MEXICO CITY: Mexico marked the anniversary of the first serious defeat suffered by Spanish conquistadores on Mexican soil Thursday, amid the 500th anniversary commemorations of the 1519-1521 Conquest.
The March 25, 1517 battle of Champotn actually pre-dated the arrival of conquistador Hernn Corts two years later.
The 1517 expedition led by Francisco Hernandez de Crdoba sailed around the Yucatn peninsula and landed at Champotn, on Mexicos Gulf coast, looking for fresh water. They were met by Chontal Maya Indigenous warriors who attacked the Europeans, inflicting wounds that eventually killed about 50 Spaniards, including Hernndez de Crdoba.
Known by the Spaniards as the Bad Battle, Mexico now wants to call it The Good Battle,” similar to the approach the government has taken in renaming famous Conquest sites originally named by Spaniards.
For example, the tree that marked a famous defeat of Corts in 1520 was known as the Tree of the Sad Night, but Mexico City officials now call it the Tree of the Victorious Night.
President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador presided over a ceremony and a re-enactment marking the 504th anniversary of the battle, accompanied by Bolivian President Lus Arce.
Honor to all our Indigenous brothers who gave their lives for the sovereignty of our territory, Arce said.
Lpez Obrador said this ceremony is an homage to the anonymous heroes of the Indigenous resistance who resisted as long as they could the three centuries of oppression under the colonial regime.
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