El Paso Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Mexican Revolution

It was a major Mexican celebration in the Sun City. Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. The Consulate General of Mexico in El Paso hosted a daylong event to commemorate the anniversary at the Chamizal National Memorial.

Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, the Consul General of Mexico in El Paso, told ABC-7 it was an even many in the borderland had been anticipating. “People are very happy about today,” he said.

One hundred years ago Mexican national took up arms to take down tyrannical dictator Porfirio Diaz. They demanded democracy.

At Saturday’s celebration, that Mexican pride was everywhere– from the traditional trinkets and snacks for sale to the folkloric dance performances and costumed actors.

But ABC-7 spoke with one El Pasoan with ties to Mexico who said he did not think that country had changed very much since the Revolution.

Francisco Murillo has been working in El Paso for 20 years but was born in Mexico and has family living in Ciudad Juarez just across the Rio Grande. He said the Revolutionary ideals of his ancestors have not been fulfilled through the years. “We’re still the same in a lot of ways,” said Murillo. “The violence now is worse than it was back then. Before, revolutionaries fought for their ideals, for land, for better jobs. Now innocent people are getting killed (by drug cartel gunmen) every day”.

Murillo added there are still high levels of poverty and corruption throughout the country. “The rich are still the rich and the poor are still the poor,” he said. “There’s inequality everywhere.”

Extremist movements modeled after the Revolution remain popular in parts of Mexico. One of those movements, the controversial Zapatistas, even held a demonstration at El Paso’s Stanton Street International Bridge in 2006. Hundreds attended the event.

However, those who work with the Mexican government say things are definitely different– and better– than they were one hundred years ago.

“(Now) we have democracy, we have a lot of different kinds of institutions that guarantee social justice and especially peace,” said Rodriguez Hernandez.

Others agree there is another revolution taking place today, but say it’s a positive one. “We’re revolutionizing the way we help people through social agencies,” said one man at the Chamizal celebration who was distributing pamphlets about the government’s “Paisano” program.

Murillo says he hopes it doesn’t take another hundred years to achieve the ideals of his ancestors. “We want a better nation for our children,” he said. “We have to come here to find it”.