MADERA, Chihuahua — The history of the Chihuahua territory is etched into the soil of Babícora, a vast estate once considered a "state within a state." The property, which served as the centerpiece of a massive land empire, was defined by its vast plains, its resistance to the Mexican Revolution, and a brutal agrarian struggle […]
Law vs. Practice: Unpacking the Dual Legacy of Cortés in Colonial Mexico
A viral image of Hernán Cortés’s 1524 “Ordinances of Good Government” (Ordenanzas de Buen Gobierno) has sparked a fresh debate over the conquistador’s legacy. While the document provides a veneer of humanitarian concern, historians argue it represents only one side of a much more complex and exploitative reality. The document, held in the Archive of […]
Carlota expressed her repudiation of the discrimination suffered by indigenous people in Mexico.
From the Beginning, Carlota Recognized Indigenous Peoples and Criticized Governments. What Happened? A large crowd welcomed Carlota and Maximilian in Orizaba in late 1864. The nightmare of their desolate arrival in Veracruz was now behind them, and for the first time, they truly felt at home. “The emperors were received with enormous enthusiasm by a […]
“Tomás Mejía: Crusader of the Faith and Martyr of the Fatherland”
Justo Sierra would write of him: “He remained permanently faithful to his ideals; he fought and died for a cause identified with his immeasurable religious faith, and he believed himself to be a soldier of Christ when he fought for the reaction and the Empire. For him, there was never an opportunity to separate Catholicism […]
Company stores did not originate during the Porfiriato, nor were they even a Mexican model.
Context, nephews: These types of stores were a business model already used in Europe and the United States since the early 19th century (long before my General, Don Porfirio Díaz, was even born). In the English-speaking world they were known as company stores and operated in the same way in coal mines in England, plantations […]
MADERO: EMPTY PROMISES?
When Francisco I. Madero initiated the Revolution against Porfirio Díaz, he promised that he would return land to the peasants who supported him. The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez established the resignation of Porfirio Díaz, the call for presidential elections, and that the revolutionaries would surrender their weapons because the armed struggle had ended. Since the […]
MADERO: THE TWO FACES OF HIS FAMILY
Francisco I. Madero González was a member of a family from Coahuila that had taken advantage of the peace and economic progress of the Porfiriato to accumulate enormous wealth. His grandfather, Evaristo Madero, had been Governor of Coahuila and was the owner or shareholder of large agricultural and livestock estates, wineries, textile factories, oil and […]
Can a ruler change a state in just one month?
Pancho Villa did it. His term as governor of Chihuahua lasted barely thirty days, but it was enough to leave an indelible mark. He wasn’t a career politician. He was a man of action. And in those four weeks, he unleashed a storm of measures that transformed the lives of the people of Chihuahua. Among […]
Slaves in the Sierra Tarahumara: Surviving the Narco’s Forced Labor Camps
This investigative report, produced by Quinto Elemento Lab and A dónde van los desaparecidos, exposes a modern-day forced labor network operated by drug cartels deep within the Sierra Tarahumara of Chihuahua, Mexico. Below is the translated and structured English version of the document, compiled by journalists Marcela Turati, Thelma Gómez Durán, and Eliezer Budasoff, with […]
Mexico at the World Cups: Switzerland 1954—A Dream That Ended in a Nightmare
The Mexican National Team’s participation in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland marked one of the most challenging chapters in the squad’s early history within the tournament. El Tri arrived on Swiss soil as one of the 16 qualified nations, during an era when international football was just beginning to establish itself as a global […]