For many, the anniversary provides a day-off work; this national holiday is observed on the nearest Monday to the date, creating a long holiday weekend in March.  For the political classes, it’s an opportunity for speech-making and scoring election campaign points; for the intellectual, a chance to reinterpret history — again?— or at least run some new or resuscitated ideas by the readers of opinion journals.

Benito Juárez was born on March 21, 1806 in San Pablo Guelatao, in the southern state of Oaxaca.  Around age 12, orphaned and knowing no Spanish, he went to the state capital, Oaxaca City, to live.  He studied at the Santa Cruz seminary, but abandoned the idea of the priesthood for a career in law.  After becoming a lawyer, he entered politics, first in his home state and then nationally.

Juárez is best known for the the Reform Laws of 1859, which established the separation of Church and State, expropriated church properties, and introduced civil weddings.  He led the liberals in the Reform War of 1858-1861, which pitted them against the conservatives.  The conservative forces were defeated, and Juárez called elections, which he won, assuming the presidency in 1861.

When the French took the city of Puebla in 1863 and installed Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor, Juárez moved north, organizing an offensive from Paso del Norte which was later renamed Ciudad Juárez.  With the defeat of Maximilian in 1867, Juarez returned to the capital, where his government embarked on programs of economic and educational development.  He was elected again in 1871, and died before completing his term.

His most famous saying is that “among individuals as among nations, the respect for the rights of others is peace.”  Many plaques and statues —including the one pictured above— quote this famous line.

A fair historical comparison for Juárez might be Thomas Jefferson or William Pitt, but in the popular mind’s eye Mexico’s only indigenous president is more spectacular—an Abraham Lincoln or a Lord Horatio Nelson.

In his bicentennial year in 2006, it was again fashionable to be critical, to uncover the man behind the myth, to question the political assumptions of the victory of the 19th century liberals over their conservative rivals.  Wasn’t Juárez perhaps more like a modern-day conservative?  As a full-blooded Zapotec Indian, didn’t Juárez do less for the indigenous of Mexico than might have been expected of such a one? Isn’t he wrongly portrayed as a ‘demigod’ when in fact he was just as human as the next person with his good points and his faults?

One would not be thought ignorant by one’s peers, but faced with such an array of polemical possibilities, and armed only with a smattering of history from the handiest sources, one often can’t help but suspect, nay hope, that ‘the real Juárez’ is the one of official textbooks—the Nelson who saw no ships, the Lincoln of “fourscore and seven years ago.”

There is no question of the Mexican origin of this saying, which refers to the most revered of the country’s presidents and is similar in meaning to “water off a duck’s back.”

Several explanations are offered for how the expression came to be used, of which the most likely appears to be that offered by the late anthropologist and historian Fernando Benítez, in his work Un Indio Zapoteco Llamado Benito Juárez.

According to Benítez, when Juárez was a boy, he was caught in a wind storm on a boat on a lagoon. Other boys swam to shore but the young Juárez stayed aboard, rode out the storm and came safely ashore with the boat the next morning. Hence the saying, something does to one “what the wind did to Juárez” – i.e. nothing.

Another explanation offered is that of a supposed portrait of Juárez, which shows a flag waving in the background, but Juárez’s robes not moving at all. Given the serious poses in which Juárez appears in most portraits, this explanation at least sounds feasible.

Others, totally unconvincingly, talk about wind storms in Ciudad Juárez, originally El Paso del Norte, and renamed in Juárez’s honor after he and his forces briefly took refuge there during the French intervention, or even to the many statues of the former president being unaffected by wind.

In making the changes, legislators thought the May 1 Labor Day holiday too important to be moved, since it’s also observed internationally; and the September 16 Independence Day holiday was never even considered a candidate.

Three dates were chosen for long-weekend holidays in Mexico

The three dates chosen by legislators for commemoration with long-weekend holidays are:

• the February 5th holiday, commemorating the 1917 Constitution, moved to the first Monday in the month—which is usually the day after the Super Bowl in the U.S., thus convenient for American Football fans, of which there are many in Mexico;
• the March 21st holiday, marking the birth of 19th century president Benito Juárez shifted to the third Monday in March; and
• the November 20th holiday, marking the start of the 1910-1917 Revolution which is now observed on the third Monday in November.

The ‘bank holiday Monday’ concept has advantages and disadvantages

On the one hand, it guarantees at least three long weekends each year even if the historical dates fall on a weekend or in the middle of the week, increasing the practicalities for travel and stimulating domestic tourism.

Colonial towns and cities within an easy drive of the capital have been notable beneficiaries of this, as chilangos like to use the long weekends to escape from their frenetic routines to take some fresh air, country food, and enjoy a change of scenery.

Hotels like the long weekends as it helps them to sell more rooms, and those running AirBnBs from their home also get a fillip.

