Tag: Chicano Movement

What is Cinco De Mayo?

Cinco De Mayo is the celebration of a great military victory in the history of Mexico.

President Benito Juarez, at a time of financial hardship in Mexico, and deeply in debt to various European countries, declared a moratorium on the re-payment of those debts.

The governments of France, Spain and Great Britain dispatched the military to collect on the debts. The customs house in the city of Veracruz was seized by these foreign armies.

Spain and Great Britain soon decided to leave Mexico. French leader Napoleon III decided to take control of Mexico.

A numerically and vastly larger French army engaged the Mexican army in battle. On May 5, 1862, the smaller, less-experienced and under-equipped Mexican army defeated the French army at the Battle of Puebla.

The victory was short-lived. A year later Napoleon III sent a French army of 30,000 to install the younger brother of the emperor of Austria, Archduke Maximilian, as emperor of Mexico.

Emperor Maximilian reigned for only a few years. He was executed and Benito Juarez again became president of Mexico.  Maximilian was executed in Mexico on June 19, 1867.

Cinco De Mayo is a shining moment in the history of Mexico. Though the victory was short-lived, it’s significance is still relevant today. The Battle of Puebla was a moment when the Mexican people asserted themselves forcefully in the face of yet another foreign invasion.

Let us direct all our efforts now to obtain and to consolidate the benefits of La Paz (Peace). Under its auspices, the protection of the laws and the authorities for the rights of all the inhabitants of the Republic will be effective. That the town and the government respect the rights of all. Between the individuals, like between the nations, the respect to the other people’s right is La Paz. — Benito Juarez

Cinco De Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla.

It also celebrates the beautiful people and culture of a free Mexico.