Mexico: Difference between revisions
Added a short description about some of the Mexican states
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[[File:Mexico-map_2856.gif|thumb|400px]]
{{quote|''"Poor Mexico! So far from God, so close to the United States..."''|'''Porfirio Díaz'''}}
Home of [[Speedy Gonzales]], [[The Simpsons (animation)|Bumblebee Man]], and [[
Officially named the United Mexican States, but usually called "Mexico" to avoid confusion with [[The United States|the other United States]].
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Useful Notes:
* [[
* [[A Day Without a Mexican]]
* [[A Fistful of Dollars]]
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* [[Desperado]]
* [[El Chapulin Colorado]]
* [[El Chavo
* [[El Mariachi]]
* [[El Santo]]
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* [[Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales]]
* [[Mexicans With Machine Guns]]
* [[Mexico Called. They Want Texas Back.]]
* [[Once Upon a Time In Mexico]]
* [[Pilli Adventure]]
* [[Run for
* [[Salvando Al Soldado Perez]]
* [[Soap Opera]]
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* [[The Mexican]]
* [[The Three Caballeros]]
* [[
* [[Traffic]]
* [[Y Tu Mama Tambien]]
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=== On Mexicans ===
[[File:Flag of Mexico.svg|thumb|The Mexican flag]]
Mexico's almost as racially diverse as [[
Also, as per Hispanic custom, Mexicans have two family names: the first is the father's one, and the second is the mother's. Because children only get the first family name of either parent [[Lineage Comes From the Father|only the father's name]] is passed on through successive generations. Also you can have more than one given name (think middle initial)... sometimes even three. And sometimes you even get single family names made of multiple family names. Example: former president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León. Women don't lose their maiden name when marrying, but traditionally added the husband's family name to their own, this has no legal value and is also disappearing as a custom.
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=== In The Media ===
Generally there are only a few stock Mexicans:
* The hopeful illegal immigrant looking for the American dream,
* The greasy illegal immigrant looking to lower property values
* The downtrodden villager who can't defend himself,
* The [[Spicy Latina]] with a whole lotta attitude and a big butt
* The tattooed drug dealer, the logical progression of the desperado,
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Also, but don't expect any tour to take you there, you can find astoundingly poor mountain villages with Indians, starving to death and forgotten to the world. The slum village you seem in the movies can be found almost exactly as pictured in several places of the North, and it is worth mentioning the towns bordering the US aren't considered examples of the best of the country, so don't judge us from those places, ''please''. (No offense to the brothers on the Border)<ref>None taken, after all, it's the legions of fellow Mexicans immigrating from the south and the interior who actually inhabit these slums.</ref> This is not to say that the rest of the country has no slums at all, but they look different from the Hollywood depiction of them.
They filmed [[The Movie]] of [[
=== On The Media ===
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Due to the relative backwardness of Mexico, broadcast commercial television is still by far the dominant medium in the country. There are two major broadcast networks: Televisa and Azteca, both private and suspect of being colluded in a duopoly cartel that decides what is or isn't shown on open air TV in the country, which would also explain why so many politicians bow to these companies' whims. Leaving this aside, there are also a few public cultural channels like Once TV and Canal 22, providing documentaries and cultural programming for those who do not have cable tv (and the latter channel earning several international accolades).
Most of you should know the cheesy "Telenovelas", [[Professional Wrestling|Lucha Libre]] and masked ''luchadores'' like [[El Santo]] or Blue Demon, and perhaps even [[El Chavo
Most newspapers in Mexico are unprofitable but survive thanks to bribes that local city or state governments or the drug cartels pay to keep them quiet on certain inconvenient issues and/or put a positive spin on those issues. Only a handful of papers (mostly those who enjoy national distribution or have a very large market) survive on their own. Comics made in Mexico are almost an underground movement. Even the most successful are often unable to reach a true national distribution, be it on magazines or newspapers. There are, however, a few good comics that in spite of being very old still keep their fandoms, old and new, like [[Kaliman]], [[La Familia Burron]] and [[Memin Pinguin]] (the latter being responsible for a minor diplomatic incident due to African-American groups viewing it as racist, see above for Mexican attitudes towards political correctness).
