El Grito de Dolores and Dia de la Independencia ~ September 15-16

[Jigsaw]

As a Mexican-American El Grito is a special day. Having a BFF who shares his dia de su santo with Mexico's greatest day and who introduced me to La Coahuila is extra special.

 

[Wet Pants]

Let us get back to what's important here, chicas chicas and chicas.... I love to hear about Mexican history and its fight for independence, but that's not why people log in this site for:

HK on the 16th was business as usual.... there was no cover as they said, but technically, HK doesn't have a cover; they just make you buy a beer before going in, which I always do anyways.

Instead of 2 chica shaving cream show, they had a 4 girl shaving cream show. The problem with those shows is that you get shaving creams all over you, and they last way too long, and you get bored... there were numerous prizes as well. The top prize being 1 hr at a VIP with 2 chicas of your choice and a bucket of beer free; I wasn't surprised to see no one won.... they were giving away a lot of cheap water down tequllas as well....

Overall, nothing special than any other nights.... I am not too crazy with HK nowadays... too much pressure to buy drinks and too many ugly chiacas come by and wants $1 to get lost.... I ended up not staying long....

 

[Cliff]

Those who like to party should go to TJ the night of September 15th.


From another board:
Went down last night. Wasn't the first time I was there as the clock struck midnight on the 15th, but this year it was over the top. Never seen it so crazy down in the Zona. It was gridlock traffic. Police blocked off Coahilla at one point. Buses were rocking back and forth as if they had lowrider suspensions, except it was just Mexicans inside rocking it up and down.

A majority of chicas in HK were in the traditional garb, more so than Adelitas. CC had a pretty good floor show with traditional dancers just after midnight...


My response:
Those who like to party should go to TJ the night of September 15th. The description above of the El Grito celebration in the Zona Norte's la Coahuila is very accurate.

Although I'm not a party person, I spent the night of September 15th in Tijuana, as I have done the last few years. (I enjoy seeing El Grito in the Zocalo on TV and/or the local reenactment.) The El Grito celebration usually gets wild, but this year things in the streets of la Coahuila were indeed more festive than has been the norm in the past. There was also an outdoor concert at the glorita near the border COSTCO which hugely impacted traffic.

There were, as always, celebrations throughout TJ. There was a circus near Marcos Plaza which together with those going to Marcos Plazza really tied up local traffic.

-------------------

I don't have a transcript of what Calderon said this year, but I think it was the same as what he said in 2007, the first year of this presidency. (The ceremony has changed very little over the years.)

Ringing a bell in memory of the church bells rung when Hidalgo gathered his congregation and gave the cry of freedom, Calderon, carrying the flag of Mexico, on the balcony of the palace in the Zocalo, said, as he did in the first year of his presidency, "Viva los héroes que nos dieron Patria, Viva Hidalgo, Viva Morelos, Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domيnguez, Viva Aldama, Viva Matamoros, Viva Nuestra Independencia. ،Viva México! ،Viva México! ،Viva México!."

My translation of which is:

Long live (the memory of) the heroes who founded our nation. Long live (the memory of) Hidlgo, long live (the memory of) Morelos, long live (the memory of) Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, long live (the memory of) Aldama, long live (the memory of) Matamoros. Long live our independence. Long live Mexico! Long live Mexico! Long live Mexico!

 

[Whitna]

Cinco de Mayo is not--for reasons explained below--celebrated in Mexico to the extent it is in the United States. That being said, Cinco de Mayo is not a holiday fabricated by beer companies and commercial interests.

Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) – Battle of Puebla


Cinco de Mayo is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day. Nor is the Dيa de la Revolucيon (Revolution Day) celebrated on November 20th Mexico's Independence Day. In Mexico the November 20th holiday celebrates the revolution of 1910-1917 that overthrew the rule of Portirio Dيaz from 1876 to 1911. It marks the beginning of modern Mexico and the PRI party.

Mexico's Independence Day is September 16th. El Grito, the famous Cry of Independence, that began Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain is repeated by the president of Mexico in a national ceremony each year at 11 pm on September 15th with Mexican independence celebrations lasting two days.

