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Saltillo, Mexico: General Information
Historical Background
Mexico shares a long border, and a long history, with the United States of America. It is bounded on the north by the Rio Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande), on the east by the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The capital, largest city, and cultural heart of Mexico is Mexico City.
The United Mexican States is a Federal Republic comprised of 31 states and one federal district. The Head of State and Government for the nation is the President, who is elected by universal suffrage of all citizens aged 18 and over, to a six-year term. The president may not serve consecutive terms in office. The Government of Mexico consists in the Executive function, carried out by the elected president, a bicameral Legislature, comprised of the Federal Chamber of Deputies (500 Deputies) and the Senate (64 Senators). The highest court in Mexico is the Supreme Court.
Mexico's Constitution has provided for: a code of labor, prohibition on consecutive terms in elected office, expropriated all property of religious orders, restored communal lands to Native Americans. The unfolding of Mexico's constitutional and federal government system has been different from that of the United States. Mexico holds a long tradition of public works, public welfare and social programs, with appropriation of private industries or properties as necessary, for the purpose of preserving and protection the nation's vital national resources (oil, minerals) or infrastructures (as in the 1937 nationalization of the railway system). This tenet is part of a long standing political struggle in Mexico, to attain a balance between political freedoms and representation, stability and trust in government, and economic parity. The tradition of struggle is a feature, also, in the cultural, economic, political, and class divisions that have recurred as issues throughout the national experience.
Saltillo
The city of Saltillo (population 550,000) was founded in 1577 by Captain Alberto del Canto, in a combined expedition of the Spanish and Portugese. In the 19th Century it was the capital of the states of Coahuila and Texas, and remains capital of Coahuila. Saltillo has two universities, the Ateneo Fuente, and Escuela Normal de Coahuila, founded over 100 years ago. Saltillo has been known throughout its history as "The City of Flowers and Health."
Saltillo's history has been closely tied to that of the United States of America, in the great conflicts and events that shaped relations between the two nations. In 1847, the Battle of Buena Vista took place just south of Saltillo. This pivotal conflict of the Mexican War, in which U.S. General Zachary Taylor defeated General Santa Anna, ultimately changed the map of North America. The Casa de Juarez in Saltillo is named for the great reformer and revolutionary hero of Mexico, President Benito Juarez, who lived there.
The city today is Mexico's number one producer of coal, with thriving textile, steel and automotive industries. Saltillo provides the industrial production sites for CIFUNSA Company, which produces 1,700,000 engine blocks per year, a major manufacturing site for John Deere, and automotive assembly plants including General Motors and Chrysler companies. In addition, the city has a highly developed agricultural industry, metallurgy, machine tool, and foundries. The ceramics industry for craft and industrial applications is a noted enterprise, producing the famous Saltillo Tile.
Mexico's Culture
The Native American civilizations of Mexico, notably the Aztec, fell through conquest by European Spaniards in the 16th Century. From that time, Mexican population has been composed of European (Spanish and French) descendants, Native Americans (30%) and mestizos, the largest population group (60%) who are of mixed European and Native American ancestry. The ethnic makeup of Mexico is intertwined with the political history of the country, issues of power and economics tied to ethnic and related class divisions.
The primary language of Mexico is Spanish, with about a dozen Native American languages also still in use, primary of those Nahuatl (the Aztec language). Roman Catholic religion is the belief of 90% of the population. Mexico's government, as a result of Spanish political abuses and institutional collusion between church and government, has been by long custom anti- clerical. This official policy altered in 1991, with passage of constitutional changes granting legal status to religious institutions and permitting the establishment of parochial schools.
Saltillo's Culture
Among the founders of the city, arriving in 1591, were 400 families of Native Americans, who worked to settle and establish the city. Coahuila's Cultural Institute exhibits national and international art works, the aviary at the Museum of Mexico's Birds house specimens native to the entire North American Continent. The Museum of natural History is also sited in Saltillo, inside the Ateneo Fuente. The Manuel J. Garcia Museum contains a large collections of wild animals exhibited in their natural settings. Saltillo is home to an exhibit of paintings by Ruben Herrera, whose works are prized throughout the world.
Saltillo is the site of the Great Archives of Coahuila, and the Municipal Archives, invaluable repositories for documents, manuscripts, and diaries dating back to the very earliest Colonial era in the 1500s. The architectural beauty of Saltillo includes the Government Palace and the Casino of Saltillo, in the 19th Century Style, with far older styles unique to Mexico represented in the Parroquia of San Esteban which was built in the 16th Century.