Traditional and cellular telephone services are quite inefficient and charge some of the highest service rates in the world. This in part due to the fact that most traditional phone land lines are serviced by a company called Telmex, property of Carlos Slim, the richest man on the planet, whose company enjoys a monopoly grant from the government. This has been changing as cable companies are entering the traditional phone services at a lower rate than Telmex, and recent laws allow people to switch companies without having to change phone numbers.
The pop music industry is quite influential in the Spanish speaking world but it's very hampered because Mexico is a haven of copyright piracy. Local music that plays harder than 2 in the [[Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness]] was actively ostracized by mainstream media for decades, specially after the fiasco caused by the "Rock y Ruedas sobre Avándaro", in which the government had to step in due to a sudden [[Moral Panic]]. Another factor that stifled the genre preferences was ''[http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siempre_en_Domingo Siempre en Domingo]'', a musical variety show displayed on Sundays, which, with a few exceptions, it was more a showcase of the presenter's favourite artists rather than a real musical variety show.
The film industry used to be the sixth in the country in terms of exports and it's also victim of the widespread piracy in Mexico. Mexican film making reached its Golden Age roughly from 1935 until 1960. In the 70's however the government introduced its own brand of [[Executive Meddling]] via financiation schemes that ended up virtually ruining the industry for more than 20 years. An alleged renaissance has been improving the quality encouraging the rise of new talent like directors [[Guillermo
=== Mexican Food, certainly not Tex-Mex ===
The cuisine is world-renowned for being colorful, intense, spicy, greasy, and fiery hot (on par with Korean or Thai food). Mexicans ''absolutely love'' chili peppers: you can find at least 10 varieties at any supermarket, it's present in pretty much every single dish, you can even buy candy made with dried chili, and any Mexican who can't stand them is automatically called a pansy. Most of our traditional dishes are a mix of traditional prehispanic and medieval Spanish food; the ''pozole'', for example, is often made with Mexican corn grains, beans, tomatoes and chili peppers; and Spanish radish, lettuce / cabbage, and beef / pork.
There are some exceptions, though: if you roll around the streets, chances are you'll find some stalls in the sidewalks selling ''tacos al pastor'', which can be best described as "Mexican doner kebab" but frequently made of spiced pork, brought by a wave of [[
And for the record: Taco Bell is not a Mexican company, though the recent opening of a few nearby has caused us great amusement. Their food is certainly ''absolutely not Mexican''. And the taco bell Chihuahua? It was [[Eat the Dog|considered a culinary delicacy]] by the Aztecs. In general, Tex-Mex food is a blasphemous rip-off of Mexican food and is shunned by every respectable Mexican.
''Useful Tip:'' Do '''NOT''' tell a Mexican guest that you are taking him to a "Mexican Restaurant" unless you are 100% sure it is not actually Tex Mex. Take him anywhere else: Thai, Korean, even American Food (yes, there is such a thing... vaguely) is better on the off chance that the Mexican restaurant is actually Tex Mex. (Then again, globalization probably means it's going to be staffed by Chinese cooks anyway). If you do, the consequences will be dire... amused [[Take That
=== On Chicanos ===
In case you can't tell, we also have a bit of an ongoing sore spot with the "Mexican-ness" of Mexican immigrants to the United States. While we're cut from the same cloth and are, in theory, "on the same side", Mexicans tend to dislike Latinos for being "[[The Quisling|traitors]]" who: left their country (even if forced by necessity), are forsaking their heritage to become like the ever loathed "gringo" (just like Mexicans in Mexico), and in general "aren't mexican" (see Tex Mex food). To be fair, polls usually show a lot of Mexicans willing to leave their country if they had the chance. Chicanos for their part, (particularly those born in the States) tend to view Mexicans as snobby, stuck up, and generally all too proud with very little to be proud ''of'' (in other words, ''[[Our Elves Are Better|elves]]''). Generally, considering that most Mexicans place a high importance on personal relationships in general, this is ignored in families and constitutes one of the reasons why ''remesas'' (money orders) are sent by immigrants to families back home and ties are maintained despite the
=== An (not so) abridged history
Before it was colonized, it was home of and originator to some of the [[Precursors]] for the [[Mayincatec|Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations.]] Expect them all to be [[Did Not Do the Research|lumped together]] when the [[Adventurer Archaeologist]] investigates [[Ruins for Ruins Sake|ruins]] in search of treasure. But we don't care about those [[Magical Native American|silly brown people]]. Well, not unless they're [[Hot Amazon|hot]] and/or there's a [[Curse]] involved.