The holiday of Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May) commemorates the victory of the outnumbered Mexican forces over the French army at The Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The number of French reported killed ranged from 476 to 1,000, although many of the troops were already ill from their stay in the coastal lowlands. Mexican losses were reported to be eighty-six.

The battle at Puebla in 1862 happened at a violent and chaotic time in Mexico's history. Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1821 after a difficult and bloody struggle. Subsequently a number of internal political takeovers and wars, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Mexican Civil War of 1858, had ruined the national economy.

During this chaotic period Mexico had accumulated heavy debts to several nations, including Spain, England and France, who were demanding repayment. Similar debt to the U.S. was previously settled after the Mexican-American War. France, under Napoleon III, was eager to add to its empire and used the debt issue to move forward with its goals of establishing control of Mexico. Realizing France's intent of empire expansion, Spain and England withdrew their support. When Mexico finally stopped making loan payments, France took action on its own to install Napoleon's relative, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as emperor of Mexico.

France invaded at the gulf coast of Mexico along the state of Veracruz and began to march it forces toward Mexico City, a distance today of less than 600 miles. Although U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was sympathetic to Mexico's cause, the United States was involved in its own Civil War and was unable to provide any direct assistance. While unable to send armed forces to assist Mexico, Lincoln did manage to send arms to Mexico during its struggle against the French, for which he is honored in Mexico. For example, on the Paseo de los Hereos in the Zona Rio financial district of Tijuana there is a statue of Abraham Lincoln with broken chains in his hands. The chains do not represent the freeing of U.S. slaves, rather they resent the freeing of Mexico from French occupation under Maximilian made possible by the U.S. policy begun by Lincoln of providing Mexico with military aid in its struggle against the French forces of Maximilian.

Marching on toward Mexico City, the French army encountered strong resistance at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. Lead by Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin, a small, poorly armed militia estimated at 4,500 men were able to stop and defeat a well outfitted French army of 6,500 soldiers, which stopped the invasion of the country. The victory was a glorious moment for Mexican patriots, which at the time helped to develop a needed sense of national unity, and is the cause for the historical date's celebration.

Unfortunately, the victory was short lived. Upon hearing of the defeat, Napoleon III sent more troops overseas to again invade Mexico, contrary to the wishes of the French populace. Some 30,000 more troops and a full year later, the French were eventually able to depose the Mexican army, take over Mexico City, and install Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico

Maximilian's rule of Mexico was short lived, lasting only from 1864 to 1867. When the American Civil War ended, the United States was able to provide more political and military assistance to Mexico. As soon as Lee surrendered, Grant--carrying out Lincoln's wishes--sent Phil Sheridan to Texas. It was not so much to fight against the Confederate forces under Kirby Smith as to put 50,000 troops under a capable general in a place that would threaten the French in Mexico. Secretary of State Steward then told the Mexican ambassador that French troops in Mexico were a matter of "great concern." The French took a hint and withdrew the bulk of their forces.

With the bulk of France's support for Maximilian withdrawn, Mexican forces were able by 1867 to expel the French, after which Maximilian was executed by the Mexicans. Today his bullet riddled shirt is on display in the museum at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. So despite the eventual French invasion of Mexico City, Cinco de Mayo honors the bravery and victory of General Zaragoza's small, outnumbered forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

General Ignacio Zaragoza, who commanded the victorious Mexican troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, was born in 1829 in Goliad, Texas when Texas was still part of Mexico. Zaragoza's favorite son status among Mexican-Americans in Texas resulted in large Cinco de Mayo celebrations being held in Texas. These celebrations gradually spread though other parts of United States until today Cinco de Mayo is more vigorously celebrated in the United States (especially in cities with large Mexican-American populations) than in most parts of Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo is what is known in Mexico as a civic holiday; it is not a Mexican Federal holiday. In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla. It is not celebrated in any significant way in other parts of the Mexico, although it is celebrated in the United States, especially in cities having a large Mexican-American population.

 

[Villain]

Burt
Thank you for the nice history lesson. I knew most of it, but not in the way you tought us.I am a latin born and raiseed in Southerb California, but did not learn about some of my herieforum.xxxe until I went to college in Texas. For other reasons I have always wanted to go to Chihuahua to learn more of the story. I am a history buff, and always like to learn new things.

