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Mexico celebrates its 200th birthday
Source: Agencies |
September 17, 2010, Friday
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MEXICO looked beyond its drug war to throw a 200th birthday bash celebrating a proud history, whimsical culture and resilience embodied in the traditional independence cry: "Viva Mexico!"
Across Mexico City, the capital, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets, blowing horns and dancing alongside a parade of serpent floats, marching cacti and warrior marionettes and staying late into the night at open-air concerts.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon capped the evening by ringing the original independence bell from a balcony in the Zocalo square and delivering "El Grito," patterned on founding father Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 call to arms against Spain: "Long live independence. Love live the bicentennial... Long live Mexico!"
Roaring thousands echoed his cry as fireworks exploded in the square and at the iconic Angel of Independence about 3.2 kilometers down the city's crowded main promenade.
"I love being Mexican!" said Michel Dosal, wearing a green, white and red Mohawk wig. "The 15th of September is better than Christmas. It's better than my birthday!"
In cities where drug violence is heaviest, festivities were more subdued. The grito was canceled in Ciudad Juarez for the first time in its history. People still showed their patriotism in the border city - Mexico's most violent - by hanging Mexican flags from their roofs and hosting family dinners.
In the western city of Morelia, the scene of a cartel-related grenade attack that killed eight during the 2008 independence celebration, barely 2,000 showed up at the main plaza for a "grito" that once drew tens of thousands.
"My son asked me to take him to see the grito, so I brought him despite my fears," said Silvia Godinez Perez, a secretary. "We can't easily forget what happened two years ago."
But in Mexico City, a US$40 million fiesta, two years in the making, drew people from across the country to the main Reforma Avenue and Zocalo. Moments before Calderon emerged on the balcony of the National Palace, a voice boomed from loudspeakers: "Let's show the world that Mexico is strong and standing."
"This one is special," said Iris Mari Rodriguez Montiel, a small business owner. "It gives me chills just to think about it."
"It's like a Carnival of Rio, plus an Olympic ceremony, plus Woodstock all put together," said artistic director Marco Balich. "For the cost of a warplane, you can celebrate the birthday of a country."
Across Mexico City, the capital, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets, blowing horns and dancing alongside a parade of serpent floats, marching cacti and warrior marionettes and staying late into the night at open-air concerts.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon capped the evening by ringing the original independence bell from a balcony in the Zocalo square and delivering "El Grito," patterned on founding father Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 call to arms against Spain: "Long live independence. Love live the bicentennial... Long live Mexico!"
Roaring thousands echoed his cry as fireworks exploded in the square and at the iconic Angel of Independence about 3.2 kilometers down the city's crowded main promenade.
"I love being Mexican!" said Michel Dosal, wearing a green, white and red Mohawk wig. "The 15th of September is better than Christmas. It's better than my birthday!"
In cities where drug violence is heaviest, festivities were more subdued. The grito was canceled in Ciudad Juarez for the first time in its history. People still showed their patriotism in the border city - Mexico's most violent - by hanging Mexican flags from their roofs and hosting family dinners.
In the western city of Morelia, the scene of a cartel-related grenade attack that killed eight during the 2008 independence celebration, barely 2,000 showed up at the main plaza for a "grito" that once drew tens of thousands.
"My son asked me to take him to see the grito, so I brought him despite my fears," said Silvia Godinez Perez, a secretary. "We can't easily forget what happened two years ago."
But in Mexico City, a US$40 million fiesta, two years in the making, drew people from across the country to the main Reforma Avenue and Zocalo. Moments before Calderon emerged on the balcony of the National Palace, a voice boomed from loudspeakers: "Let's show the world that Mexico is strong and standing."
"This one is special," said Iris Mari Rodriguez Montiel, a small business owner. "It gives me chills just to think about it."
"It's like a Carnival of Rio, plus an Olympic ceremony, plus Woodstock all put together," said artistic director Marco Balich. "For the cost of a warplane, you can celebrate the birthday of a country."
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