It was colonized by [[
Many things happened in the Colonial period, but for some reason the next 300 years are mostly ignored until ''"La Independencia!"'' Lots of shooting and fighting, wherein the Spanish rule is kicked out for being [[The Empire]]. Right after, one of the leaders of the winning group, Agustín de Iturbide, arranged for himself to be crowned emperor and ruled... 11 months. After that he was exiled, and executed when he decided to return. Then Guadalupe Victoria became our first presidente. His [[Meaningful Name]] and very [[Gender Blender Name]] is not an accident, as he picked it himself.
After this pop culture kind of skips the next 30 or so years of political infighting until the ''Mexican American War'', at which point Mexicans become [[Red Shirt
At some moment in 1838, [[
Problems were far from over as there were two main groups who wanted to have complete influence in the political life of the country. One group were called the [[Black Shirt|Conservadores]], who believed that many mechanisms that worked well in Colonial Mexico should be maintained. Some also believed the country should be ruled by a European monarch (as they saw the republic system as the worst thing that happened to the country, what with the endless rebellions, coups d'etat, and lame duck governments).
Opposing them were the [[Brotherhood of Funny Hats|Liberals]], who believed the colonial past should be left behind in favor of modernization and decided to take the U.S. as an example of how things should be done. (They felt quite betrayed when their admired big brother invaded and took a good chunk of Mexico's territory). Then president Ignacio Comonfort was not as comfortable as his name suggests. He got a mixed cabinet of both liberals and conservatives and then self-coup d' état'ed. As it turns out, both groups engaged in mature and constructive debate for the betterment of the country via nasty war.
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Because of the already mentioned conflict the Mexican economy was in the red, so it was decided to suspend the foreign debt until some money could be collected to pay it. This wasn't of the liking of Spain (to whom we owed the most), the British Empire (to whom we owed a little less), and France (to whom we owed the least), so they decided to send ships and soldiers to demand their money. When they arrived in the port of Veracruz, President Benito Juárez arranged a treaty promising that payment would be made... but not at the moment. Britain and Spain decided it was okay after having their ambassadors taken to a particularly underdeveloped area and realizing that they were shitting them not with "no freakin' money" and retired, but France moved inside the country as they planned to invade anyway... ''[[Recycled Script|again.]]''
[[The Napoleon|Napoleon]] the Third decided that it needed a French protectorate to stop the growth of influence of the [[
The second Mexican empire lasted 3 years until it was defeated and Conservadores everywhere shot. The Liberales may have won the Civil War, but many political fights happened inside the victorious party as [[Evil Power Vacuum|everybody wanted to be president]]. President Juárez went for reelection, but war hero and budding [[Magnificent Bastard]] Porfirio Díaz tried to rebel... and failed. Better luck next time! But, as good national heroes always do, Juárez died just in time (in 1872, merely one year after his reelection) to avoid going the way of Santa Ana into Infamy. Mexican "heroes" tend to [[Fallen Hero|end that way]]. ([[Dark Knight Trilogy|Harvey Dent]] was right about that). He was succeeded by the next in line for the job, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada (Sebastián, not Miguel, as both brothers were very important in the Liberal party), then after his time was up he also tried to postulate himself for reelection. Porfirio Díaz rebelled again... and won, won so hard that he got to rule Mexico for the next 30 years. He first ruled for 4 years or so, then put his compadre (godsib) Manuel González on the presidency, but his presidency sucked ass and Díaz decided to reelect himself (after all, where did it say people could get reelected in different president terms?). The [[Hypocrite|hypocrisy]] of rebelling against a president for trying to rewrite the constitution to get reelected, then doing so for thirty years himself, was probably not lost on him, as he actually ''exalted'' the character and justified the actions of Juárez, to justify his own by proxy.