Bridges to cross

On the other hand, the long weekends have reduced the possibilities for creating “puentes,” or bridges which, for many years before the long-weekend holidays came to be, were an informal tradition linking the holiday date to the nearest weekend: the previous weekend if the holiday is on a Tuesday, and the following weekend if it’s on a Thursday. (Wednesdays were a bit more complicated.)

That literal “puente” —or bridge— to the weekend has fallen away somewhat in these modern days where time is money and squeezing an extra day’s leisure from the daily grind has a habit of showing up as a minus in the month’s high-frequency economic indicators. In response, people have taken to calling the three-day weekend bank holiday a “puente.”

From a practical perspective, Mexico’s long-weekend holidays offer an opportunity for residents to explore a new colonial town or revisit an old favorite, or take a well-earned break to the coast for some sea air and a swim in the ocean.  You’ll need to plan ahead as bus stations and airports get busy, driving on Mexico’s roads requires extra diligence (and patience), and the best accommodations tend to sell-out ahead of time at the most popular destinations.

Revolution Day and Mexico’s ‘Black Friday’ shopping event

Since 2011, the November Revolution Day long holiday weekend has been tied-in with El Buen Fin, “The Good Weekend,” a commercial endeavor set up to emulate Black Friday in the US and in the process, drive the local economy through consumption.

The Buen Fin event officially starts on the Friday and ends on the bank holiday Monday, but in practice most retailers begin to promote their sales in early November, typically after the Day of the Dead holiday.

The sales tend to lack the spectacular throwaway prices seen in the US, and many of the promotions are offered in the form of interest-free payments in partnership with Mexican credit card companies.

Nonetheless, widespread discounts on goods and services are offered, and some people here use the weekend to buy big-ticket items for their home like furniture and appliances at a worthwhile discount.

It’s also an opportunity for retailers to unload stale inventory ahead of the Christmas shopping season, which emerges in October and begins in earnest across Mexico as soon as the Halloween costumes have been packed away.

The first of a new series of banknotes

The current series of Mexican bank notes was introduced in 2008—starting with the redesign of the $1,000 peso bill, and smaller denominations following in subsequent years.

On August 28, 2018 the Bank of Mexico announced the first in a brand-new series of bank notes, starting with a redesigned $500 peso bill.  The new design, which features Mexico’s renowned president Benito Juárez on the front will eventually replace the current $500 bill featuring the iconic artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

The current $20 peso bank note also features Benito Juárez.  It too will be replaced by a new note and be supplemented with a series of $20-peso coins.

As with previous replacement programs, the bank intends to update other denominations in coming years: a new $200 peso note 2019; a new $1,000 peso note in 2020; a new $100 peso note in 2021; and a new $50 peso note in 2022.  Its program brief also mentions the possibility of a new $2,000 peso note should one be needed.

It takes time for new bank notes to enter physical circulation and the current $500 peso bill will remain legal tender until further notice.  After the Bank of Mexico withdraws a bank note from circulation, genuine notes can be exchanged at retail banks for a while, and indefinitely afterwards at the Bank of Mexico itself.

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In particular the Creoles (those born in New Spain of Spanish parents) resented being considered inferior by those born in the European homeland. They saw an opportunity in the Spanish war against Napoleon’s invasion of 1808.

The main protagonists of the Independence were the priests Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and José María Morelos.

On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo freed the prisoners in the town of Dolores, locked up the Spanish authorities and called the people to rebel by ringing the church bells. Hidalgo started out with 600 men, but soon had 100,000 and overran towns of central Mexico. Hidalgo was tricked, caught, and condemned the following year, and was executed by firing squad on July 30, 1811.

Morelos, from the western city of Valladolid (now Morelia) led successful campaigns in 1812 and 1813, which included the capture of the city of Acapulco, the then principal trading port on the Pacific coast. He was captured and shot on Dec. 22, 1815. Despite the setbacks, the independence movement continued under the Creole colonel Agustín de Iturbide. On September 28, 1821, the first independent government was named with Iturbide at the head.

Independence was followed by thirty years of great political turmoil, which included the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 in which Mexico lost Texas, California, and New Mexico to the victors.

Then came a period of reform, led by the educated of the country. The liberal Benito Juarez, who would be elected president in 1861, promoted reform laws that were incorporated into the Constitution of 1857. As provisional president, he also reduced the powers of the Roman Catholic Church, and confiscated church property.

In 1864, Austrian Archduke Maximilian was made Emperor with the backing of Napoleon III. Maximilian ruled Mexico until 1867, when he was defeated and shot after Napoleon pulled out his troops to fight a war with Prussia. The return to government of Juarez is also known as the Restoration of the Republic.

