Posted on 09/16/2004 3:32:34 PM PDT by yonif
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicans around the world were united in song Wednesday, as embassies, office workers, even chefs in the Persian Gulf belted out the national anthem to mark its 150th anniversary.
The international call to song came at noon in Mexico City (11 a.m. MDT). But some got a head start. At least two Mexican embassies in Europe honored the anthem around midday local time, several hours before Mexico City.
Office workers in the capital drifted to windows overlooking Mexico's Independence Monument and filtered out to the street where a brass band played a special rendition of the anthem. President Vicente Fox sang with schoolchildren, his wife Marta Sahagun and members of his Cabinet at Chapultepec Castle, which sits on a hill overlooking Mexico City.
The singing drew puzzled looks from some passing drivers who apparently had not noticed the weekslong national campaign calling on Mexicans to participate.
Jose Luis Garcia, 33, said he hadn't heard about the campaign, and spent the entire song chatting with a friend. "I've got to be honest. I don't even know the words very well," he said.
While government workers were handed copies of the anthem's lyrics and encouraged to sing, many Mexicans in the capital seemed to be too busy to take part.
"We just got robbed, and we are trying to get someone to lend us 10 pesos ($1) so we can get to the park," 14-year-old Juan Carlos Hetshel said, passing the brass band as the anthem began.
Others welcomed the patriotic show. Rosario Garcia, a 23-year-old student, said the song "is our Mexican identity."
"Recently, the country seems fragmented, and it's good to remember our country's independence," she said as workers prepared decorations and stages to celebrate the country's Sept. 16 declaration of independence from Spain.
Spread largely by word of mouth, the call to song reached as far as the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, where restaurant chef Romaldo Martinez, 45, of Acapulco, sang in Spanish, "all that I can remember" of the anthem while preparing a special Independence Day menu at the busy Casa Mexicana restaurant.
"I am happy, and I wish I was home right now," Martinez said.
In Colorado, where Hispanics make up 18 percent of the population, 80 people gathered at the Mexican consulate in Denver to sing and cheer "Viva Mexico!" Consulate workers handed out small Mexican flags.
The anthem campaign, sponsored by a nonprofit media council and endorsed by the government, called on Mexicans -- no matter where they were in the world -- to stop what they were doing and sing.
The singing of the anthem came as Mexico tried to mend social and political divisions that have prompted Fox to call for the country to come together.
"Mexico's destiny depends today on unity, of the joining of wills to triumph in these battles and create a complete, just and inclusive country," he said Tuesday during a ceremony at the National Palace.
Many have become angry over Fox's perceived shortfalls, crime and poverty, joining massive marches and calling for an end to corruption.
While they elected Fox in 2000, ending 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, some Mexicans have complained about the bickering and political infighting of Mexico's broadened democracy.
In some ways, Mexico finds itself in a situation similar to that when the anthem was written 150 years ago by an unknown 30-year-old Mexican poet. The song was chosen during a national contest the government hoped would unite a country defeated and divided, in part by the loss of half of its territory to the United States in 1848.
"It's undeniable that when our hymn was composed, the country was suffering indescribable distress and difficulties," historian Javier Garciadiego said. "It is a hymn that summons national reconciliation, and condemns discord and internal struggles."
i find it odd that people who love mexico so much....well....arent in mexico.
I thought the Mexican anthem was La Cuckarocha.
Especially working as hard as he does to undermine America's sovereignty.
Guess he wants to make sure those money orders keep flowing back to the homeland.
Ping.
I loved central Mexico, lived there for two years... nice people... terrible Government
I don't find it odd. I believe they have come for something we take for granted, freedom.
My views of illegal immigrants have changed greatly in the past week. I believe there is a solution no one has explored since the days of Texas Independence.
I've just posted a possible solution here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1217171/posts?page=121#121
I believe our Constitution and history hold the answers we seek.
If they love their country so much why do they leave instead of trying to take back control from the corrupt government. It worked for us back in 1776. I guess they'd rather come here for all the freebies - health care, education, etc. that the suckers in the US provide.
Imagine the whole world singing "La Cucaracha"...
I like to be in America
Okay by me in America
Everything free in America...
This just solidifies my belief that foreign born citizens should not be allowed to run for President. And that goes for Arnold too.
If, hypothetically, he were up against Cruz Bustamante for President, I'd vote for Arnold. There are a lot of U.S.-born politicians here in California who take their marching orders from Mexico City, and Bustamante is one of them.
" in part by the loss of half of its territory to the United States in 1848. "
I was almost ready to think the article was going toward Mexican Unity,probably a good thing, until I got to the above line.
Yeah, they lost part, not sure that it was half, of it's "territory" to the US. American citizens migrated and settled much of that land for generations, with Mexico's blessing and request, because NO ONE else was there and because Americans shed their blood on that land for their freedom. GET OVER IT! That mess below the border is doing it's best to change our futures, and now they want to change history as well. No.
I agree with you. Everytime I visited Mexico, Puerto Vallarta area, they were the sweetest, most charming people. I wish they had the
power, means to do something with the horrid government they have. But then that's not going to happen when every other government seems to celebrate that regime.
Yes it did work in 1776. And it happened in good part to the assistance and encouragement the colonists received from another country, France. We must offer similar assistance and encouragement to the citizens of Mexico to make their lands and people free, just as France assisted and encouraged our colonists.
Good, now maybe those who are here illegally and long for their homeland, will return.
Ever ben to San Miguel de Allende
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