A Very Brief History of Mexico

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The histories of Texas and Mexico are intertwined, and in one way or another, this common past has created the two most important business partners of the hemisphere. Although this close relationship is full of opportunities, it is also full of challenges. <

New generations will have to address complex problems related to demography, environment, water availability, energy, transportation, food supply, justice, regional security, and communicable diseases of human, animals and plants, just to name a few.

The realization of the potential of the region has created the need to prepare individuals on both sides of the border for the complexities of the Texas-Mexico relationship. Prosperity for the region can then be based on a framework where people perceive their differences as a blessing, not as a threat.

To understand the complexity of the Texas-Mexico relationship and to take advantage of the sea of opportunities it offers; it is critical to gain a solid grasp of Mexico, its history, its geography and its people. This booklet is an attempt to address such a need in a very humble way. This material has been prepared to provide participants of the Faculty Abroad Seminar (FAS) and the Spring Leadership Seminar (SLS) a journey through the history that has shaped today's Mexico.

Mural by Diego Rivera

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Principal Pre-Hispanic Cultures

Olmecas: 4,200 years ago (1200 B.C.) The Olmecas settled the area that is today Veracruz and Tabasco. They survived until 300 B.C and are famous for their stone carvings of faces and figures.

Toltecas: 2,800 years ago (800 B.C. ­ 1200 A.D.) Located in Central Mexico, the Toltecs built pyramids, statues, and detailed figurines.

Misteco-Xapoteca: 2,600 years ago (600 B.C.) The peak of this ancient group was the 200 years before and after the birth of Christ. They built a civilization as hunters and gatherers in Monte Albán, in the present-day southern state of Oaxaca.

Mayas: 2,400 years ago (400 B.C. ­ 1500 A.D.) In the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America, the Mayas built entire cities and temples that still exist in proliferation today. They were a more peaceful civilization than the Aztecs. (Interesting fact: The Incas of the South American Andes appeared 50 years after the disintegration of the Mayan Culture; the architecture is remarkably similar, though that of the Incas is more advanced).

Teotihuacanos: 2,300 years ago (300 B.C - 750 A.D.) Teotihuacán, located about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, was the most important and largest city of pre-Aztec central Mexico. At its peak around A.D. 500, the population estimated at 200,000. About A.D. 750, central Teotihuacán burned for unknown causes, and much of the city fell to ruin. Centuries later the Aztecs passed through Teotihuacán, calling it the "City of Gods." The Street of the Dead (Calle de los Muertos) connects the buildings of the ruined city. It is dominated on the east side by the Pyramid of the Sun (216 feet high, 720 by 760 wide), and on the north end by the Pyramid of the Moon (140 feet high).

Totonacas: 1,150 years ago (850 - 1500 A.D.) This was a Gulf Coast civilization famous for its games and "Voladores de Papantla."

The Aztecs: 1250-1500 A.D. peak. The Aztecs entered the Valley of Mexico searching for an eagle sitting on a cactus with a serpent in its mouth. As depicted on the Mexican flag, this was a sign from one of the Aztec gods as to where to build their great civilization. Gran Tenochtitlán, found in the center of present-day Mexico City, was the main city of the Aztecs. This great civilization extended all the way down into present-day Guatemala. The Aztecs are famous for their calendar ("Piedra del Sol"), and had a total population of 12 million during their peak. The Aztec civilization was destroyed by the Spanish Conquest and through wars with other native civilizations.

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Spanish Conquest and Colonial Period (1519-1821)

In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés (at first mistaken by the Aztec King Montezuma to be a returning god), entered the Valley of Mexico. In 1521, after an incredible two year struggle , Cortés took the capital city of Tenochtitlán, which was under the leadership of Cuauhtémoc. The Aztecs were conquered as much by hunger and disease brought by the Europeans as they were by the sword. A Christian cathedral was erected on the stones of an Aztec temple (located in the present day Zócalo of Mexico City).