The city is bounded on the west by the city of Torreon (177 miles), to the north by Monclova (109) and is only 186 miles from Laredo, Texas in the U.S. Saltillo has superb communication and transportation infrastructures in place, with access to other cities in Mexico via an international airport, by rail, or on the main highways.
Language
As is true throughout Mexico, Spanish is the language of Saltillo, with Native American languages spoken today by some populations of the region as well. The rich blending of native artistry with European Spanish forms lends unique distinction to the architecture, crafts, and folkways of Saltillo.
Travel
Travel to Mexico from the U.S. requires proof of citizenship and a Mexican visa, obtainable at the point of entry, from Canada proof of citizenship. Other international visitors should contact their national consulate for passport and other travel information. Information about touring or doing business in Saltillo can also be obtained from:
Saltillo Chamber of Commerce, Ave. Universidad 514, Col. Universidad, (84) 15-56- 11, FAX 15-29-03
State Tourism Department, (84) 30-05-10, 30-06-35
Union de Organismos, Empresariales de Saltillo, Ave. Universidad 514, Col. Universidad, (84) 15-48-49, FAX 14-44-80
Hotels in the city include:
Hotel Camino Real, (84) 15-25-25
Eurotel Plaza, (84) 15-10-10
Hotel La Torre, (84) 30-12-13
La Quinta Motel, (84) 16-49-49
Hotel Imperial, (84) 16-75-43
Hotel San Jorge, (84) 12-22-22
Weather
Saltillo, Mexico is situated at an elevation of 5,210 feet, in the Anahuac region ("country by the waters" in the Aztec language), a term describing the great central plateau of Mexico. The climate is dry and hot, with mild winters, with lots of sunshine, rainfall at approximately 16 inches per year, and an annual average temperature of approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Two mountain chains border this region, the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental. Saltillo is located on the plateau of the Sierra Madre Occidental, near Monterrey.
The city is located near the Arteaga, and area of pine and oak forests, mountains, and green hills. These natural areas include the Forest Park, "El Chorro," "Canon de la Carbonera," and other scenic mountain, forest, and valley tour destinations.
Currency
The standard currency in Mexico is the "Peso." As always, if you are traveling to this region, please call your local bank or lending institution for the current exchange rate.
Political
The political parties of Mexico are the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), largest and most important in Mexico; and National Action Party, (PAN) the only opposition party able to challenge the PRI at a national level. The Partido de la Revolucion Democratica, a hard-left party, (PRD) is also a vigorous opposition party.
The primary trends influencing Mexico arose from the Spanish Conquest and subsequent colonization of the Native American inhabitants of Mexico. Thousands of Mexico's native people were killed outright, and their labor exploited by the Spanish conquerers. In 1512, Bartolome de Las Casas, "Apostle of the Indians" became the first priest ordained in the New World, and served as the first historian of the Aztec culture to the European world, and attempted to abolish Native American slavery and exploitation in the system of encomienda. That system was a large grant of land to individual Spanish settlers, with Native American inhabitants of the land included as chattel.
The enslavement policy was abolished as a result of his strenuous efforts at persuasion (1542) and over the years, the Spanish government attempted a variety of reforms. All such efforts were ineffectual, undermined by distance from the problems and the rapacious, corrupt practices of the Spanish and, eventually French, colonial powers. The alignment of power and ethnicity was a class system for years, with Spaniards holding all positions of real power, the criolles (creoles) holding official posts but wielding only derivative authority, theocratic monopoly by the Roman Catholic institutions, leaving mestizo and Native American laborers in peonage, powerless to influence the system.
In 1810, a Mexican priest and revolutionary, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, led an armed insurrection of mestizo and Native American people in rebellion against Spanish rule, He carried a banner depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, and captured with his army of desperate people, the City of Guadalajara, in Jalisco. However, on January 11, 1811, this rebellion was crushed near Guadalajara by Spanish forces. Hidalgo fled, but was captured and shot. Independence was gained, and the republic of Mexico established by 1824, and the priest was regarded as a hero, almost a saint. The state of Hidalgo was named in his honor, and September 16, the day on which he proclaimed the revolt, is celebrated as Independence Day in Mexico.
Political change arrived with the ideas of the French Revolution, which inspired the criolles and educated Mexicans in the newly forming middle class. The revolutionary French political ideas also caught fire with the vast disenfranchised laboring classes. The Napoleonic upheavals in Europe during later years provided an opportunity for armed rebellion and independence from Spain to take place, but permanent class stratifications, mixed with politics and the personal ambitions of political leaders, kept the nation from finding equilibrium.
