before the arrival of Christianity in the

New World or colonial Mexico. In pre-Hispanic times, the hill was crowned with a temple

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dedicated to the Goddess of Earth and Fertility as well as the Mother of the Gods, Tonantzin,

who, like the Christian Guadalupe, was a virgin goddess, also associated with the moon.

Following the Spanish Conquest in 1521, the shrine was demolished, and the native people were

forbidden to make pilgrimages to the sacred hill.

Ten years later, after the appearance of the image of the Virgin (a young woman, her

head lowered demurely wearing an open crown and flowing gown, standing upon a half moon)

on Juan Diego's shawl, the bishop gave the orders for construction of the church. News of the

miraculous apparition of the Virgin's image on a peasant's shawl, spread rapidly throughout the

country. On learning that the mother of the Christian god had appeared to one of their people and

spoken to him in his native language, thousands of indigenous people came from hundreds of

miles away to see the image. The latter was to have a powerful influence on the advancement of

the Church's mission in colonial Mexico. In only seven years, from 1532 to 1538, more than

eight million Indians were converted to Christianity. The shrine, rebuilt several times over the

centuries, is today an enormous basilica with space for 10,000 pilgrims inside.

Every year, an estimated ten million pilgrims come to venerate the mysterious image on

Juan Diego's shawl preserved behind bullet-proof glass, hanging twenty-five feet above the main

altar. On the 12th of December, the day of the apparition of the image, millions of devout

pilgrims from all over Mexico visit the shrine, many crawling to the Basilica on their knees. The

Virgin of Guadalupe has symbolized the Mexican nation since Mexico's War of Independence

when rebel armies waged war with flags bearing the image of the Virgin Guadalupe. Today, her

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image is found everywhere – in churches, houses, taxis, buses, hotels, restaurants, bullrings, etc.

Economy

The Mexican economy ranks thirteenth in the world and is mainly based on agriculture,

manufacturing, and the extraction of petroleum and natural gas. Although the land is rich, only

one-eighth of it is arable. The agricultural products include corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans,

cotton, coffee, fruits and vegetables, sugar, tomatoes, beef, poultry, dairy products and wood

products. Manufactured goods include processed foods, chemicals, automobiles, and electrical

machinery. The country is the world's largest producer of silver, bismuth, and celestine and is

also among the world's leading producers of many minerals, including, copper, gold, lead and

zinc.

Mexico is the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, with 3.7 million barrels per day. Its

enormous petroleum reserves, most them in and along the Gulf of Mexico, are ranked amongst

the top ten in the world. Pemex, the state-owned company is responsible for the exploration,

extraction, transportation and marketing of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the refining and

distribution of petroleum products and petrochemicals. It is one of the largest companies in Latin

America, making US $86 billion in sales a year.

The United States is the largest trading partner of Mexico. The Mexican economy is of

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major importance to the United States also, because of formal links through economic

agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The level of

dependence on exports to the United States is very high, nearly representing more than a quarter

of Mexico’s GDP which was 1.09 trillion US dollars in 2008 and 866 billion US dollars in 2009.

The goods mainly exported include manufactured goods, crude oil, petroleum products, silver,

fruits, vegetables, coffee, and cotton.

Another important source of exports comes from the industrial assembly plants known as

maquiladoras which take in imported raw materials and produce goods for export. Since the

early 1980s there has been considerable foreign investment in the maquiladoras, which take

advantage of a large, low-cost labour force to produce finished goods for export to the United

States. Remittances from Mexicans working, both legally and illegally, in the United States are

also extremely vital for the economy.

The country’s leading products include food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and

steel, refined petroleum and petrochemicals, textiles and clothing, motor vehicles, and consumer

goods. Agave species are widely grown, and are processed into alcoholic beverages like tequila,

mezcal and pulque. Livestock raising, dairy farming and fishing are also significant economic

activities. The country is also known for its handicrafts, especially pottery, woven goods, and

silverwork. As a regional power and currently the only Latin American member of the

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is

considered a newly industrialized country and an emerging power. It has the 13th largest

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nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity.

The principal industrial centres in Mexico are Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey,

Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, Veracruz, Durango, León, Querétaro, Tampico, Mérida (meh-ree-dah),

and Puebla (pwe-blah). Most of the country’s manufacturing capacity is located in and around

Mexico City.

