MEXICO WITHOUT LIES

CHAPTER 3 Was Veracruz the first civilized city on the American Continent?

Was Veracruz the first civilized city on the American Continent? Why did most Spaniard conquistadors marry native women? Why are Mexicans so empathetic?

BACKGROUND OF THE CONQUERORS SUBCULTURE.

History mentions that La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz was the first city in America, emphasizing that such a wonder was possible thanks to the Conquest.

Undoubtedly, a new history began in Veracruz, although if attention is paid, to say that Veracruz was the first city implies denying the previous existence of larger urban centers, which had policemen, judges, chambers of commerce, schools, water reservoirs, drainage, markets and public places.

The denial of the achievements of the natives became a characteristic of the subculture of the conquerors.

Additionally, the invaders imposed many rules to ensure their dominance.

The following two were the most transcendent:

No one should resist our will, because that is against the natural order.

We know the truth and we don't have to explain it.

Religion was very influential in the modeling of Mexican culture.

The Catholic Church decided that the beliefs of the native, the food, and the medicines were demonic; to bath naked was lust; and the women who only wore from the waist down were sinners.

The natives who collaborated with the Spaniards to destroy the Aztec empire, joined the subculture of the conquerors, found it useful to show contempt toward the other natives, taught their children to deny their past, and pretended to know the truth.

Those collaborators were not Mexicans. They were Tlaxcaltecas, Huejotzincas, Otomies, Purepechas, Zapotecas, Totonacas, etc., who had many reasons to hate Mexicans. Some became distinguished Citizens of New Spain. Like Conín, an Otomi chief who, when he was baptized as a Christian, took the name of Fernando de Tapia.

Conín participated in the conquest of Queretaro native village and then in the founding of the Spanish city of Queretaro. Currently there are two statues to honor Conín in that city, one where he appears in Spanish clothing and another where he wears indigenous clothing.

The Conquerors subculture have played an important role in the history of Mexico. They ruled throughout the colonial period and then during the year and eight months under the leadership of Iturbide. Then they disintegrate as a group in power.

As an ideology, it is present in the subconscious of all Mexicans, it is shown with intensity in the subculture of Politicians, and accurately outlines the attitudes of the Mexican "high society".

The original members of this subculture were Spain born (Peninsulares), Mexico born Spaniards (Criollos), and half bloods (Mestizos). Peninsulares and Criollos were placed above Mestizos.

Mestizos in many degrees are now more than 90% of Mexico's population. That is why we will look deeper into the evolution of this group.

First thing is to get rid of the idea that, most half-bloods were born because the Indian mother was rape by the Spanish father. That was not the case, and not because of the Christian principles the conquerors boasted to follow.

Spaniards had to be cautious not to conflict with local moral values when still fighting native resistance. They were always facing a native enemy, and had a native allied looking over their shoulders. So it was not advisable to go around raping women, because to do that, they had to get down the horse, take off the armor, and most likely to close eyes once in a while.

They decided that it was a better idea to marry and then reject their wives or get a second one.

Another very important fact influencing the Conquerors subculture, and hence all Mexican Culture, was that Native mothers taught the moral values of the Forefathers' Precepts to their half blood children.

Pure Spanish blood children received those teachings from their Native nannies.

That is why nowadays Mexicans are so polite, empathic, share food and shelter, and are so clean.

All this comes natural to them but to the rest of the world, where it is notorious that the empathy of Mexicans is extraordinary, and that they bathe with a surprising frequency.

Some reading this may find it difficult to accept that Native women were so educated persons. Next questions are for this disbelievers to answer.

Why most Spanish took Native women as lawful wives? What could force them to marry a filthy and ignorant woman? Why Spanish women chose Native women to take care of their children?

The answer is only one.

Native women had not only a pleasant presence, they were also clean, respectful, elegant, had good manners, and were hard workers.

The conclusion for this section is:

The Conquerors subculture backgrounds are, the greedy creed of the colonists, the twisted Christianity of the medieval Catholic Church, and the Native wisdom of the "Precepts of the Forefathers".

INVOLVEMENT OF CONQUERORS' SUBCULTURE IN MEXICAN CULTURE.

Peninsulares, Criollos, and Mestizos, they managed to rule together for three hundred years, despite their differentiated privileges.

When Napoleon invaded Spain, he crowned his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain (including New Spain), it was then when some members of the colonists' elite, conspired to liberate the Colony and turn it into an independent country.

Many Native died, so did many Spaniards, criollos and mestizos, all sharing the uncertainty of the reason why they were fighting, since their leaders had quite different interests.

Agustín de Iturbide, who was crowned as Agustín I of México, and Juan de O'donojú (last viceroy), preceded the festivities to celebrate the independence of Mexico. At that time, most Mestizos and Natives did not feel that something had change.

Mexico became a free country, and after a brief period, Iturbide was overthrown, Spanish nationals exiled, and Criollos expelled from government. That was the end of the Conquerors Subculture as a group.

Mestizos took power and very little changed for natives.

The credo and values of conquerors stayed as part of Mestizos' culture and now is part of the psyche of all Mexicans

It is unfortunate, yet true, that at the dawn of the twenty first century, Mexicans burst now and then to behave like medieval conquerors.

FUTURE OF THE SUBCULTURE OF THE CONQUERORS.

The conquerors subculture is no longer a group. It is a syndrome of rejection of what is local or native, and appreciation for everything that comes from other nations.

Thinking like this, makes Mexicans an easy target for most of the marketing tactics of transnational corporations, telling them what to buy, eat, drink, desire, and have as purpose of life.

Other sick attitude caused by the presence of the Conquerors syndrome in the psyche of Mexicans, is the tremendous frustration that invades them, when they cannot impose their ideas on those they consider members of their inner circle.

The future of the Subculture of the Conquerors is to stay forever unless Mexican history is reviewed to tell the truth without prejudice, and children are taught to appreciate all the cultural roots of their nation.