Democrat to autocrat: The transformation of Porfirio Diaz

It is an ancient principle of politics that a revolution devours its children. Danton and Robespierre began as rebel leaders against France’s ancien régime but Robespierre ended by cutting off Danton’s head — and then being separated from his own. Kerensky led the bourgeois revolution that overthrew the Tsar — only to be replaced by […]

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Glorious innocent: The tragedy and triumph of Francisco Madero (1873–1913)

Francisco Madero was a man who was too good for his own good. Naive, trusting, merciful toward those who deserved no mercy, he was in the end betrayed and murdered by those in whom he had mistakenly placed his trust. A rich man’s son whose following included bandits and killers, a teetotaler and spiritualist in […]

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Orderly rebel: The life and thought of Ignacio de Allende (1779 – 1811)

Rebels, we know, can range from wild-eyed anarchists to sober and judicious opponents of an established order who make a considered decision that the system under which they live is no longer viable. If there ever was a “law-and-order” rebel, it was Ignacio de Allende y Unzaga. Where many who rose against the Spanish crown […]

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Reluctant revolutionary: the rocky road of Venustiano Carranza (1859–1920)

Few people have ever less fitted the conventional image of a revolutionary than Venustiano Carranza. He was a country squire rather than an intellectual, he had been part of a ruling establishment and he took up revolution at an age when most men are contemplating retirement. Yet history placed him among the leading figures in […]

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Did You Know? Sinaloa has the most beautiful women in Mexico

A chance remark recently by Mexico Connect publisher David McLaughlin has prompted me to examine the statistics on Mexican beauty. As a single, footloose and fancy-free, 20-something-year-old in Mexico City in the 1980s, I often heard that the most beautiful women in Mexico came from the state of Sinaloa. While I’m not confessing to having […]

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Did You Know? Oldest winery in the Americas is in Parras de la Fuente, Mexico

The oldest winery in the Americas is in Parras de la Fuente In Mexico, vineyards and wineries exist in several states, including Baja California, Sonora, Zacatecas, Querétaro, and Coahuila. Wine experts usually claim that Mexico’s finest wines come from Baja California, but award-winning wines are also now emerging from the oldest winery anywhere in the […]

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Three Brothers (1997) This picture was taken in the Summer of 1997, but I met these kids back before the youngest one was born. One of the joys of doing long-term field research is to see children grow up year after year.

African Roots Stretch Deep Into Mexico

March 3, 1996 — In Mexico, various Indian peoples still play ancient instruments. And their songs and dances — which tell of uprisings against their masters — pay tribute to their ancestors. These Mexicans play African “hand pianos” and perform “the dance of the black people.” Mexican “corridos” — or song-stories — tell of slave […]

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