Cuauhtémoc

Cortes

"La Malinche" - As legend goes, Cortés raped/married the Aztec princess Malinche, and thus began the mixing of races between the Spanish colonizers and the Indian residents. This mixing is called El Mestizaje. Ninety percent of the present day population of Mexico is considered to consist of "mestizos."

From the colonial period came the inheritance of many old Spanish customs including not so positive ones such as nepotism.

The Catholic religion was imposed on the Spanish colonies in the New World. During this same period in time, Spain was fighting the Moors back home, and the Holy Inquisition was in its heyday. Spain's governing forces and the Catholic Church worked together to subdue colonial populations. One outcome you can see today is that the Catholic religion in Mexico (and throughout Latin America) has incorporated many aspects of older pagan religions, especially in the celebrations of religious holidays and saints' days.

The Mexican silver and gold mines supported Spain's colonizing efforts, creating a tremendous dependence on the industry's revenue and on the large groups of laborers needed to work the mines. Areas rich in gold and silver were also areas that already had a large population of local civilizations, such as Mexico with the Aztecs, and Peru with the Incas. These were the first and most important colonies, with colonies like Argentina basically ignored by the Spanish crown until the 1600's.

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Independence (1810 ­ 1821)

Jose Maria Moreles

In 1802, Napoleon invaded Spain. By 1810, Spain was completely controlled by France. The Spanish colonies took advantage of their weakened father-land and began their independence movements. In Mexico, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla initiated the independence movement on September 16, 1810 with his "Grito de Dolores" ("Cry of Dolores"). Mexican Independence day commemorates this event.

José María Morelos, another parish priest, followed Hidalgo's footsteps, extending the independence movement into southern Mexico. On September 13, 1813, Morelos installed the first congress that passed the Act of Independence, but was imprisoned by the royalist Carranco following the Battle of Tezmalaca in November 1815. Shortly after, he had the dubious honor of being the last person executed by the Spanish Inquisition.

Augustin de Iturbide

In 1821, Augustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero issued the Pan de Iguala, declaring that the Mexican nation had to be independent. After exactly 300 years of colonial rule, the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba on August 24, 1821, signified Mexico's official independence from Old Spain.

The first Mexican Empire spanned only a short period from 1821-1823. Iturbide led a sedicious movement to declare himself emperor of Mexico, but in 1823 was exiled from Mexico.

A system of "caudillos," or strong-men who were like semi-dictators, began at this time, the most famous being General Santa Ana in 1830. Tejanos (people from the northern Mexican territory of Texas) were disgruntled about Mexico's centralized system of control. By 1836, Tejanos tried to gain their independence at the Battle of The Alamo. Giving the rebel shout "Remember the Alamo," the rebels were defeated by Santa Ana's army. At the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Ana was captured, and Mexico lost its northernmost territory. Texas declared its independence in 1836 and was annexed by the United States in 1845.

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Mexican ­ American War (1846-1848)

The annexation of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 resulted in the Mexican-American War. The loss of Texas began the anti-American sentiment so entrenched in Mexico's recent history. The U.S. invasion ended with the assault of the Castle of Chapultepec, where the six cadets of the Heroic Military College (pictured here to the left) gave their lives before surrendering to U.S. Marines.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo forced Mexico to sign away the vast territories of California, New Mexico, and Arizona to the United States. Only on this condition would the U.S. soldiers retreat from Mexico.

 

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The French Intervention

Mexico's economy under the government of Benito Juárez was in shambles when Napoleon III of France seized the opportunity to extend French power into Mexico. On May 5, 1862 (Cinco de Mayo), the Mexican army destroyed the French armada at the Battle of Puebla. Even so, the French soon assumed control over much of central Mexico, and in 1864 placed on the Mexican throne Maximilian of the House of Habsburg and his wife Charlotte. In 1867, the Mexican republican forces under Juárez laid siege, defeating and executing Maximilian.

