To Mexico, on Such a Special Day...[September 16th, 2010: Bicentennial Independence Day]

In the darkness of a wild New World, a glistening city of pyramids rose high above a lake whose shape resembled the scars on the face of the Moon. This bustling city, which sprung forth from the vision of an eagle devouring a serpent, would later emerge as the largest city in the Americas, the wealthiest capital in the Spanish Empire and the seat of prosperity and glory of a new emerging nation: Mexico, a land of origins.

The privileged land now known as Mexico gave rise to two of the greatest and most advanced civilizations in the New World, to the discovery of agriculture in the Americas, the only formal writing system ever created in the Western Hemisphere, an independent discovery of the concept of zero and of the wheel and the most advanced Native American mathematicians and astronomers, truly dignified observers of the sky...Mexico would also give rise to countless mythologies, religions, languages and traditions and to one of the most beloved gastronomies worldwide, based on its corn, its chilies and the fruits, vegetables and legumes endemic to its forests.

As old and new civilizations crossed paths on its fertile valleys and mountains, Mexico——the proud home of mariachi and tequila and a tireless proponent of the sombrero and the sarape——also gave birth to a new hybrid nation: a people of mixed descent, the union of two cultures and two continents that today represents the Mexican people. 

Mexico’s past, reverberates its splendor and its accomplishments and it remains a testament to good fortune, to an utmost manifestation of beauty and culture and to the characteristic resilience and perseverance of its people.

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The richness of Mexico can still be perceived today through the colors of its peoples, their homes and their clothes; the sounds of its cities and its music and the flavors and aromas of its nature and its food. The beauty of Mexico’s soul can still be witnessed through its languages and the beautiful towns in its central valleys...the aesthetic spirit that Mexican artists exude through their works...the magical beaches on its coasts. Mexico remains marvelous; Mexico remains splendid, yes, to this very day.

Along with the cultural richness of its past, however, vestiges of violence, injustice and exploitation have survived in Mexican society. Inequality, corruption and the lack of opportunities experienced by most Mexicans define the social terrain of their reality; and the discontent and desperation that has arisen in reaction to these harsh truths have given way to one of the most violent periods in Mexican history. The false and fragile social equilibrium achieved in previous generations——through coercion, deception and brute force——has now come undone and, as a result, Mexico today lies consumed in violence and lawlessness as it tries to overcome the tribulations in its path to a better day.

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In spite of these trials, however, Mexico will triumph. Its people have never faced a challenge they could not surmount and this period of violence will not be the exception. The blood of today’s battles will not have been shed in vain, as this conflict——a struggle that implicates every Mexican at its roots——will become an opportunity for us to reflect on who we have become...to reassert the values that define who we want to be and, ultimately, it will allow us to pave the road for the fulfillment of our destiny: a more prosperous, more egalitarian and safer society...a better home for every daughter and son of that mythical land called Mexico, a land of origins, the privileged child of the Moon and the Sun.

¡VIVA MÉXICO!