From an article located here.

By Matt Gonzalez

Most Americans incorrectly believe Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexican Independence from
Spanish rule – which is actually celebrated every September 16th honoring the peasant
rebellion led by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla that began on September 16, 1810 at a
parish church in Dolores. The uprising sparked events leading to Mexican Independence 11
years later.

Cinco de Mayo, on the other hand, commemorates one victorious battle in a war the
Mexicans lost to invading French forces 50 years later. Today, the origins of the war with
France are largely forgotten, yet they are profoundly relevant to issues many nations grapple
with today as they confront the realities of world economic markets and global entities
like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The French invasion of Mexico in 1862, which replaced democratically elected President
Benito Juarez with Austrian Archduke Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico, started as a dispute
over Mexico’s decision to suspend foreign debt payments for two years. Juarez’s decision,
largely compelled by Mexico’s financial crisis after the Mexican-American War and the
ensuing civil war in Mexico, was a necessary move by a fledgling nation to protect its own
economy.

England, Spain, and France reacted severely to Juarez’s action and sent troops to Vera
Cruz to collect on their debt. (After realizing the French intended to replace Juarez’s
constitutional government with a French- controlled monarchy, England and Spain signed
agreements with the Juarez government arranging for future payments and withdrew their armies,
wanting no part in the ensuing invasion.)

On May 5, 1862, en route to Mexico City, the French Army fought the Mexicans near the
city of Puebla. Aided by muddy fields (due to rainstorms) and the ingenious use of hundreds
of stampeding cattle, the Mexican force (4, 000 men) led by General Ignacio Zaragoza,
defeated an army twice its size. This victory against Napoleon’s famed army, which had won
victories throughout Europe, gave rise to immense national pride and Cinco de Mayo was
solidified as a national day of celebration.

Though Zaragoza won the Battle of Puebla – it can be said the Mexican Army lost the war.
In response to the humiliating Cinco de Mayo defeat, Napoleon III immediately dispatched
reinforcements and Mexico City fell 13 months later. Maximilian was installed as Emperor
of Mexico. It would take four years, once Napoleon lost interest in propping up
Maximilian’s regime, before Juarez regained power.

Surprisingly, Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the United States are larger than those in
Mexico. The historical reasons for this are difficult to ascertain yet an interesting
theory has emerged. Once he gained control of Mexico, Napoleon III was evidently interested in
assisting the Confederates in the American Civil War that was raging to the North. But
because of his defeat at Puebla, he was unable to divert his attention, thus allowing the
Union forces to win at Gettysburg 14 months later, essentially turning the tide of the
American conflict. After the surrender at Appomattox, Union Gen. Philip Sheridan
decommissioned troops in Texas, provided they join the Mexicans in their efforts to repel the
French. Many soldiers elected to do so — even fighting in Mexico while wearing their American
uniforms. After the monarchy was toppled and Maximilian executed at Queretaro, subsequent
victory parades in Mexico City included a battalion of American soldiers. It is believed
that
when these soldiers returned home, they formed the foundation of North American
celebrants of Cinco de Mayo.

The Mexicans of the 19th century fought against what many developing nations face today
– mounting debt and IMF/World Bank policies that overly constrain their ability to
properly care for their citizens. As these countries struggle to make payments on debt, or just
cover interest payments, their internal economic problems are exacerbated rather than
relieved.

Benito Juarez, a full-blooded Zapotec Indian, understood firsthand what poverty in Mexico
was. He suspended payments to foreign banks, electing to reinvest these monies locally.
His actions were met with aggression by nations protecting their shared colonial
interests.

In effect, the IMF/World Bank policies in existence today are just as insidious —
certainly as economically dramatic — forcing cuts in government spending and promoting
privatization of national resources as a means of generating revenue to repay debt. Exploitative
foreign loans, coupled with foreign corporate activity, often only serves to deepen
poverty, not alleviate it. Recent examples of this include privatization of water in
Cochabamba, Bolivia; abolished tariff protections on domestic rice in Haiti; and the forced sale
of the Demerara forests in Guyana — all the consequence of IMF policies to repay
international debt.

Sadly, Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the United States have lost their political focus,
degenerating into commercial efforts to drive up beer consumption. (These efforts appear
to be working. Cinco de Mayo rivals St. Patrick’s Day as the No. 1 alcohol consumption
holiday in the United States.) And except for a few “Mexican” trimmings, like mariachi
music, Margaritas, and salsa, the historical events underlying the holiday are unknown to most
celebrants.

More than anything, Cinco de Mayo commemorates a developing nation’s resistance to the
lending practices of wealthier foreign nations. I propose that anti-globalization activists
reappropriate one of their finest victories: When celebrating Cinco de Mayo, make a toast
to the radicals who fought so that Mexico could suspend unfair foreign debt payments.
Raise your glass to an early victory against globalization.

First published in a shorter version in the San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2003

Gonzalez graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1987 where he studied
Political Theory and Comparative Literature. In 1990 he received his J.D. from Stanford Law
School where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review and a member of the Stanford
Environmental Law Journal After 10 years as a public defender he became the first Green
elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. They then elected him as the President of
the Board. In 2005 he narrowly lost the mayor’s election. He has started a progressive
law firm Gonzalez & Leigh with mostly Green Party colleagues. www.mattgonzalez.com