The Image of Mexican Heroes in American Films

As historical recreations of Mexican history, the motion pictures Juárez (1939) and Viva Zapata! (1952) can undoubtedly be faulted. Although some have argued that they capture the spirit or the essence of the dramas they depict, factual errors, as we presently seem to understand those facts, are obvious in each film, as is a misplaced overall emphasis which endows these Mexican heroes with characteristics and motives they hardly possessed. But such criticism comes easy and misses the point. The movies were never intended as near-factual historical representations. Juárez and Zapata were instead deliberately tailored to fit contemporary concerns in United States society and the movie industry itself, thereby making each film a fascinating document for the study of that period in which they were produced.As historical recreations of Mexican history, the motion pictures Juárez (1939) and Viva Zapata! (1952) can undoubtedly be faulted. Although some have argued that they capture the spirit or the essence of the dramas they depict, factual errors, as we presently seem to understand those facts, are obvious in each film, as is a misplaced overall emphasis which endows these Mexican heroes with characteristics and motives they hardly possessed. But such criticism comes easy and misses the point. The movies were never intended as near-factual historical representations. Juárez and Zapata were instead deliberately tailored to fit contemporary concerns in United States society and the movie industry itself, thereby making each film a fascinating document for the study of that period in which they were produced

Los rurales. Una mirada a los orígenes de la policía mexicana

El autor, profesor emérito de historia de México de la Universidad Estatal de San Diego, ofrece un riguroso análisis de "los rurales" , la corporación de policía federal que patrulló los extensos campos, las vías férreas y las áreas problemáticas de México en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y principios del XX. Durante este periodo individuos, municipios, cantones y estados crearon sus propias versiones de fuerzas de seguridad pública a las que también llamaron “rurales”, pero la fama internacional y en el país le correspondió a la agrupación nacional, que en sus mejores tiempos llegó a contar con cerca de 3,000 elementos, considerados dentro y fuera del país como símbolos de un México moderno, garantes de la paz, muy machos y muy mexicanos.ITESO, A.C