Global Business Perspectives

In Detroit, we have a vibrant and growing Mexican Town and have seen some issues due to a major construction project pretty much in the middle of the town.  This has caused the area to suffer economic hardships.  I have been down to the area to enjoy the great food, stores and the new mercado.  I highly recommend you heading down today to enjoy “being Mexican” for the day.  I guess it is a bit like St. Patrick’s day when everyone thinks they are Irish. 

A brief history of Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May in Spanish, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is not Mexico’s Independence Day; that is Sept. 16.

Cinco de Mayo’s history has its roots in the French occupation of Mexico in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. After the war, Mexico entered a period of national crisis during the 1850s. Years of fighting and a civil war left the country devastated and bankrupt.

On July 17, 1861, President Benito Juarez issued a moratorium in which all foreign debt payments would be suspended for two years.

The English, Spanish and French refused to allow Juarez to do this and decided to invade Mexico and get payments by whatever means necessary.

The Spanish and English eventually withdrew, but the French refused to leave. In 1862, the French army began its advance. Under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, 5,000 Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army on May 5.

Source: http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/cinco.html