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 Editorials | Opinions | March 2005 
A Moment in Mexico
 Clarence Chua Chung Ren - thestar.com.my
| The ashes of leftist leader Leon Trotsky are buried here at the Leon Trotsky Museum.
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"Gringo...what does that mean?" I asked an elderly passenger on my flight from Narita to Mexico City. Jorge Gonzalez flashed an amused look at me. He looked at his wife, then fidgeted for a moment before explaining:
“The word ‘gringo’ is a corruption of ‘green go’. ‘Green’ refers to the United States army, and ‘go’ is a call for them to leave Mexico, or Latin America, depending on which country you go to,” he said.
Mexicans’ hostility towards the US is legendary, given that half of Mexico’s original territories (including what is now New Mexico) were forcefully incorporated into the Stars and Stripes, prompting former Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz to declare in frustration a century ago: “Poor Mexico! So far from God, and so close to the United States”.
A century later, that expression still holds true. Despite being blessed with abundant natural resources, Mexico’s economic potential remains largely unfulfilled and it is as dependent as ever on its behemoth North American neighbour.
But the US’ partition of Mexico at gun-point tells only partly the country’s often turbulent history. Mexico is, after all, a nation born out of the sign of the cross on the hilt of the conquistadors’ sword.
The Spanish conquest in 1521 gave birth to the nation’s largest population group, the Mestizoes (of Indian and European descent) who number some 60%. Indigenas or native Indians make up 30% of the population while white Europeans comprise about 9%.
Mexico City is an industrial colossus and a sprawling place of both obscene wealth and abject poverty. It all comes together at the massive plaza called Zocalo, Mexico’s Dataran Merdeka, which in terms of size, is second only to Tiananmen Square in China.
Around the Zocalo are some of the city’s best known attractions – Palacio Nacional and the Catedral Metropolitana.
The Zocalo is the symbol of emancipation from the shackles of colonialism. Former president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered that a monument of Mexican independence be constructed in the centre of the square, but only the pedestal (zocalo) had been built when the project was abandoned.
It is officially known as the Plaza de la Constitucion although most Mexicans prefer to call it the Zocalo. The word has become the generic name for all plazas in the country.
The Palacio is situated to the east of the Zocalo. Its biggest attractions are the Diego Rivera murals on the main staircase and along the western and northern walls on the first floor. Rivera the artist painted the entire history of the nation here with a strong socialist undertone. He and lover, Frida Kahlo, another famous Mexican painter, were once strong supporters of exiled Soviet leader Leon Trotsky.
The grounds here were originally the site of an Aztec palace. Conquistador Hernan Cortes used the stones from this palace to build his own little palace.
It was destroyed by a mob in 1692 and rebuilt a year later using the same stones. In the 1930s, the building was restored and a third storey was added under architect Augusto Petriccioli.
Today, the palace houses the headquarters of the president’s administration and other federal bureaucracies.
North of the Zocalo is the Catedral Metropolitana, the first cathedral built in New Spain. It sits on part of the main Aztec temple, Teocalli.
The history of the Valley of Mexico began with the arrival of the Aztecs in the 13th century. Guided by the god of war Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs settled here when they discovered an eagle perched on a cactus, with a serpent in its beak. A century later, they established their capital Tenochtitlian in what is now modern-day Mexico City.
When Cortes conquered the city, he destroyed Teocalli to build the cathedral. Today, his cathedral is tarred by pollution on the outside; though remaining magnificent on the inside, decorated with glittering gold - a showcase of all the splendour, might and brutality of Spain.
What is left of Teocalli, or Templo Mayo as it is now called, is situated between the Nacional Palacio and the Cathedral. The ruins were recently rediscovered when workers laying cables for the Metro subway system stumbled upon this long forgotten place.
At the outer periphery of the Zocalo is a maze of street bazaars selling everything from tortillas to pirated DVDs. All the places of interest can be reached by the Metro, which costs only two pesos per ride.
There are several places to stay around the Zocalo. Those on a budget and like the homey feel should head down to the Cactus Hostel. It is situated in a safe, middle-class, residential area several Metro stations away from the Zocalo.
The city was once known as la region mas transparente del aire (the region with the cleanest air) but it is now the most populated and polluted in the world. Mexico City has a reputation for being the biggest and the most dangerous city in the world. But if you exercise the usual caution, the city can be a delight.
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