On the morning of September 16, the sidewalks of Trujano, leading to Oaxaca’s Zócalo, were lined with people. Traffic was blocked on Trujano and many of the side streets, as contingents of soldiers, state police, municipal police, transit police, fire fighters (bomberos), paramedics, schools, and charros gathered to participate in the desfile cívico militar (civic and military parade) marking 201 years of independence from Spain.
Like most patriotic parades throughout the world, the military component dominated the civic. And here, even the school contingents march in military fashion. The use of Mexico’s military is controversial, not to mention the roles played by the state and municipal police in Oaxaca. Onlookers clapped for various contingents, but I didn’t catch the subtleties of support, other than the big hand the bomberos received.
This was the other side of the green, white, and red fervor, and I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating what I thought of the parade and what I wanted to say. However, as a guest in this country, I’m going to let the photographs speak and readers may interpret them as they wish.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
Whoa! Un-commentary noted. A little to much “fatigue green” for my tastes.
I’ve been enjoying your posts very much. I am curious to know if the metal detectors and the closing off of the zocalo in order to search people going in were really felt to be necessary…and if so, why? Would you have any idea? Have never in 20 years seen that before.
Another question, was there another luz y sonido special projection show for Independence Day? Did you see it and was it similar to the Guelaguetza show?
Thank you, am wondering about these changes in Oaxaca.
Thanks, glad you like the blog!
It’s really hard to tell how people felt about the metal detectors. it seemed like overkill to me, but who knows…. This was the first El Grito of the new governor and the presidential elections are coming up in 2012, so perhaps there was concern for possible disruption by one of the political parties or one of the unions. In addition, there is a huge push to increase tourism, as the figures haven’t recovered since 2006. In addition, Oaxaca unfairly continues to suffer from the hysterical fear being generated north of the border re drug violence in Mexico. That’s my dos pesos take on it.
Yes, there was another luz y sonido show. I watched it on TV Thursday night and wasn’t impressed, so never made it down to watch it in person. It seemed to be a jumble and didn’t have much to do with the fight for independence. It began with Monte Alban moved inexplicably to the Revolutionary heroes, then finally mentioned Sept. 15. The theme of the last part was hope for Oaxaca’s future and consisted of kids saying, “I want to be…” (architect, airline pilot, soldier, chef, etc.). This one seemed rushed together without a unifying concept. Perhaps they wanted to capitalize on the success of the show during Guelaguetza, which really was spectacular. I wonder if they will re-work it for the Nov. 20 celebrations. However, there have been great fireworks for the past four nights coming from the Alameda.
Asked my Spanish teacher today… According to her the order for the extra security measures came from Calderon and were implemented all over Mexico.
[…] what had been a gray day, and provided a stark contrast to the serious military pomp of the Independence Day parade only 5 days before. WP_SLIDESHOW_IMAGES = { load: […]
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