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Porfirio Díaz dominated Mexican politics and history for 35 years, from 1876 until revolution unseated him in 1911. Díaz gathered many intellectuals (the científicos) who stressed economic development to assure social progress. By 1895, Díaz' popularity began to decline because the proserity of the nation was shared by a relatively small group, many of whom were foreigners. A new generation began to question the system, and criticism increased, as did repression.

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Social Unification in the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional)

The PRI was formed as a unification of all the different factions within the country. The beginnings of democracy in Mexico started here, or at least what Mexico has been calling democracy for the past 75 years. It was because of the power and reach of the PRI that the chaos surrounding the revolution was focused into building a strong, independent nation that tolerated no outside interference. People from the right and the left unified under the PRI umbrella, because the PRI had the uncanny ability to be different things at different times, depending on what the country needed at that moment. For example: leftists like Cárdenas and rightists like Salinas both came from the PRI.

Mural by Diego Rivera showing a unified Mexican society

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Nationalization of Petroleum (1938)

Lázaro Cárdenas

In an effort to take control of Mexico out of foreign hands (mainly U.S.), President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940), expropriated and nationalized all petroleum companies and formed PEMEX, the state oil company that continues to exert tremendous political power to this day. At the same time, Cárdenas founded the Department of Indigenous Affairs and increased the land redistribution that had begun with the Mexican Revolution.

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In the midst of the Cold War, Cuba turned communist in 1959/1960. In defiance of U.S. requests, Mexico was one of very few nations that refused to cut diplomatic relations with Cuba. This was unheard of for a Latin American nation that was used to feeling the pressure exerted from the big brother to the north.

Just before the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City, there was a massacre of students in the Plaza de Tlatelolco. These students were rallying for leftist causes, just as they were in Europe and the U.S. during the same time period. The massacre wreaked havoc on Mexico's international reputation.

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President Lopez Portillo was in power when huge oil reserves were discovered in Mexico in 1976. Instead of increasing Mexico's wealth, this "black gold" drove the country deeper into the recession that had begun with the devaluation of the Mexican peso under populist president Echeverría in 1970.

World Oil Prices, 1970-2000

Mexico's newly discovered oil reserves prompted the Lopez Portillo government to borrow heavily from international lenders. Unfortunately, the price of oil plummeted after having been at an all time high, and international interest rates rose significantly.

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Debt Crisis

Mexico's historic debt agreement, signed in early 1990, was the culmination of a process which began with the country's extraordinarily heavy foreign borrowing in the 1978-81 period, and the subsequent debt crisis of 1982. By that year, the public sector debt totaled US$68.5 billion and private sector debt totaled US$23.9 billion (together, 54% of GDP!). Due to the tremendous devaluation of the peso and the heavy reliance on imports, inflation reached 100% in 1982, the highest ever recorded in the country.

In August 1982, Mexico was forced to inform the international financial community that it would not be able to even pay the interest due on its loans, let alone any part of the principal. Thus began the series of Latin American countries defaulting on their loans. Foreign investors pulled out of Mexico.

As the peso continued to devaluate, the private sector hurried to get their money out of the country. In response, the Lopez Portillo government nationalized the banking system, froze all accounts to discourage capital flight, and converted all dollar savings into pesos at an artificially low exchange rate. Millions of Mexicans lost their fortunes. Throughout the 1980's, although restructured on several occasions, Mexican debt continued to grow as the country had to borrow new money while the economy continued to stagnate.

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Mexico's economic woes became the short-term macro economic priority of the incoming Salinas administration in December of 1989. In one year, Salinas de Gortari was able to restructure the foreign debt, removing a major obstacle that had forestalled growth since 1982.

As president-elect of theU.S., George Bush met with Carlos Salinas in Houston, TX and agreed on the creation of a major American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. Carlos Salinas became president under widespread accusation of electoral fraud. For the first time, the PRI encountered sufficient opposition. Cuautémoc Cárdenas, former PRI member and son of President Lázaro Cárdenas who nationalized the oil industry, formed the PRD (a center-to-left party) in defiance of Salinas' politics and conservative policies.