Ciudad Juárez, a large border city with the United States, in the state of Chihuahua (the

largest state in the country) is a major source of trade and transportation with its sister city, El

Paso in Texas. Despite being a growing industrial centre (with more than 300 maquiladoras or

assembly plants), the city has the reputation of being ‘the most violent zone in the world outside

of declared war zones.’ The Juárez-El Paso border is a major point of entry and transportation for

the entire central north Mexico. The heavy presence of drug cartels has posed a major problem

for the city which is a major centre of narcotics trafficking, linked to the powerful Juárez Cartel.

It has largely been in the international news for the sexual violence and the more than 1000

unsolved murders of young women since 1993; the alleged involvement of police, government

officials and local elites in the murders are cited as the main reason for the lack of justice.

Monterrey located in the northern border state of Nuevo León, is the centre of Mexico’s

iron and steel industry. This third largest city (the second largest is Guadalajara), Monterrey is

second only to the capital in its concentration of important, capital-intensive industries, and is a

significant channel of commerce, linking Mexico to the United States.

The country’s main ports include Tampico, Altamira, Tuxpan, Veracruz, Progreso,

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Mazatlán, Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas. The Mexico City International Airport, also called

Benito Juárez International Airport, is the largest and busiest airport in Latin America with a

flow of 32 million passengers per year. Aeroméxico and Mexicana are two of Mexico’s

internationally known airline companies. Most of the country’s passenger transportation is

served by an extensive bus network with several dozen companies operating on different routes.

Inter-city train service is very limited or almost non-existent while inner-city train service is

available at Mexico City with the operation of the metro, as well as a suburban train connecting

the adjacent municipalities of Greater Mexico City. It is also available to a small extent in

Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Mexico is the world’s second largest producer of construction materials. The Mexican

automotive industry is also internationally reputed for its quality standards. General Motors, Ford

and Chrysler have been operating in the country since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan

built their plants in the 1960s. Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz joined later. Many

European and Asian parts suppliers have also moved to Mexico. In Puebla alone, around seventy

industrial part-makers are clustered around the Volkswagen plant.

Currently, the world’s richest man is Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, the owner of Grupo

Carso, a top conglomerate of companies with holdings in mining; manufacture of metals, cables

and wires, plastic pipe, automobile tires and parts, tiles, paper tissues, cement, and cigarettes;

computer-related services; and department stores and restaurants. Among its many acquisitions is

Sanborns, the large department store chain and its restaurants which have been in business since

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1903. Some of the other top Mexican business groups include Telmex, the top provider of

telecommunication products and services; Cemex, the third largest cement conglomerate in the

world; Grupo México, the country’s largest mining corporation and third largest copper producer

in the world; Grupo Modelo, the Mexican beer giant and the sixth largest brewer worldwide;

Televisa, the largest Mexican television network which is also the largest producer of Spanish-

language content and Spanish-language media network in the world; FEMSA, the largest

beverage company in Mexico which apart from owning breweries, OXXO (the biggest

convenience store chain in Latin America) and C.F. Monterrey, a First Division Mexican soccer

team, is also the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world; Gruma, the largest producer of

corn flour and tortillas in the world; and Grupo Bimbo, the biggest Mexican food corporation

and fifth largest in the world, as well as the largest bakery in the world.

Education & Technology

The largest and most prestigious public university in Mexico is the Universidad Nacional

Autónoma de México, UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) founded in 1910.

Three Mexican Nobel laureates and most of Mexico's modern-day presidents are among its

former students. The university is one of the most important institutes of higher learning in

Mexico and apart from providing world class education in science, medicine, and engineering, it

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also conducts an astounding 50% of the country’s scientific research. A global top ranking

university, UNAM is also the highest ranked Hispanic university in the world and the highest

ranked in Latin America. It has presence all across the country with satellite campuses and

research centres. The second largest university in the country is the Instituto Politécnico

Nacional, IPN (National Polytechnic Institute), also a public university. The oldest private

university in Mexico is the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), which was founded

in 1935. One of the most prestigious private universities is the Instituto Tecnológico y de

Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher

Education) commonly shortened as Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of

Technology) or Tec de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech). Based in Monterrey, the Institute is one of

the largest private multi-campus universities in Latin America with 33 campuses in 25 cities

throughout the country. It is also one of the top graduate business schools in Latin America.

