El Cacique

 

El México de Joaquín YouTube Video Part 4

The following first three paragraphs are excerpts from my book.
Though México now had an enlightened president, (Lazaro Cardenas) the corrupt institution of the cacique, derived from the Taino Indian word for chief, continued to exercise control over local politics.


One such cacique from the 1920’s to the 1950’s was Gonzalo N. Santos of San Luís Potosí. Santos was a lifetime member of the PRI, (Revolutionary Institutional Party) and owner of thousands of hectáreas of land in San Luís Potosí. Despite the land redistribution laws of Cárdenas, Santos did not hand over the land intended for the poor. Santos accumulated vast holdings through fraud, intimidation and even murder. My eighteen-year-old father was sent by my grandfather, Don Alberto Durán who was too ill to negotiate with Santos for our land. Fortunatly, our family was able to keep the land.

My grandfather was a close friend of Ruíz Cortines, who served as president of México from 1952 to 1958. On his election campaign, Cortines came to San Luís where Santos had organized a meeting with several cattlemen, including my grandfather and my father who were also ranchers. Santos handed out business cards with a printed message that said, “no molestes al candidato,vete a la chingada,” (don’t bother the candidate, go to the bitch; i.e. go to hell). As he stretched out his arm to give a card to my grandfather, candidate Cortines gently touched the hand of the caciqueand told him that Don Alberto was his friend and would not need a card. In the late 50`s, Santos was finally ousted by Dr. Salvador Nava.  -End of excerpt.-

The buzz nowadays is that Mexico is dangerous and the hysteria among potential travelers to this country can be numbing.  Something to realize is that Mexico has always had an element of danger.  So has Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New Orleans and Seattle.  It depends where you go, what choices you as an individual make.  

Go to www.mexicomike.com  and click on Is Mexico Safe on the left.  I try to take things with a grain of salt.  Do your own research and see if something is "apples and oranges" or illogical in its reasoning.  I think this is a good start.

The video about the Cacique is narrated by my father from a recording I did in the early 1990s.  At age he eighteen had to deal personally with Gonzalo N. Santos who's famous right-hand man a pistolero known as Mano Negra (black hand) terrorized many local ranchers and farmers.  They meant business.  Santos was polite to my father and in the end did not extort my grandfather and allowed my family to keep their land.  Corruption at all government levels has been a part of Mexico for five hundred years now and that's only counting from when Spain conquered Tenochtitlan in the Summer of 1521.

Santos was a priista, meaning a member of the PRI, Revolutionary Institutional Party that lost its power to the PAN the National Action Party when Vicente Fox became president in 2000.  From 1946 to 2000 all presidents were priistas.  In essence a party dictatorship.

The PRI government had long standing relationships with the drug cartels.  Now with the new party and its president fighting the "drug war" the cartels are independent and have become more powerful.  It is interesting some of the changes Mexico has gone through over the years.  One thing for certain is there were bad guys in the 1940s like the man my father had to negotiate with and they still exist today only from different angles and with new names.

Stereotypes

A favorite cartoon of mine is where an old-time Hollywood director is in his chair voicing into his bullhorn "stereotypes" and in so many ways isn't that what Hollywood and the movie industry is about?  How many flicks have you seen where an up-and-coming American family has a maid maybe in the kitchen or taking care of the kids and her name is perhaps Maria or some kind of Spanish name.

Everyone is guilty of using stereotypes in one fashion or another and I include myself.  In my opinion a stereotype can be racial, racist or maybe somewhat harmless depending on the context and even the way in which it's used.  Some examples might be:  academics, conservatives, liberals, southerners or "those damn hippies".  Stereotyping seems to be a part of speech that neglects details.  A kind of generalization.  I like the adage "all generalizations are wrong, including this one".  So, a stereotype at times can be unfair and bigoted.

My blog El México de Joaquín is in honor of my father who was Joaquín Durán Jimenez Castro using his full name as is common in Spanish speaking countries.  My papá never fit into stereotype categories with his avid tastes in classical music and a wealth of cultural nuances. 

Joaquín and Duke.

When I was young our family visited a Synagogue in Indianapolis as my father had an appointment with the Rabbi to perhaps convert to Judaism.  He opened the doors of learning for me when it came to the world's cultures because of his own interests.  The Rabbi might have talked him out of the converting I don't remember but papá did mention many times the possibility of a Sephardi Jewish background from his father's side.

I saw a YouTube video about Jews in Mexico City, when they migrated from other countries, about the neighborhood La Condesa with it's background of Jews and it's Synagogues.  So, Jews in Mexico?   Well yes and much more than that.  How about a Korean community, Italians distributed throughout the country, Scottish Mexicans like the Creels in Chihuahua and the list goes on and on.

Mexico is a multi-cultured nation especially when venturing into one of it's major cities in particular Mexico City where my father Joaquin was born.  By traveling and spending time there you can see all kinds of ethnic groups and backgrounds.  This country has so much to see and so many people with diverse heritages and cultures. 

Hollywood is an industry, and the strong images it leaves with us of people are not "the whole truth".  I love movies but I also love truth about countries and cultures.  And when I say cultures I am talking about PEOPLE.

 I hope to continue this blog named after the man that did not leave me a large treasure for an inheritance but left some things that have certainly enriched my life and I hope to keep this dialogue going with those of you who would like to subscribe.  Hasta pronto amigos!

My book.