Dia de la Revolucion (Revolution Day) is celebrated on November 20 and commemorates the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 which ended the rule of dictatorial President Porfirio Díaz Mori. The war, which gave rise to folk heroes like Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, lasted seven years and killed 7% of the population. The end came in 1917 with the ratification of the current Constitution of Mexico. Revolution Day is often confused with Dia de la Indepencia (Independence Day), September 16, which celebrates Mexican independence from Spain.

President Diaz had a strict "no re-election" rule, where no president could serve two consecutive terms. He followed his own rule at the end of his first term and stepped down. Manual Gonzalez, one of Diaz' underlings, took his place. However, Gonzalez' term was filled with such incompetence that Diaz turned his back on the rule when he was reelected as a very welcome alternative to Gonzalez and continued to run for reelection until he was overthrown.

Diaz believed strongly in the "modernization" of Mexico and the promotion of industry. During his reign, Mexico saw a proliferation of factories, dams, public roads, farm improvements, and the arrival of industry. Diaz also built the first national rail system in Mexico, many parts of which are still in use today.

I know, all this sounds peachy. But the problem is Diaz pushed all of these advancements forward on the back of the peasants. The huge chasm separating the proletariat from the peasant class grew. Wealth, power, and education were only available to a very small, select segment of the population. Diaz suspended freedom of the press. No one could own land without holding a formal legal title. Diaz welcomed foreign investment, and seized over 27 million hectares of land and sold it to outside interests, resulting in 20% of Mexican land being owned by foreigners. Rural peasants were forced to work as slaves on plantations. By 1910, one half of the population of Mexico called a plantation home.

Diaz maintained his "elected" position through intimidation and corruption. He used the army, the local rurales, and hired thugs to bully and frighten the citizenry into voting for him. When intimidation failed ensure his reelection, he simply rigged the votes. Diaz felt that Mexico was not ready to govern itself. He was caring for his country by continuing his power, because only he knew what was best for Mexico.

Eventually, reacting to the civil unrest, Diaz stated in an 1908 interview with an American journalist that Mexico was ready to govern itself. He said he would step down and invited other competent candidates to enter the presidential race. Francisco I. Madero announced himself as a competitor for the top political spot in Mexico. But Diaz did not really mean to give up his presidency, and on election day in 1910, he had Madero jailed and declared himself the election winner.

Madero quickly escaped from jail and fled to San Antonio, Texas, where he drafted the Plan de San Luis Potosi. The document declared Diaz' presidency illegal and called for the reinstitution of democracy through direct and violent action on the part of the peasants. Medera asked the people of Mexico to rise in arms against the Diaz dictatorship on Sunday, November 20, 1910, at 18:00 hours. The people responded, and the Mexican Revolution began.

Its no wonder that Dia de la Revolucion is a huge holiday in Mexico. The revelry lasts for several days and the holiday is celebrated with much gusto, and, of course, a parade. The parade in Mazatlan is huge. I think everyone in town gets involved in one way or another.

The band at the school just up the hill from us practiced for months. We know, because we could hear the drums every afternoon. A couple of weeks before the parade, we started seeing and hearing a band practicing by marching up and down the malecon for a few hours every evening. With our sneak preview, Chuck and I looked forward to the actual parade with great anticipation.

On Tuesday, we got up early so we could get a good place to watch the parade. Evidently, we didn't get up early enough. By the time we reached our chosen location, it was packed, and we couldn't get anywhere near enough to see anything. The mass of humanity that turned out to watch the spectacle was awesome. We went speed walking through the back streets of Mazatlan, trying to find a way to get close. We finally found a place, but the paraders marched a lot faster than we speed walked, and we missed the start of the parade.

We stood in our adopted spot and goggled at the parade like children. The we goggled at the other gogglers. People stacked 10 deep lined the parade route for miles. Some clung to fences and stood on walls and roofs trying to get a better view.

We watched the conviviality with great pleasure. We were passed by athletes, marching bands, sitting bands, cheerleaders, dancers, horses, wagons, vehicles, skaters, acrobats, business women, flag bearers, and two sets of bumble bees. There were children dressed up like Pancho Villa and women in traditional costume complete with bandoleers. Every school had at least one group in the parade; most had several. Chuck wondered how there were any children left in town to watch the parade because it seemed like every one of them had marched past us at some point.

The day was warm and we were standing in the sun. Eventually, it became downright hot. As I stood there sweating, I looked at all the kids in uniform marching and wondered how they did it. Many of the uniforms were long sleeved and had jackets. Some wore turtlenecks or sweatshirts. We saw costumes made from spandex, nylon, wool, and, horror of heat horrors, polyester. There didn't seem to be a cotton garment among them.

About an hour into the parade, the vendors started to show up. They deftly moved through the crowd with candy, nuts, snacks, ice cream, and a few things we couldn't identify. There was one guy pushing a wheel barrow filled with limes, maroon balls rolled in chili powder, salt, and bottles of sauce. We watched the guy smashing the maroon balls into small cups, then adding salt, lime juice and a little something from the two squeeze bottles whose contents was unknown. Curiosity got the better of us and Chuck ordered one. We still have no idea what it was, but it was pretty good. The maroon stuff was some kind of very tart fruit paste (tamarind?), but we still have no idea what was in those squeeze bottles. The whole thing was tart, tangy, salty, sweet, and spicy. Pretty refreshing on a hot day.

As the parade continued and the participants started to get hot and tired, the formation started to straggle a little. We had some breaks in between groups. We took the opportunity to turn around and admire the ocean. We were treated to a group of whales playing in the bay and throwing spume into the air. It was my first bona fide whale sighting and very exciting.

The parade was extremely long. So long, in fact, that we began to see performers who paraded by an hour before start to join the spectators on the sidelines. After 3 hours we gave up and went home. I have no idea how long the parade lasted and I felt bad for the kids toward the end who hadn't come by yet, because we weren't the only ones bailing out. I think the crowd remaining was comprised mostly of parents whose children hadn't yet marched by.

Even though we left early, I did manage to get a couple hundred pictures. I've managed to whittle the number down and posted a representative group of pictures [4], which you can see in the photo gallery [5].