Mexico has made significant progress in science and technology. In recent years, the

biggest scientific project developed in the country was the construction of the Gran Telescopio

Milimétrico (Large Millimeter Telescope), the world’s largest and most sensitive single-aperture

telescope in its frequency range. It was designed to observe regions of space obscured by stellar

dust. The Mexican Space Agency, Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEXA) was formed in July 2010.

Mexico is also a producer of microprocessors and chip sets producing these systems for both

domestic corporations and foreign companies such as AMD and Intel.

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Tourism

Mexico is the eighth most visited country in the world and the number one destination within the

Latin American region with over 20 million tourists every year. Tourism helps to sustain the

country’s economic growth during times when growth is slow in other economic sectors.

Mexico’s most important tourist destinations, other than the capital city itself, are its

numerous beach resorts, archaeological zones and the biosphere reserves. The country boasts of

nearly 12% of the world's biodiversity with over 200,000 different species. Around

170,000 square kilometres have been declared as ‘Protected Natural Areas.’

Acapulco, Cancún, and Los Cabos are famous world-class beach destinations. Other

favourite tourist centres include Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas, Tijuana,

Guadalajara and Puebla. The central and south-east region attracts the bulk of tourist activity

with numerous archaeological zones and scenic landscapes. In the south-east region, the main

attractions are the remnants of the Maya World spread across the five states of Quintana Roo,

Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas. Some of the world’s largest forest reserves are

located in the Sierra Madre ranges, and in the rainy, tropical regions of the Yucatán Peninsula

and the Chiapas Highlands. Mexico also boasts of two of the world's top three largest pyramids:

The Pyramid of Quetzalcóatl in Cholula, near the colonial town of Puebla and the Pirámide del

Sol (Pyramid of the Sun) in Teotihuacán.

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The Central Highlands, the most populous region of Mexico has many colonial cities

which were built near silver mines by the Spanish conquistadores. The main attractions of this

region are the architecture, the views, and some excellent local cuisine. One of the most popular

driving circuits is the one following the so-called Independence Route, a 1400 km long road,

along which can be traced Mexico’s historic struggle for independence. It links all of the major

colonial cities in Central Mexico.

The arid and sparsely populated north is heavily influenced by the neighbouring US and

dominated by industrial cities such as Monterrey. The main attraction of this region is La

Barranca del Cobre or the Copper Canyon (four times larger than the Grand Canyon in the

United States) located in the south-western part of Chihuahua in the Sierra Madre Occidental

mountain range. The famous ‘Chepe’ train makes a spectacular 13-hour journey through this

region.

Country’s Problems

Like all other developing countries of the world, Mexico also suffers from many social problems

like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and lack of healthcare facilities. Moreover, it also faces

serious issues like drug trafficking, rampant corruption and illegal immigration. The high level of

urban crime in big cities is further aggravated by drug abuse and juvenile crime. Thousands of

50


skilled and unskilled workers migrate to the United States in search of employment, most of

them illegally. Furthermore, it has to deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and

other Central Americans who cross the border looking for work in Mexico and the United States.

Drug trafficking is a major problem. Mexico is a major producer and supplier of

narcotics. The government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in

the world, but Mexico continues being the primary transhipment country for US-bound cocaine

from South America. Many major drug cartels, with links to some of the politicians and

businessmen, control the narcotic-trafficking network in the country.

51


4

THE SPANISH CONQUEST

One of the first Europeans to explore the Americas, Christopher Columbus mistakenly referred

to the natives of the Americas as Indians, thinking that he had arrived in India. Although he

corrected himself subsequently, the natives continued to be called as ‘Indios’ or Indians. During

the course of his third journey, Columbus came into contact with the Maya. In one of his earliest

letters to the Queen of Spain, Christopher Columbus wrote: ‘Our European civilization will

bring light to the natives in the darkness but for ourselves we will obtain gold and with gold we

will be able to do what we want.’

For the Spaniards, Mexico was a new land to explore for gold and silver and also to

spread Christianity. Their ardent lust for gold and the intense zeal to convert people to

Catholicism led the Spanish to destroy the rich ancient civilizations of the Aztec, Maya and of

the Inca in Peru. The barbarities perpetrated by the Spanish in the wake of their victories,

including the inhuman torture publicly inflicted on the vanquished royalty, were rarely

documented.