In three years, Salinas had transformed the country while dealing profound blows to the old establishment, the "dinosaurs" of the PRI. He established economic reforms, created the IFE (Federal Electoral Institute), allowed candidates of the PAN (a center-to-right party) to win state governorships, dismantled the powerful PEMEX (petroleum) union, created an open market economy, privatized more than 1700 state owned companies, re-privatized the banking system, and established the structure to give independence to the Central Bank. Salinas publicly criticized Fidel Castro's economic system, and successfully negotiated NAFTA, which was signed in 1994.

Unfortunately, not everything worked so well for Salinas or for Mexico during this period. His desire for continued power made him seek constitutional reforms in order to get re-elected. While his privatization efforts and successes made the country more efficient, thousands of people lost their jobs, first to privatization and then to competition. Salinas' political enemies and a hungry Mexico caught up with the ambitious president. The Zapatista movement erupted in Chiapas, and several political assassinations occured including the murder of Luis Donoldo Colosio, Salinas' chosen successor. Subsequent charges of corruption, a Mexico in economic tatters, and a brother accused of being involved in drug trade and murder, forced Salinas to flee the country.

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Amidst the widespread accusations of electoral fraud during his election for president, Carlos Salinas began the democratization process within the PRI.

Under the pressures of Chiapas, the fear of more assassinations, and the uncertainty of how the country would survive if not run by the PRI, Ernesto Zedillo of the PRI was elected president of Mexico. Significantly, however, the mayorship of Mexico City, with its 22 million people, went to Cuautémoc Cárdenas from the PRD. Several states elected governors from opposing parties as well.

NAFTA also played its part in opening Mexico's political system. The competition and free market trade that Salinas introduced to Mexico destroyed the state subsidized products, jobs, and industries that had existed for so long in Mexico. Mexicans lost jobs, were forced to pay more for previously subsidized goods, and in general, felt the hardships of globalization. Mexicans blamed these hardships on the policies of the PRI, and in turn began to look more closely at other political options.

Just a few months in office, with no reserves left and without consulting the U.S. first, Zedillo devaluated the peso in 1995. Within hours, tens of thousands of Mexico's wealthiest had electronically transferred their money out of the country. The country fell into the deepest economic crisis in its history (known as the Tequila Effect because other Latin American nations were subsequently affected). Against a great deal of opposiition, the Clinton administration prepared an economic package to rescue Mexico, the U.S.' second most important trading partner. Mexicans, fed up with the crisis and corruption in general, could no longer support the PRI. This led to the PRI losing the majority in the House, Congress, and Senate for the first time in history. As a result, the president and his cabinet became accountable to Congress for the first time, and the forces of democracy began to change Mexico.

After the economic crisis and consequential pressures for democracy, President Zedillo realized that the political system of Mexico could not continue according to tradition. He made two historic policy decisions that set the scene for a peaceful transition of power in the July 2000 presidential election: the formation of an independent federal electoral commission to oversee the honesty of elections and a commitment to liberty of expression for the media.

Primary elections were held in the PRI for the first time before the 2000 presidential election. Francisco Labastida Ochoa won as the official candidate of the PRI. This was a dramatic change within the party structure, for the history of the PRI has been that the current president names his successor.

At the same time, the PRD and its candidate Cuautémoc Cárdenas lost their reputation because of the condition of Mexico City under the mayorship of Cárdenas. Whether due to his incompetence or to the difficulties in trying to accomplish anything with the whole PRI system against him; corruption, crime, and pollution increased in Mexico City. As a result, the opposing party (PAN) gained momentum with its charismatic candidate Vicente Fox Quesada.

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Mexico Today

On July 2, 2000, the PRI lost the presidential election for the first time since it was founded more than 70 years ago. Vicente Fox, former businessman and governor of the state of Guanajuato, took office on December 1, 2000 as former President Zedillo publicly recognized the transition of power.

