September, Morelos month
Dra. María del Carmen Platas Pacheco
September 29th, 2013
September, Morelos month
This dramatic September, battered by rains and social unrest should not
conclude without dedicating a space for reflection on one of those exceptional
Mexican, Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, 1765-1815. Of this character has
written extensively, was peasant, priest, soldier and politician with high ideals
of social change that led him to be the chief and hero,-to the death of Miguel
Hidalgo, of Mexican independence. In the expression "Servant of the Nation",
as he called himself, is summarized the ideal of his life.
According to his biographers, Morelos was a man of small stature and robust
complexion, close to 1.50 meters tall, weighing about 75 kilos, his personality
discreet, quiet and thoughtful, with ability for irony, mixture of his deep
understanding of people and their philosophical and theological studies, the
features of his face were crude and marked by a large scar - across his nosecaused by a severe fall from a horse, he suffered as a teenager, and his thick
lips and his eyes adorned by thick eyebrows. The multiple days in the
sunshine, as farmer and horseman had darkened his skin, it was a rough man
made in strenuous work in the fields and working with animals, suffered from
malaria and severe migraine crisis. In fact the paintings that were made about
him show him with his head wrapped in a handkerchief, which he filled with
medicinal herbs to soothe her frequent migraines.
Obviously, in the life of a man like this were frequent injuries from accidents
and falls, in various letters refers to their diseases and poor health, also was a
victim of assassination attempts and death threats twice warned him that he
would be poisoned, in some occasion received a brief message that
communicated that a man with a big belly would go to apprehend and to hand
it to the viceroy. But this threat, like the others, he took with his characteristic
calm, at the end of the warning note, Morelos wrote in mockery "there is no
one more paunchy than me, and my sufferings are killing me.”
The story of a man of talent of Morelos, with the ideals of social demands and
justice are rare on the national scene, where, unfortunately, has prevailed the
action of ambitious men who have placed their interests to achieve glory and
rewards, above any shared achievement, or the common good. Morelos was an
exception, not moved by the pursuit of wealth, or desire to take great charges,
his interest and desire to no longer rely of some European power and to
improve the living conditions of his countrymen was genuine, another
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September, Morelos month
Dra. María del Carmen Platas Pacheco
September 29th, 2013
characteristic of him was to reject the titles and distinctions, actually did not
deny his peasant origin, oblivious to the brilliance or the desire to amass
wealth. It was a really honest man, through his hands passed large amounts of
money that devoted entirely to fund the libertarian movement to which
pledged his life, his biographers assert that he was a man of simple tastes and
habits, loved hard work, which began daily at dawn, and expected than their
peers and subordinates imitate him, made fun of the artificial, laziness and
vice.
Apart from several serious misconduct in his private life violating his priestly
vows, his pleasure consisted of a glass of brandy and a cigar from time to
time. However, the years of struggle and the need to keep soldiers motivated
and cohesive are inseparable from abuses and excesses by the troops, and, to
some extent, permitted by him, to the detriment of groups and communities
who opposed their passage, resulting in episodes of terrible violence and
cruelty inappropriate for a parish priest, qualified as an insurgent, a kind of
legitimization of the atrocities he allowed and paradoxically also wanted to
avoid, so that he was tormented in silence with those images and memories.
This brave and libertarian Mexican and text that gave us help to define an
ideology through which has passed the political discourse of our country. It is
a reference that is necessary to know to set out the foundations of the nation,
in this "month of the country" that is ending, to find proposal forms to better
being of Mexican, in this way, the understanding of the relevant characters of
our history, help to understand the country and culture, defining the direction
we want to take, and most importantly where we want to go with the decisions
we make today.
Morelos released the document, synthesis and expression of thought;
Sentiments of the Nation at the opening of National Congress held on
September 14, 1813 in Chilpancingo, Gro., when he was about to turn 48
years old and after having successfully completed the taking of the fort of
Acapulco, in a struggle for independence. Without exaggeration, this
document has become the basis of Mexican constitutional law, and its careful
reading is required text.
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September, Morelos month
Dra. María del Carmen Platas Pacheco
September 29th, 2013
Sentiments of the Nation is the political and institutional proposal Morelos
warned as indispensable to define the identity and distinctive about the
Mexican State, in the 23 sections comprising the text tries to express the deep
social discontent after centuries of colonialism. These statements are inspiring
elements for the drafting of the Constitution that would result from the
Congress of Chilpancingo, the Apatzingán.
Morelos was intended to establish the foundations of a homogeneous Mexican
homeland, that finally managed to be independent of Europe, and at the same
time reach equal treatment for all the natives of these lands, in fact he thought
that these internal divisions, by reason of race and unfair access to goods
actually weakened the social tissue, causing some would enjoy rights and
privileges unthinkable for others, these differences do not contribute to the
cause of independence and building the necessary common nationality.
As a way of continuing the ideal of Hidalgo, Morelos delves into his
Sentiments abolishing slavery and taxes. One of his greatest ambitions was to
achieve a prosperous nation for all and, therefore, no privileges for Europeans
or for the children of those born in America. It has often been claimed
understand Morelos as a socialist, that at the last moment opts for a liberal
court state and Republican, in fact it was not, his proposal is clearly of
European independence and equality between the natives of these lands, all
Mexicans, children of a common homeland.
This 2013 is the 200th anniversary of the text of Morelos, of course, in various
ways Mexico has changed and improved. However, in the social sphere is still
much to do, and therefore the relevance of doing this for memory and
reflection of those yearnings for justice, equity and peace that then as now
require good Mexicans, committed to his country, to realize the benefits for
all.
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