Ignacio Corona

During their study-tour in central Mexico last December, the Mexico Scholars group visited the beautiful city of Querétaro, whose historical downtown has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Capital of the state of the same name, Querétaro is the place where the ephemeral empire of Maximilian of Habsburg came to an abrupt end. At the city’s Teatro de la República, in the same building where the OSU students strolled and took pictures, the ill-fated Austrian prince was condemned to face the firing squad. Maximilian was executed along with the top two Mexican generals of his army at the nearby Cerro de las Campanas.

“What is important to keep in mind is that while the 5th of May does not correspond with the Mexican Independence day (September 16), it is undoubtedly a source of national pride in Mexico because it symbolizes the struggle of a nation to remain sovereign and independent.”

These historical events are the conclusion of a chapter in Mexican history that began on the 5th of May of 1862. On that day, the small Mexican militia — a poorly equipped army, not yet recovered from its defeat in the U.S.-Mexico war and decades-old civil conflict — resorted to the help of civilians and Indians from the sierra of Puebla to defeat the same army that had swept Europe during the Napoleonic wars. That victory on the outskirts of the city of Puebla halted the plans of Napoleon III of establishing a French empire in Mexico. More importantly, it provided the country a first true sense of national unity. But the French army returned with 30,000 more troops and succeeded in installing Maximilian as emperor a year later. The empire turned out to be short-lived, as Benito Juárez’s Republican militia finally defeated the imperial army in 1867.

The battle of Puebla on the 5th of May is currently remembered with regional celebrations throughout Mexico, but particularly in Puebla. The fact that Ignacio Zaragoza, the general who led the army on that glorious day, was born in current Goliad, Texas, has led many to believe that that is the reason why the celebration is even bigger in the Mexican communities across the United States than in Mexico. What is certain is that the Cinco de Mayo celebration in this country grew out from small-scale festivities within the Mexican-American community to be now supported not only by institutions and state governments, but also by large corporations and commercial establishments. It has tacitly been adopted as a Latino day in the calendar of holidays.

What is important to keep in mind is that while the 5th of May does not correspond with the Mexican Independence Day (September 16), it is undoubtedly a source of national pride in Mexico because it symbolizes the struggle of a nation to remain sovereign and independent. Such a post-colonial aspiration is something that can certainly speak to all Latinos regardless national origin, as most Hispanic countries, including Spain, at one point or another have been the object of invasions or foreign intervention (i.e., through orchestrated coup d’etats). On the basis of this common experience, the 5th of May could be regarded as a day to remember among a diverse Latino community that is increasingly gaining a more visible role in the United States and more than deserves a day to celebrate its varied culture and history.