Though the PAN was the big winner of the presidency, the electorate created a completely new balance within the political system that did not give the winning party an absolute majority in either house of the legislature. Both houses of Congress and the three major political parties will be able to negotiate all major changes in law and administration- another first in the modern history of Mexico.

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Appendix A

History of Mexico: A Brief Timeline

1325 The Aztecs found Tenochtitlán (present-day Mexico City).

1521 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés conquers the Aztecs.

1810 (September 16: Mexican Independence Day)

Miguel Hidalgo issues a cry for independence from Spain.

1821 Mexico becomes independent from Spain.

1845 Texas is annexed to the United States.

1846-48 The Mexican-American War claims nearly half of Mexico's territory.

1857 Mexico adopts a new constitution under Benito Juárez.

1862 (May 5, "Cinco de Mayo")

The Mexican army defeats French troops at the Battle of Puebla.

1864 France's Napolean III places Maximilian on the Mexican throne.

1867 The Mexican Republic is restored under President Benito Juárez.

1876 Porfirio Díaz assumes the presidency until 1911.

1910 Francisco Madero sparks the Mexican Revolution that lasts until 1917.

1917 A new constitution is approved guaranteeing minimum wage, the right to strike, land reform, and agrarian rights for peasants.

1929 President Plutarco Calles founds the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

1938 President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalizes Mexico's oil industry.

1939 Manuel Gómez Morín founds the National Action Party(PAN).

1968 Soldiers and police open fire on thousands of students protesting in Mexico City's Plaza de Tlatelolco.

1982 Mexico suspends its international debt payments, devastating the economy for most of the decade.

1985 A massive earthquake strikes Mexico City.

1988 Carlos Salinas de Gortari of the PRI is elected president.

1992 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed.

1994 (Jan. 1) The Zapatista rebellion erupts in Chiapas on the day NAFTA takes effect.

(March 23) Luis Donoldo Colosio, the PRI's presidential candidate, is assassinated.

(August 21 ) The PRI's Ernesto Zedillo is elected president.

(Dec. 21) Mexico devalues the peso, triggering a severe economic crisis.

1997 Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the PRD is elected mayor of Mexico City.

1999 Francisco Labastida wins the vote in the PRI's first presidential primary.

2000 Vicente Fox of the PAN wins the presidency

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President Fox's Initial Cabinet

FEDERAL ATTORNEY GENERAL: Brig. General Rafael Macedo de la Concha

Retired General, 50, takes on the top drug-fighting post armed with a law degree from Mexico's Military University and knowledge from his most recent posting as the chief prosecutor for the military justice system in Mexico.

COORDINATOR FOR PUBLIC POLICIES: Eduardo Sojo Garza Aldape

Economist, 44, with a degree from the University of Pennsylvania, will head this area, making sure decisions taken by the economic ministries are harmonious and faithful to Fox's stated goal of fighting poverty.

FOREIGN MINISTER: Jorge Castañeda

Mexico's next foreign affairs minister is a high-profile, left-leaning political scientist and columnist and professor at NYU. A former communist, the 47-year-old Castañeda was an outspoken opponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

FINANCE MINISTER: Francisco Gil Diaz

Telecommunication expert, 57, takes the top post after heading long-distance telephone firm Avantel, part-owned by WorldCom Inc. and Mexican financial group Banacci.

COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION MINISTER: Pedro Cerisola

Fox's campaign manager, 51, made a name for himself in the telecommunications sector when he helped privatize telephone giant Telmex a decade ago.

ENERGY MINISTER: Ernesto Martens

From the private sector, 67, he spent 18 years at chemical firm Union Carbide Corp. and 17 years at Mexican glassmaker Grupo Vitro. He also headed Cintra, the mainly government-owned holding company for Mexico's top two airlines.

PEMEX: Raul Muñoz Leos

Businessman and chemical engineer, 61, Moñoz will run the state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos, which has a monopoly on oil exploration, drilling and refining in the world's fifth-biggest crude oil producer.