And for those who do not no any better, Cinco de mayo, is just a made up day mostly by liquer companies, to help promote business during a slow time of the year, and all the people seen to have bitten into this false holidays. And now even parts of Mexico even by into it, so that they can promote more business, and have more business.Good hynting

 

[sanjit_life]

I got that email as well... HK advertised no cover charge... thebadguy, was that true? Did you partake in the ladies? How were the rates?
Post a trip report please!

 

[kibastryker]

I went to HK yesterday for the "grito de independencia" and it was nothing special.... it is nothing like the cinco de mayo party they have...

 

[Jackie]

I got an email from HKB. They are having a "grito de independencia" special on 9/15-16. Does that help?

 

[gemini6187]

This is very interesting, but what do it got to do with mongering?

 

[Anne K]

El Grito de Dolores (Cry of Independence) and Dia de la Independencia (Independence Day) September 15-16


At dawn on Sunday, September 16, 1810, while Napolean's troops were occupying Spain and King Ferdinand VII of Spain was still in captivity , Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a fifty-seven-year-old priest from an old family of criollos (Mexican-born Spaniards) launched the movement that resulted in Mexico's independence. He had begun to harangue his parishioners in the small town of Dolores in the state of Guanajuato, "seducing them" (according to a chronicle of the time) to rise up in arms - even with stones, slings, sticks or spears - in order to defend their religion against the "French heretics" who had occupied Spain since 1808 and now threatened to come over to the Americas.

alerted by Josefa Ortiz de Dominquez ("La Corregidora") that his revolutionary plot had been discovered and that he would soon be arrested, he brought his plans forward and, with the Grito de Dolores delivered in religious language and from the belfry of his defence against the usurpers of authority and the enemies of Fernando VII. In doing this, Hidalgo started the great revolt of 1810. His battle cry was: "Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Death to the Spaniards!"

What Hidalgo intended - and accomplished - was to launch his flock against the hated gachupines (Spaniards born in Spain and living in Mexico) "who had been exploiting the wealth of the Mexican people with the greatest injustice for three hundred years." Within a month, he had been joined by more than fifty thousand men, mainly Indians from the poorest levels of society. Attracted by his religious magnetism and by other, less noble motives, this multitude devastated the cities of San Miguel, Celaya, and Guanajuato.

In less than a year he was at the gates of Mexico City, with an army big enough to capture it. For reasons that have puzzled historians he retreated. Some analysts point out that he feared he could not control the mob once they have taken the city, which while ungarded, was to receive reinforcements soon.

He was apprehended in a battle along with other leaders of the revolution, among them Ignacio Allende, José Mariano Jiménez and Juan Aldama. Since he was a clergyman Hidalgo could not be immediately executed. A few months later, in July of 1811, he was tried by the Inquisition and excommunicated. Subsequently he was condemned to death by the civil authorities. The four leaders were executed in Chihuahua, three of them on June 26, 1811 and Miguel Hidalgo on July 30, 1811 After being decapitated their heads were put in the four corners of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato as a way to scare off the revolution.

But by then the seed had begun to sprout. The Mexican War of Independence, a truly popular movement led by four hundred armed parish priests, ended with Mexico being a independent nation.

On September 15, 1910 in preparation for the 100th anniversary of Mexico's independence special envoys from Spain gathered on the illuminated balconies of the National Palace and watched the fiesta of all fiestas in preparation for the grito de independencia, the "cry of independence" that was to arrive with the coming dawn. However, at 11:00 pm on September 15, 1910, President Porfirio Diaz stood on the main balcony of the National Palace, and once again rang the same bell Hidalgo had rung in Dolores. He shouted several vivas: "Long Live the Heroes of the Nation!" "Long Live the Republic!" Below him, in the majestic zócalo that, from the days of the Aztecs had been the ceremonial heart of the Mexican Nation, a hundred thousand voices shouted in reply "¡VIVA!"

But why had the President delivered this grito at 11 p.m. on the night of the September 15th rather than at dawn on September 16th, when it all really began? A minor historical license: September 15 was the Day of Saint Porfirio (a Greek saint of the fourth century) and the birthday of President Poririo Diaz. Thus today Mexico's Independence Day celebration lasts two days.