Armed struggle, dictatorship, and cylces of revolt and repression, became the landscape of politics in Mexico for much of its history. This is exemplified in the person of Benito Pablo Juarez, President of Mexico from 1861 - 1863, and again from 1867 - 1872. He was a Native American, educated for a career in law and civil service.
During the turbulent struggles of the 19th Century, this hero of Mexico served, first, as minister of justice. He opposed the corruption of government and the abuses of General Santa Anna, and was jailed for that opposition (1853). He lived in exile in the United States, but helped lead the opposition revolt which succeeded at last in 1855. Benito Juarez instituted reforms that included reducing the civil power of the Roman Catholic church and creation and enforcement of Mexico's constitution.
He was constitutionally elected President in 1861, and in the face of economic disaster caused by warfare within the nation as well as in conflicts with the United States, suspended debt payments to foreign powers. Great Britain and Spain consented to the Juarez reform settlements, but France attempted to colonize Mexico.
The French declared Maximillian, the archduke of Austria who was connected to the French government and ruling class, as Emperor of Mexico and took Mexico City by force. President Juarez led a Government in Exile from Saltillo, in Coahuila, and ousted the French by force of arms. Following the rout of France and execution of the puppet Maximillian, Juarez served again as the duly elected President of Mexico (1867). In 1871, a political rival, Porfirio Diaz, began an unsuccessful coup d'etat, but the long burdens of leadership took their toll. President Benito Juarez died of stroke in 1872, before the end of the uprising.
When border disputes between Mexico and the United States of America had been resolved by armed conflict, and by formal treaty with financial compensation, the two nations constructed what is now referred to as the "Good Neighbor Policy." Mexico served through military and diplomatic crises as an ally of the United States. The Mexican people lost fighting men in the battles of the Second World War against fascism, and was a founding member of the United Nations. Recent free trade agreements between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico (NAFTA) may well increase the level of cross-border interaction.
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon was elected as Mexico's President, following the assassination of his party's candidate, for whom President Zedillo had served as campaign manager. Other killings and national scandals were investigated, and a National Mediation Commission was formed to address the armed rebellion of the EZLN, a Native Zapatista insurrectionist movement arising in the Chiapas region, where grievances against governing officials, involving corruption and political, ethnic persecution, had not been investigated or redressed.
In recent elections, the traditionally predominant, governing party of leftism and anti-colonial revolution, the powerful PRI, lost gubernatorial and mayoral elections in Jalisco State and the city of Guadalajara, to the conservative National Action Party (PAN). Present trends include departure from former policies in some areas, with moves toward privatization in some industries and institutions.
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital of the State of Coahuila, seat of the Government House and the Congress of the state. The Governor's term of office is 6 years, with most recent election to the office in 1993. The Municipal Presidency, an elected office comparable to a U.S. city Mayor, holds a 3 year term of office. Contact the city government of Saltillo through the office of the Honorable Mayor Villareal:
Presidencia Municipal de Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, P.O. Box 12-C cp 25000
Attention: Promotion and Economic Development Department, Ing. Enrique Garza Gutierrez, (84)14-90-15 and 14-79-89 (Spanish Language)
(84)15-23-74 (telephone/FAX in Spanish or English Language)
Education
Saltillo is home to the Escuela Normal de Coahuila, a university founded 100 years ago, and Antonio Narro which is a major agricultural university, as well as the century old Ateneo Fuentes. In addition, numerous technical and vocational schools and colleges are sited in Saltillo. There are more than twenty technological schools and forty five post-secondary schools and colleges in the city. In addition, the universities and industries of the area offer research centers in metallurgy, chemistry, agricultural science, and economics:
UAC (Coahuila State University)
ITESM (Monterrey Technological Institute, Saltillo Campus)
ITS (Saltillo Technological Institute and Research Center)
UANE (Northeast Autonomous University)
CINVESTAV (Advanced Studies and Research Center)
UPN (National Pedagogic University)
Language schools in Saltillo include:
Mexican North-American Cultural Relations Institute, Gayle Yondorf, Director, (84) 14-84-22, 12-06-53
Alianze Franco-Mexicana (French), (84) 14-91-05
American School of Saltillo, (84) 15-96-32
For special assistance in arranging for extended residence in Saltillo, contact:
Cindy Jahnke (84) 15-21-21 or 10-11-45 (English and Spanish Language)
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