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The Spanish expansion in the Americas began with the establishment of permanent

settlements in the Caribbean Sea, including the city of Santo Domingo (now the capital of the

Dominican Republic) and outposts on the island of Cuba. These settlements made it possible for

the Spaniards to explore the Mexican mainland and return back to their island outposts.

One of the expeditions in the Gulf Coast encountered friendly Maya people who told

them of a powerful empire to the west. The tales of a powerful and wealthy native Indian empire

located in the interior of Mexico, were relayed to Cuba. This resulted in the sailing of the

expedition commanded by the conquistador Hernán Cortés.

The conquest of Mexico, a great and tragic history, began on Good Friday, on the 22nd of

April, 1519 when Cortés landed on the coast near present-day Veracruz City. His first move on

landing, was to organize an independent government, renounce the authority of the Governor of

Cuba and acknowledge only the supreme authority of the Spanish monarchy. In order to prevent

any of his men from deserting because of these actions, Cortés destroyed his fleet. On the coast

he met Malinche, a Spanish-speaking indigenous woman who soon became his lover and

interpreter. She was soon to become one of the most important figures in the history of the

Spanish Conquest.

Cortés set off on the 200 mile march inland towards the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán

with around 500 men, a few horses, attack dogs and cannons. His single mission: to defeat the

Aztec and take their gold.

Because of deep resentment against the Aztec rule, and internal strife within the far-flung

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Aztec Empire, the Spanish conquistadores were able to form alliances with a number of

indigenous groups, the most important among them being the people from Tlaxcala, a city east of

the Tenochtitlán.

The ruler of the Aztec Empire at the time of the Conquest, Moctezuma, had received

reports of the earlier Spanish explorations and battles with the natives. He could have easily

destroyed the Spaniards on their arrival. Instead he ordered his subjects along the region to greet

the foreigners, offer them a large feast and gifts of gold and jewellery, and then ask them to

leave. He was heavily influenced by legends and religious omens predicting future destruction.

The arrival of Cortés coincided with the predicted date for the return of the angry

Quetzalcóatl, their sacred god who had vowed to return and exact his revenge by destroying his

enemies. Since the invaders were fair-skinned and bearded, as was Quetzalcóatl, and they had

come from the east, where the deity had vanished, he thought that their God had arrived. He sent

messengers bearing gifts of gold and jewels with the hope that they would leave, but the wealth

further inflamed the greed of the Spanish.

In October 1519, the Spaniards and several thousand of their allies, marched into

Cholula, an ancient city devoted to Quetzalcóatl. With the assistance of the Tlaxcala army, they

massacred more than 3,000 of the city’s inhabitants.

When Cortés marched towards Tenochtitlán, his combined army of Spanish and native

Indians was vastly outnumbered by the Aztec warriors. Nevertheless, Moctezuma chose not to

fight them and instead invited them to the Aztec capital. On November 18, 1519, the Spaniards

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entered Tenochtitlán as Moctezuma’s guests. The Spanish soldiers were put up in a building and

were allowed to wander through the city, where they found a lot of gold and other treasures in

the city’s storehouses.

Despite the friendly reception given to the Spaniards, Cortés seized Moctezuma as a

hostage, forced him to swear allegiance to the king of Spain, Carlos I, and demanded an

enormous ransom in gold and jewels. Driven by lust for gold, they melted down irreplaceable

works of art by the ton into gold slabs.

In April 1520, Cortés received news about the arrival of an expedition on the Gulf Coast

to arrest and send him back to Cuba. Leaving 200 men at Tenochtitlán under the command of

Pedro de Alvarado, Cortés marched with a small force to the coast. He entered the Spanish camp

at night, captured the leader, and persuaded the majority of the Spaniards to join his army.

Meanwhile, in Tenochtitlán, a group of priests were killed by the Spaniards during a

religious ceremony. This provoked their hosts beyond endurance and the soldiers were placed

under siege in their quarters. According to Spanish records, Moctezuma was stoned to death by

his own people while attempting to appeal for peace. Cortés, with his reinforcements, fought his

way back into the city but soon had to flee in the middle of the night. Fleeing across a causeway,

the Spaniards were chased by Aztec warriors and attacked on both sides by the Aztec in canoes.

