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It's practically impossible to separate travel from history, particularly where México is concerned. You live it, breathe it, taste it throughout the country wherever you travel. The colonial cities. Mundo Maya. México City. Baja. You can't escape it. Take Oaxaca, a primary travel destination. Besides its many other claims-to-fame, and its general interest to the visitor, Oaxaca was home to three distinctively different men, all contributing to the history and culture of México: Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz and Ruffino Tamayo.
Visitors to the tiny village of San Pablo Gelatao (high in the hills, about 40 miles north of Oaxaca City), can see the birth-place of México's first elected president, Benito Juárez. Born to a sheep-herding Indian family of Zapotecs, Juárez, as a young boy (who only spoke the Zapotec language), worked for a wealthy Creole family. Favorably impressed by his abilities, the master of the house helped Juárez get an education and then become a lawyer. He was made governor of Oaxaca in 1847 and served until 1852.
A revolutionary at heart, he opposed the powers-to-be and was repeatedly sent to prison - and finally exile. After Santa Ana was deposed, Juárez was made the minister of justice. Meanwhile, on the way to the presiden-cy, he made many enemies: the Catholic church; the military; political conserva-tives; the whites.
As president, he was unable to repay his debts to Great Britain and France. This gave Napoleon III (backed by Juárez's arch enemies, the conserva-tives) and his puppet emperor, Maximilian, a reason to assume power. And, although the emperor actually did some good for the people of México, Juárez ultimately cast the deciding vote that sentenced Maximilian to death - not so much as punish-ment, but as a message for all the world to see: respect -the sovereignty of México. Maximilian's last words as the bullets of the firing squad ripped through his body: "Viva México! Viva la indepencia!
El Palacio Nacional in México City has a museum honoring Benito Juárez (be sure to see Diego Rivera's stunning murals adorning the staircase on your way up.) Also in the capital, there's a Monumento a Benito Juárez located on the Avenida Juárez. In his home town, Oaxaca, the Museo Casa de Benito Juárez, not only houses memorabilia of the man, the house itself is where he worked as a servant in his youth.
It was another man from Oaxaca, one of Juárez's early supporters, who would ultimately grab the presidency from him: José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz, who reigned for more than three decades (his long tenure is otherwise known as the Porfiria-to).
A mestizo, also from humble beginnings, Díaz put the revolu-tion on hold, gave land as "pay-backs" to his trusted cronies, and sold three-quarters of the country's mineral rights to foreign interests.
On the plus side, Díaz built an enduring railroad system, which made it possible to move cotton (and other agricult-ural products); gold and silver; oil. (He was also able to move troops very efficiently.) But meanwhile, back on the farm, the corn crop was so poor, it had to be imported; land was snatched from the Indians and given to the hacendados and other supporters.
Díaz did make peace with the church - not completely, but enough to win some additional support from the conservatives. It was not enough. Díaz finally lost to Madero who lost to Heurta who lost to Carranza, etc., etc., etc.
Another Oaxaqueño of Zapotec origins, a man who was never political, was the painter/muralist, Ruffino Tamayo, who, in 1991, died at age 92. Raised by an aunt who was outraged that the young Tamayo spent his evenings in art classes, Tamayo was yanked out of school and put to work as a delivery boy. It did no good; he continued with his studies and his artwork - in secret.
Tamayo's artwork is considered to be Mexican to the core. He took structure from Mexican tradition; colors from the people. Yet, like fine Mexican cuisine, his work takes on a flair that is decidedly internation-al, which was intentional on his part. What he was trying to do was free himself from the limita-tions of ethnic traditions without losing his feeling for México, its inherent tragedy and its people. As one critic described his work: "mexica-nismo amplio y universal."
In México City, the Tamayo Museum, in Chapultepec Park, contains some fine examples of his work. In Oaxaca City, his home town, the Museo Ruffino Tamayo houses the artist's personal collection of pre-hispanic art.
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