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Much bloodshed happens. Two massacres, the [[wikipedia:Tlatelolco Massacre|Tlatelolco Massacre]] and the [[wikipedia:Corpus Christi Massacre|Jueves de Corpus Massacre]] were indications that the regime was slowly starting to go to oblivion. 10 days after the Tlatelolco Massacre, we had olympic games! It basically got to be an opportunity to whitewash the massacre, specially after Smith and Carlos raised their fists. Two years later, we had our first Worlf Cup tournament, and the president got a hughe whistle from angry spectators because of his poor administration (not to mention killing more than 200 students). After these things, you'd think we'd have at least some decent governor right? Enter José López <s>Por Pillo</s> Portillo, A.K.A. the guy who caused 3 devaluations. His bff Arturo "El Negro" Durazo got to be police chief and he'd end up in jail after discovering the extreme corruption his employees got on and the incredible wealth he recieved (he even built himself a palace on Ixtapa known as "El Partenón"!). After this, president Miguel de la Madrid got to be the boss. On September 19, 1985, Mexico suffered the most devastating earthquake in its history. and what did the president do? Hide in his gouse of course! Mexicans basically had to scrub the rubble by ourselves and it gained De la Madrid some very loud whistles during the 1986 World Cup Opening Ceremony, just like the last time.
This "dictatorship that looks like a democracy" thing starts really fading away in 1994, when Ernesto Zedillo finally eases back on the President's grip over the country (not mentioning his predecessor, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, being one of our most hated presidents due to the financial crisis that ensued because of his actions and winning a very controversial election), and finally ends in 2000, when Vicente Fox wins and the ruling party is replaced.
Due a combination of the government ignoring them, poverty, and America's lax weapon laws, and the [[Damn, It Feels Good to Be
Daily shootings are reported on places like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, and most people there can claim to know someone on the Drug's Business, but no one does anything, since it is, for the most part, [[Police Are Useless|useless]]. To make things worse, denouncing narcos to anyone ''but'' the army is a guarante for [[Fate Worse Than Death|a horrible]] [[Cold-Blooded Torture|fate]] [[Cruel and Unusual Death|for you]] and [[Revenge
It must be noted, however, that though consumption has been increasing there still aren't a lot of consumers in Mexico; the main profit still comes from the American consumers, though now traffickers are starting to fight over who owns the local market. The drug cartels use violence within Mexico against each other for control of the land routes, and against the Mexican government because it is against them. In turn, the Mexican government fights against them because they're undermining national security, society, sovereignty... and because America puts pressure on them.
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Nowadays, we're mostly democratic, and slightly less pessimistic about being doomed to live in a [[Crapsack World|Crapsack]] <s>[[Crapsack World|World]]</s> <s> [[Crapsack World|Country]]</s> [[Gangsterland]]. It's kind of a work in progress, really. Check out [[Mexican Politics]] for more.
=== The Mexican States ===
Mexico, like the United States, has a federal sistem. There are thirty-one states and the Mexico City, and all may have different laws in things that the Federal Constitution does not address to. The states are:
==== Mexico City ====
Previously “Distrito Federal” (Federal District), Mexico City is the capital city of the country. Built on the Mexico Valley, Mexico City used to be La Gran Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, until Spanish conquered the place and after rebuilt it. Its people are called “Chilangos” in coloquial speech, and the city is called “México” (like the country) by people from other states. It's the main cultural, politic, academic and economic center in Mexico, with the most prestigious universities, museums, etc. The city uses to be affected by earthquakes, and it gets worst because it’s built over soil that sometime was a lake.