More than half the Spaniards were killed, all their cannons were lost, and most of the treasure

they attempted to carry out was abandoned or lost in the lake and canals. The Aztec pursued the

retreating Spanish troops, but the survivors managed to find refuge in Tlaxcala where they

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regrouped.

The final assault on Tenochtitlán began in January 1521, with more supplies and fresh

troops, tens of thousands of whom were from Tlaxcala and other regions. Cortés then began his

return to the capital, capturing Aztec outposts along the way and subduing Aztec settlements

around Lake Texcoco. By May 1521, the island capital of Tenochtitlán was isolated and

surrounded. Artillery mounted on ships bombarded the city whose food and fresh water supplies

had been cut. To make matters worse, the besieged city was ravaged by an epidemic of Smallpox

brought by the Spaniards. The Aztec managed to hold out for three months under the command

of the new king, Cuauhtémoc. On August 13, 1521, Tenochtitlán finally fell to the Spanish

conquistadores.

The Post - Conquest scenario

In less than two hours, Cortés is said to have slaughtered six thousand people who had gathered

in a temple patio. All the Aztec nobles and elite were put to death. On his entry into the

conquered capital, Cortés later wrote: ‘You could not put down your foot without stepping on an

Indian corpse.’ More than 40,000 decomposed bodies littered the destroyed city and bloated

corpses floated in canals and the lake. Destruction of the other Aztec cities soon followed and it

was so complete that almost everything lay in ruins. A fabulous city and its empire had come to a

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violent end.

If the history of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is obscure, it is because immediately after

the conquest, the first Bishop of New Spain (Mexico), Juan de Zumarraga, burned all the

historical records which were deemed ‘the work of the Devil.’ Religious fanatics destroyed all

the temples and statues. Zumarraga wrote to his superiors in 1531 that he alone had five hundred

temples razed to the ground and twenty thousand idols destroyed.

The conquistadores not only destroyed almost all the records and literature of the

Mesoamerican civilizations, but they also distorted its portrayal by focusing upon its bad features

and magnifying them out of proportion. For instance, the human sacrifice practiced by the Aztec

was repeatedly stressed without explaining its extenuating features. Human sacrifice was not

unknown in Europe and Rome. The Spanish played this down or simply forgot to mention their

own misdeeds and uncivilized inhuman behaviour against the indigenous people in

Mesoamerica.

After the conquest, the first tasks for the Spaniards were of reconstruction, appeasement

and conversion. Tenochtitlán was pillaged and burned to the ground and its people were driven

out. In a deliberate policy of destroying all reminders of Aztec power, the remaining stones were

used in the construction of the new city, Mexico City. Hundreds of towns were laid out

according to a plan drawn up in Spain, with a plaza surrounded by a grid of streets. Catholic

missionaries who had entered the country with the Spanish conquistadores immediately began

the task of converting the native Indians to Christianity. Mass conversions became a daily

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occurrence. The missionaries built many monasteries and converted millions of people to

Catholicism. Thousands of churches were built (by 1800, the count reached 12,000), often in

areas that had been sacred to the Indians, on top of their pyramids or on the foundations of those

destroyed.

When the Spaniards arrived, the native population of central Mexico was at least 25

million; by the beginning of the 19th century it dwindled to just six million and only half of these

were pure-blooded natives. A majority of them died as a result of successive epidemics of

diseases brought by the Spanish colonists against which the indigenous people had no natural

immunity. With few survivors, the burden of labour placed on them kept increasing as the

Spanish never did any manual labour themselves.

Although Cortés conquered the Aztec in a year, it took another 25 years to conquer the

Maya of Yucatán Peninsula. After the conquest, the burning of religious manuscripts began and

continued for decades. The Maya library in Yucatán, which guarded invaluable ancient

manuscripts, was reduced to ashes in 1562. In the same year, Fray Diego de Landa, a Franciscan

monk made a huge bonfire of all Maya manuscripts and idols in the public squares of Mani in

Yucatán. These books contained what would now be priceless information on ancient history,

mythology, medicine, astronomy, science, religion, and philosophy. The destruction of icons and

hieroglyphics obliterated the Maya language forever. Those who were unwilling to give up their

faith even after tremendous torture were burned to death. According to early accounts, Spanish

eye witnesses reported that ‘De Landa hung Mayas with big stones tied to their feet and flogged

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them and if they still didn't renounce their tin gods, they were showered with burning wax’. His

barbarities resulted in his recall to Spain, but he managed to return and went on to become the

first Bishop of Yucatán. After his return, he wrote Relación de las cosas de Yucatán (‘Details of

Yucatán’) which gave a detailed account of the way of life of the Maya in Yucatán.

