Friday, May 06, 2005

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo a todos los mexicanos!

And as long as I'm on the subject of Spanish, let me take this opportunity to educate any readers who have the common misconception that Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexican independence. In fact, Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and is shared by several Central American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala. Cinco de Mayo, however, commemorates a battle that took place in Puebla in 1862, in which a poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered Mexican army managed to defeat invading French forces. Though France was eventually victorious in the war, Cinco de Mayo serves as a reminder of Mexican courage and unity in the face of oppression, a great source of orgullo indeed.

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