The Juarez years were followed by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, a military leader who was president from 1876-1880 and 1884-1911. Mexico underwent a period of unprecedented economic development under Diaz, with the construction of railroads, ports, and telecommunications. But Diaz’s repressive government and the increasingly wide gap between rich and poor, coupled with Diaz’s courting of foreign investors and large landowners, led to discontent and uprising after he won yet another election in 1910—his sixth consecutive re-election.

The 1910-1917 Revolution was started by Francisco Madero, a democratically minded politician who was opposed to re-election. With military uprisings by Francisco Villa (or “Pancho” Villa as he is commonly known) in the north, and Emiliano Zapata in the south, Diaz was soon forced to resign and go into exile. Madero became president, but his army chief Victoriano Huerta staged a coup in 1913 and had him killed. Huerta stepped down in 1914, and Venustiano Carranza become president.

While few Mexicans question the importance of the birth of an independent nation after three centuries of colonial rule, the 1910-1917 period of conflict that led to the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution was far more complex, and to a certain extent inconclusive. A number of the better-known heroes of the Revolution were themselves killed in acts of treachery well after 1917: Emiliano Zapata in 1919, Venustiano Carranza in 1920, Francisco Villa in 1923, and Álvaro Obregón in 1928.

Disagreements continue to this day on the significance of the events that made up the Revolution, with ideas usually influenced by political views. The revolution is not the same thing seen from the left as from the right, and its success or failure from either of those viewpoints is not something that can be easily settled. The Wikipedia article (Spanish) illustrates how complicated a matter it was.

A new Constitution was promulgated in 1917 which, among other things, restored communal land to the Indian population and renewed the anti-clericalism of the Juarez years.

Next: Modern Times

INEGI, as the institute is known, has a custom of coming up with marriage statistics on Valentine’s day, education data on Teachers Day, birth and death rates on Day of the Dead, and a host of other trivia for the innumerable World days and International days that dot the international calendar.

September is Mexico’s Mes de la Patria when the country celebrates its independence from Spain and the historical characters who helped bring it about, and in September 2014 the usually conventional institute outdid itself in creativity by publishing statistics on the number of streets in the country that are named after the different national heroes and key dates in the nation’s history.

Some of the results are not so surprising: Miguel Hidalgo, or just Hidalgo, known as Father of the Homeland, is the most common name for streets nationwide, with more than 14,000 currently in existence. He is followed by revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata. So far so good.

Perhaps less expected is that Cinco de Mayo, the date that marks the 1862 victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, is more common than 16 de Septiembre, Mexico’s Independence Day. The irony is that Cinco de Mayo is more celebrated by Mexicans in the U.S., where many apparently confuse the date with Mexico’s Independence (could it be that it’s more similar in sound to Fourth of July?).

Other popular street names include Benito Juárez, Francisco I. Madero, and Lázaro Cárdenas.

The list with number of streets–and even a breakdown of street name by States–can be found by searching INEGI’s website

The March 21 holiday switch won’t actually go into effect until 2007, because this year is the bicentenary of the birth of Benito Juarez. The May 1 Labor Day holiday was also to have been included, but lawmakers thought the date too important nationally and internationally to be moved.

Tourism officials are delighted with the change and estimate that each long weekend will generate additional tourism spending of $250 million. Hoteliers like it, since the fixed long weekends guarantee higher occupancy rates.

So, too, probably, do businesses in general.

Some years, when holidays fall on weekends to collective groans from the office and factory bound, the new holiday Mondays will guarantee some extra leisure time. Other years, when the holidays fall midweek, it will encroach on the time-honored tradition of the puente or ‘bridge’.

The puente makes a bridge from the national holiday to the nearest weekend — the previous weekend if the holiday is on a Tuesday, and the following weekend if it’s on a Thursday. (Wednesdays are a bit more complicated.) In the business place, companies that can afford to will often give people two days off. Those that can’t will risk, and probably suffer, high rates of absenteeism on the bridge day.

To illustrate, puentes can play havoc with the vital statistics on which so much time is spent contemplating, turning over, squinting at, adjusting, looking at from a different angle, etc. In 2005, the March 21 holiday fell on the Monday of Easter Week, in which Thursday and Friday are always holidays. To the trained eye of the employee, that called for some serious truss design. Industrial production that month fell 4.7% from the same month of a year earlier. Some of it, but not all, was made up in April.

Other national holidays will remain much the way they are. May 1 this year is on a Monday, anyway. The following Friday is May 5 — the Battle of Puebla — not an obligatory holiday but take-able and one more closely marked by Mexicans in the U.S. than in Mexico for reasons unclear. The 1862 battle was, after all, against the French. The September 16th Independence Day holiday will emerge from the weekend with full bridging rights in 2008. Christmas this year is on a Monday, but in 2007 it will be on Tuesday, a natural puente if ever there was one.