Mexico re-enacts win over French

MEXICO CITY – The annual Cinco de Mayo holiday was celebrated with a re-enactment of the May 5, 1862, victory over French forces that gives the holiday its name.

The main re-enactment was held this year at a military parade ground in Mexico City – a departure from past re-enactments at the scene of the original battle in the central state of Puebla.

“One hundred and forty-four years ago the heroism of our army, and its organization and strategy, wrote one of the most brilliant pages of our country’s history by defeating the French army,” President Vicente Fox said at the ceremony.

The re-enactment included cannons, and pitted French soldiers against a Mexican force that included “Zacapoaxtlas” – Indian fighters wearing straw hats and sandals.

In 1862, the Mexicans repelled the French forces advancing on the city of Puebla. The victory, however, didn’t keep the French out. Troops sent by Napoleon III stormed Mexico City a year later, forced the government of President Benito Juarez to flee, and installed French ally Emperor Maximilian. In 1867, after France withdrew its troops, Juarez’s army defeated Maximilian and the emperor was executed.

Part of the Friday ceremonies took place on the Paseo de la Reforma – a broad boulevard laid out under Maximilian’s reign. The boulevard is still a treasured feature of the city.