Mexico, Change - understand-culture

The Oil Expropriation

On the night of March 18, 1938, President Lázaro Cárdenas spoke to the whole country by radio. In this message he announced the expropriation of the foreign oil companies.

On April 12, 1938, a national women’s committee led by Amalia Solórzano began a collection to pay the compensation. According to the INEHRM, the national institute for historical studies, it received cash and goods from citizens of every social class, “desde joyas hasta aves y electrodomésticos” (from jewelry to poultry and household appliances).

The Bell of Dolores

Early on September 16, 1810, the bell of the parish church of Dolores, in Guanajuato, called the people together, and the priest Miguel Hidalgo spoke to them. The War of Independence began that morning.

In 1896, under Porfirio Díaz, the bell was moved to Mexico City. According to México Desconocido, it hangs above the main balcony of the Palacio Nacional, and “cada presidente la hace sonar la noche del 15 de septiembre” (every president rings it on the night of September 15).

Sources disagree on who rang it in 1810. México Desconocido says Hidalgo did. Chilango writes that the parish bell ringer, José Galván, rang it while Hidalgo spoke.

Tata Vasco

Vasco de Quiroga was the first bishop of Michoacán. He died in Uruapan in 1565. The Purépecha called him Tata Vasco. Tata is a title that means “father.”

According to Mexico News Daily, he assigned many towns a specific craft, among them copper work in Santa Clara del Cobre and musical instruments in Paracho. Xataka México writes that the guitar making of Paracho goes back to the 16th century, when Don Vasco de Quiroga decided to teach the craft to the Purépecha.

The Olimpia Law

In 2014, Olimpia Coral Melo, from Huauchinango, Puebla, discovered that a video of her was being shared. From then on she pushed for a reform, first to have this recognized as violence and second to make it a crime.

The Congress of Puebla approved the reform in December 2018. The federal version was published in the official gazette on June 1, 2021. It changed the general law on women’s access to a life free of violence and the Federal Penal Code. The reforms against digital sexual violence are known as the Ley Olimpia, the Olimpia Law.

The Morning Press Conference

On December 3, 2018, days after taking office, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador gave his first conferencia matutina, a press conference held each morning by the president himself. It became known as the mañanera.

On October 2, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum, now president, led her first mañanera del pueblo, “the people’s morning conference.”

Come with Me

In 1975, Televisa broadcast the telenovela Ven conmigo, “Come with me.” It was made to promote literacy among adults.

Its effect is reported in different ways. The English Wikipedia says enrollment in adult literacy classes rose ninefold. Another account says enrollment rose by 63 percent, to more than 800,000 students.

You Know Who

In 2018, between the primary period and the presidential campaign, television spots promoted Andrés Manuel López Obrador without showing him or saying his name. They called him ya sabes quién, “you know who.” The spots were produced by Carlos Salces.

In 2023, the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal concluded that the phrase does refer to López Obrador.

Godfather of the Graduating Class

Mexican graduating classes choose a padrino, a godfather, for their generation. At the University of Guadalajara, one class chose the rector general, Ricardo Villanueva Lomelí. At the ceremony he told them: “Agradezco que me concedieran el honor de estar aquí con ustedes y elegirme como su padrino” (I thank you for granting me the honor of being here with you and choosing me as your godfather).

Tatic

Samuel Ruiz arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, as its bishop in 1959. Many Indigenous people called him Tatic, “father” in the Tzotzil language.

After the Zapatista uprising of 1994, he was the central mediator in the dialogue between the government and the EZLN. He died in January 2011. Five years later, during his visit to Chiapas, Pope Francis went to his tomb.

The Earthquake of 1985

On September 19, 1985, an earthquake struck Mexico City. According to experts quoted by TV Azteca, “miles de voluntarios se movilizaron para rescatar víctimas, repartir víveres y brindar refugio” (thousands of volunteers mobilized to rescue victims, distribute food and provide shelter). In the first days, the government had been completely overwhelmed.

In No sin nosotros, his chronicle of the days of the earthquake, Carlos Monsiváis wrote that civil society “encabeza, convoca y distribuye la solidaridad” (leads, calls together and distributes solidarity).