AGRICULTURE and RURAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER: Javier Usabiaga Arroyo

Known as "Garlic King", 61, Usabiaga runs a large agricultural empire based in Fox's home state of Guanajuato.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: Victor Lichtinger

A private sector environmental specialist, 43, was director general of NAFTA's trilateral environmental cooperation council.

TOURISM MINISTER: Leticia Navarro

Longtime business executive, 47, whose most recent job was at a cosmetics company Jafra, owned formerly by Gillette, where she specialized in marketing. She also worked for beverage company PepsiCo and Mexican food firm Grupo Panificadora Azteca.

STATE TOURISM PROMOTION AGENCY: John McCarthy

Son of English immigrants, 45, is the former president of Raintree Resorts International Inc. and before that served on the board of directors of the Hoteles Presidente chain.

COORDINATOR for MIGRATION ISSUES on the NORTHERN BORDER:

Ernesto Ruffo Appel

Businessman, 48, experience in the fishing industry and has headed a firm advising foreign investors in the northwest border state of Baja California.

NAFIN: Mario Laborin Gomez

Head of No. 1 bank BBVA-Bancomer, 48, will take over the state development financing bank Nacional Finanaciera. He has served on the board of important companies like television broadcaster TV Azteca.

BANCOMEXT: Jose Luis Romero Hicks

Fox's finance minister when he was governor of Guanajuato state, 43, will run import-export financing bank Bancomext.

ECONOMY MINISTER: Luis Ernesto Derbez

53, will assume the top job at the Economy Ministry, the new name for the office that will oversee the former tasks of the Trade Ministry and also handle small-business development.

EDUCATION MINISTER: Reyes Tamez Guerra

A career academic, 47, was named to the post with the mission of bringing equality of education to Mexico. He was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

HEALTH MINISTER: Julio Frenk

Career medic who worked for the World Health Organization, 46, and former vice president for Mexico's Health Foundation and president of the Mexican Society for Quality of Health Care.

LABOR MINISTER: Carlos Abascal

Allied with Fox's conservative National Action Party (PAN), Abascal, 51, is the right-wing former head of the Mexican Employer's Conferdation (Coparmex).

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER: Josefina Vazquez

Vasquez, 39, was appointed to help bring "dignity" to the lives of millions of Mexicans living in poverty by working toward equality of access to health care and education, among other services.

INTERIOR MINISTER: Santiago Creel Miranda

A lawyer, legislator and former congressional floor leader of the PAN, 45. Between 1994 and 1996, he was a citizen counselor to Mexico's electoral watchdog, the Federal Electoral Institute.

DEFENSE MINISTER: Gen. Clemente Ricardo Gerardo Vega García

61, has held posts of Subaltern Officer in the 32nd Infantry Battalion in Guerrero and in the 55th Battalion in Quintana Roo during his military life.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL: Francisco Barrio

50, a former governor of Mexico's northern Chihuahua state, headed up anti-corruption initiatives for Fox's transition team.

NAVY MINISTER: Vice Adm. Marco Antonio Peyrot

60, has been in the Mexican navy since 1957 and has served as naval attache to embassies in Italy and France.

PUBLIC SECURITY MINISTER: Alejandro Gertz Manero

61, won a name for himself as an anti-corruption crusader as the former Mexico City police chief, where he rooted out corrupt police commanders.

AGRARIAN REFORM MINISTER: Maria Teresa Herrera

44, was the first woman in Mexico appointed to the post of Supreme Court Justice president for the state of Nuevo Leon, where she was re-elected by unanimous vote to four consecutive terms.

CHIAPAS PEACE COMMISSIONER: Luis Alvarez

A U.S. educated politician, 85, has been a presidential candidate for the PAN, mayor of the northern city of Chihuahua and senator.

OFFICE for DEVELOPMENT of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: Xochitl Galvez

37, is a successful Indian businesswoman, once so poor she had to beg on Mexico City's streets.

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