Dia de la Revolucion: 20 Nov

It was a beautiful morning today. Not too cold and with the sun shining, there were literally hundreds of cute lil’ kids marching in a parade to celebrate Dia de Revolucion. The actual day for celebration is actually tomorrow but every year, kindergarten kiddies from schools all around San Miguel de Allende participate in the parade. Students and teachers dress up in ‘traditional revolution-wear’ and walk and dance and shout “Viva Mexico!” It was great fun watching them wave and laugh and poke at each other while they pass. The next blog will have photos we took of the parade, not 5 doors from our Suryaluna Restaurant & Hostal.
Mexicans remember and celebrate the Revolution of 1910 to 1920 every year on the 20th of November. This day is commonly referred to as el veinte de noviembre. On this day, students dress-up as their favourite revolutionist and take part in the parade. The day is marked with parades and civic ceremonies throughout the country. There is a large parade in Mexico City's Zocalo, as well as speeches and official ceremonies. In cities and towns throughout Mexico, just like San Miguel de Allende, school children dressed as revolutionaries participate in local parades.

The Mexican Revolution (Revolucion Mexicana) was a civil movement and then a major armed struggle that started in 1910. The movement was led by writer and revolutionist Francisco I. Madero, against the autocratic president, at the time, Jose de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz Mori. Porfirio Diaz, had been in power for over 30 years. The whole Revolution was characterized by inner movements like socialism, liberalism, anarchy, popularism and agrarianism. So this was, in fact, the beginning of a revolution and not the end as many seem to think. Most people think it had something to do with the Spanish or French occupations that had been in the past.

The 20th of November was a call to arms in a document called the Plan of San Luis Potosi written by Madero in San Antonio Texas and published in San Luis Potosi Mexico. It was plan to raise arms against the dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz.

In 1911, Madero was elected President of Mexico, by a democratic election. The movement was still in progress, while Porfirio Diaz vanished to Paris. The movement now was in the hands of Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Clemente Orozco, among others. So they can rearrange the distribution of the lands with all the people of the country.

The Revolution was then against Madero. The Zapatistas thought that he was a betrayer when he decided to do the first political instead of the social needs of the people. Later on, the Villistas did the same against the government and in 1917, the Revolution was ended with the publication of the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico (Constitucion Politica de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), which is the very same that is being used today.

While he was not President for long being assassinated in 1913 the revolution he started actually lasted through many years and many battles that included such famous revolutionists as Zapata and Poncho Villa with its official termination in 1924 with the election of President Plutarco Elias Calles succeeding President Alvaro Obregon.