Juan Alvarez chuckled. I told him about a fight that broke out on a Mexico message board over the term "real Mexico." At first, he thought someone had advocated the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. When he realized I meant "real" in English, not "real" in Spanish, he laughed again. "It wouldn't surprise me if there were some Mexican monarchists still hanging around. We seem to grow people who simply like fighting with one another."
Juan is a sage. He has one foot in Mexico and one foot in the States. As a result, he sees things that I would easily miss. But this "real" Mexico business really bothered him.
"We have a history of division. It seems every time we are about to get ahead, we start shooting at one another. What is the first thing we did when we got rid of the Spanish King? We created one of our own. Then we started shooting one another all over again. We finally got rid of a dictator and what do we do? We hire an Austrian to be emperor -- just like California today -- eh?
"It has been one set of angry men shooting at one another. Then we solve that by setting up a one-party state than ran almost as long as the Soviet version. The worst part is that when we started shooting at one another, you Americans, French, and Brits were all too happy to help yourselves to what we left on the dinner table."
Juan is usually not this introspective. When I asked him what the trouble was, he responded: "This darn drug war. To me, it looks like the same thing all over again. Some people think Pancho Villa was a hero. He was a thug. Just like these drug lords. We are going to end up drawing a line and choosing sides. And more of my Mexican brothers are going to die."
His reading of history may be a bit pessimistic, but you can see Mexico's divisions in its flags -- just as easily as you can see the American rift in the Confederate flag.
Three flags begin this blog. All three were republics that seceded from Mexico during the 1840s, and mainly for the same reason. The dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna suspended the Mexican constitution, disbanded Congress, and centralized power around himself.
That was more than Texas, some of the northeastern states, and Yucatan could stomach. They each formed republics: Republic of Texas, Republic of the Rio Grande, and Republic of Yucatan.
We all know what happened to Texas. They succeeded in seceding and eventually joined the United States -- just in time to get embroiled in the civil war.
Santa Ana had better luck in militarily defeating the Republic of the Rio Grande. Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas were reincorporated into Mexico.
The Republic of Yucatan had greater military success, but it could not withstand the economic loss that accompanied independence. It came home honorably and made a good political deal with Mexico City.
To this day, you can see an occasional Republic of Yucatan flag -- probably flown by the same type of guy who flies the Stars and Bars. But there is no doubt that the people in each region of Mexico see themselves as being a bit different that their brothers in other regions.
And that is not surprising. Ask people in Colorado what they think of Californians or what people in New Hampshire think of their Massachusetts neighbors. Then there is Québec and Ontario -- or France and Brittany (the region, not the singer). That does not make one region more real than the other.
Is Juan correct? Are the drug wars just another practical joke History is playing on Mexicans?
I hope not. Mexico is on the verge of overcoming several very bad episodes in its past. I am putting my money on the country developing into a mature liberal democracy based on a free market system. If that happens, you can stuff your Republic of the Rio Grande flag in the back of your closet.
Juan is a sage. He has one foot in Mexico and one foot in the States. As a result, he sees things that I would easily miss. But this "real" Mexico business really bothered him.
"We have a history of division. It seems every time we are about to get ahead, we start shooting at one another. What is the first thing we did when we got rid of the Spanish King? We created one of our own. Then we started shooting one another all over again. We finally got rid of a dictator and what do we do? We hire an Austrian to be emperor -- just like California today -- eh?
"It has been one set of angry men shooting at one another. Then we solve that by setting up a one-party state than ran almost as long as the Soviet version. The worst part is that when we started shooting at one another, you Americans, French, and Brits were all too happy to help yourselves to what we left on the dinner table."
Juan is usually not this introspective. When I asked him what the trouble was, he responded: "This darn drug war. To me, it looks like the same thing all over again. Some people think Pancho Villa was a hero. He was a thug. Just like these drug lords. We are going to end up drawing a line and choosing sides. And more of my Mexican brothers are going to die."
His reading of history may be a bit pessimistic, but you can see Mexico's divisions in its flags -- just as easily as you can see the American rift in the Confederate flag.
Three flags begin this blog. All three were republics that seceded from Mexico during the 1840s, and mainly for the same reason. The dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna suspended the Mexican constitution, disbanded Congress, and centralized power around himself.
That was more than Texas, some of the northeastern states, and Yucatan could stomach. They each formed republics: Republic of Texas, Republic of the Rio Grande, and Republic of Yucatan.
We all know what happened to Texas. They succeeded in seceding and eventually joined the United States -- just in time to get embroiled in the civil war.
Santa Ana had better luck in militarily defeating the Republic of the Rio Grande. Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas were reincorporated into Mexico.
The Republic of Yucatan had greater military success, but it could not withstand the economic loss that accompanied independence. It came home honorably and made a good political deal with Mexico City.
To this day, you can see an occasional Republic of Yucatan flag -- probably flown by the same type of guy who flies the Stars and Bars. But there is no doubt that the people in each region of Mexico see themselves as being a bit different that their brothers in other regions.
And that is not surprising. Ask people in Colorado what they think of Californians or what people in New Hampshire think of their Massachusetts neighbors. Then there is Québec and Ontario -- or France and Brittany (the region, not the singer). That does not make one region more real than the other.
Is Juan correct? Are the drug wars just another practical joke History is playing on Mexicans?
I hope not. Mexico is on the verge of overcoming several very bad episodes in its past. I am putting my money on the country developing into a mature liberal democracy based on a free market system. If that happens, you can stuff your Republic of the Rio Grande flag in the back of your closet.