A lot of the important events in Mexico’s history happened in México City, including the Aztec Empire, La Conquista (The Conquest), the consumation of the Independence, etc.
Socially, Mexico City is very more liberal than the most of the other Mexican states. It has legal abortion since 2007, and gay marriage since 2009, being the first state that legalized both things. The other states of the country use to be more conservative in this topics, and some of them have legalized those things after the capital, and the rest refuses to do it (the Supreme Court of Mexico has done two court rulings about abortion in the decade of 2020, though).
==== Veracruz ====
One of the main coast states, was one of the most invaded during Mexico history. Its capital is Xalapa-Enríquez, and the City of Veracruz is its main sea port. People from the state are known as “veracruzanos”. The City of Veracruz is know as “The Four Times Heroic City of Veracruz”. Veracruz state is beside the Gulf of Mexico, and was the coast which Spanish conquerers used in order to arrive Tenochtitlán. The City of Veracruz was also invaded by Americans in The Mexican-American War and in The Mexican Revolution, and by French in The Second French Intervention in Mexico. During the Mexican Revolution, Porfirio Díaz was exilied in 1911 and went in a ship from the City of Veracruz to France, where he would die in 1915.
==== Yucatán ====
Another coast state beside the Gulf of Mexico, but Yucatán is at Yucatan Peninsula. It was one of the main places where Mayan Civilization settled, and Chichén Itzá is there. It’s current capital city is Mérida. Yucatán also was the place where the asteroid whose impact led to dinosaurs end crashed, 65 million years ago, in the place that now is Chicxulub Puerto (yes, it’s name uses an uncommon gramatical form in Spanish). People from Yucatán are called “yucatecos”.
==== Tamaulipas ====
Tamaulipas (whose name supposedly comes from the Tének/Huastec word “Tamholipa”; literally “Place where it uses to be prayed a lot”. People from Tamaulipas are called “tamaulipecos”) is a northern state, and has a border with the United States (specifically with Texas) and a coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Its capital city is Ciudad Victoria and its more populated city is Reynosa. Other important city is Tampico <ref> Whose people are called “tampiqueños”, and colloquially “jaibos”. A “jaiba” is a crustacean that looks like a blue crab, and is a common food in the zone.</ref> (that in Tének means “Place of water dogs”), which in 1829 was the scenary of La Batalla de Tampico (The Battle of Tampico), the last battle between México (that had gotten its Independence in 1821) and Spain (that tried to reconquer the country). This was one of the few times that México could defeat a foreigner power, and Spain didn’t try to reconquer it after this. In 1840, Tamaulipas and the states Nuevo León and Coahuila became La República del Río Grande (Republic of the Rio Grande), but it was reconquered by Mexico in the same year.
==== San Luis Potosí ====
A state at Central-Norther Mexico, its name comes from the king Louis IX from France (who Spanish called Luis IX de Francia) and Potosí (a mining region in the current Bolivia, a country in South America). Its people are known as “potosinos”, and its capital city is San Luis Potosí. It’s one of the states with parts of the Huastec/Tének Zone (Zona Huasteca/Tének), at the South-East of the state. There are places like the Cascadas de Micos (Waterfalls of Micos), and the town of Xilitla (place where [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_James Edward James] built [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Pozas Las Pozas], that garden with the look of a jungle castle).
The capital city of the state, San Luis Potosí, was where Francisco I. Madero was in prison and wrote the manifest where he called people to rebel against Porfirio Díaz at the final pase of the Porfiriato, starting the [[Mexican Revolution]]. The prison where he was is now a museum about the Revolution.
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Please keep this article from sneaking into [[Useful Notes On America]]
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