Book burning and human torture gained momentum with the formal introduction of the

Spanish Inquisition in the New World (or New Spain) in 1571. The Inquisition, a judicial

institution established in Europe during the Middle Age, persecuted all those who held beliefs or

opinions that disagreed with the official church doctrine. They were branded heretics and burned

at the stake. The Inquisition also banned books that the church considered to be heretical. The

Spaniards, through book burning and killings, successfully converted the Maya Indians leaving

very little trace of their rich civilization. They found pleasure in inventing all kinds of odd

cruelties. A Spanish priest, Bartolome de las Casas in his book ‘The Devastation of the Indies’

gave an eyewitness account of how men, women and children were burned alive ‘thirteen at a

time in memory of Our Redeemer and his twelve apostles.’ He described butcher shops that sold

human flesh for dog food (‘Give me a quarter of that rascal there,’ one customer says, ‘until I

can kill some more of my own’). He wrote: ‘Slave ship captains navigate without need of

compass or charts, following instead the trail of floating corpses tossed overboard by the ship

before them. Native kings are promised peace, and then slaughtered. Whole families hang

themselves in despair. The papacy empowered the two crowns (Spanish and Portuguese) to

conquer and even enslave pagans inimical to the name of Christ.’

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The plight of the Maya Indians was miserable. They were moved into villages and forced

to pay heavy taxes. Still, they showed themselves to be very resistant to the Spanish rule – and

later the newly-independent Mexican State – by resorting to periodic rebellions.

Colonial Mexico

An important aspect of the economy of colonial Mexico was the exploitation of the indigenous

people who performed much of the farming, mining, and ranching work in the colony. Although

Spain had decreed that the natives were free and entitled to wages, they were often treated little

better than slaves. Their plight was initially the result of the encomienda (the predecessor to the

hacienda) system, by which Spanish settlers were granted land and native Indians to convert

them (the native labour) to Christianity and to work them on their large land holdings. Another

system of forced labour was the repartimiento (division) which required indigenous communities

to supply a quota of workers that would be available for hire by the Spanish settlers. The natives

slaved in the ports of Veracruz and Acapulco, and in mines, factories, plantations, and sugar

mills. Some worked as household servants in urban areas. Because of their forced dependence on

the landowners, and zero resistance to foreign ailments, the Indians were riddled with debt and

disease even after Spain abolished slavery in 1548.

Another characteristic of colonial Mexico was the position and power of the Catholic

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Church which affected virtually every aspect of life. Missionaries set up hospitals, monasteries,

and schools in urban areas, and established missions all across the country. They expanded

Spanish control over the natives, introducing Spanish culture and language while converting

them to Christianity. In the beginning, the Church championed indigenous rights but later it grew

more concerned with money. Any attempt to treat the natives as humans was, in any case,

violently opposed by the Spanish landowners to whom they were less than machines. By the end

of the colonial era, the Church owned more than half of all the land and wealth in the country.

Although colonial Mexico was the wealthiest of all the Spanish colonies, its riches were

confined to the local elite and the imperialists in Spain. Ruled directly from Spain, it was heavily

taxed and permitted absolutely no autonomy. The social class consisted of a caste system with

gachupines (those born in Spain but living in Mexico) at the top, the criollos (crioh-yoh) or

creoles, born in Mexico of Spanish blood in the next level, followed by the mixed-race mestizo

population. At the bottom were the mass of indios and people of African descent. All the

political and administrative positions as well as those of the Church, were occupied by the

gachupines.

Trade and industry were promoted with the philosophy of ‘what is good for Spain is good

for Mexico.’ Infrastructure was inadequate and the only proper road in 1800 was the one that

connected Acapulco with Mexico City and the port city of Veracruz. This made it easy to

transport goods from the Spanish colonies in the Far East to Spain.

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