Cinco de Mayo - Mexican movie on Netflix

[Griff Murphey]

Actually a pretty good movie describing the invasion of Mexico by the French, it was initially an international force of the Brits, Spaniards, and French. The Europeans were demanding repayment of money that they had loaned the Benito Juarez government. The Spanish landed some troops, but backed out on invading with the French. The French goal was really to seize Mexico, and perhaps ultimately link up with the Confederacy to assist them and thus destabilize the United States. The Mexican forces were divided, as part of the Mexican army was against Juarez and were thus backing the French. Pretty good acting and effects, it's a decent movie about history I am only vaguely aware of. Some of the guns looked like mock-ups, most of them would have been Brown Bess muskets. One odd thing in common with older US movies about the muzzle leading era is that I can't recall seeing anyone flailing around with ramrods reloading those smoke poles. They fire once and go immediately to the bayonet. The hero of the battle of Puebla where the French were defeated was Porfiro Diaz who later declared himself "president" and was in effect dictator of Mexico until 1911.

[bruce]

Re: Mexican revolution. To bad the French lost. Would have been much better for the Southern States as they sought to exercise their constitution right to self-determination. This inalienable right was of course eliminated by lincoln who conveniently ignored the COTUS (sound familiar... think of the squatter currently in the white house and used the armed forces of the nation as a weapon against the South.

[Art]

Re: Mexican revolution. To bad the French lost. Would have been much better for the Southern States as they sought to exercise their constitution right to self-determination. This inalienable right was of course eliminated by lincoln who conveniently ignored the COTUS (sound familiar... think of the squatter currently in the white house and used the armed forces of the nation as a weapon against the South.

The Confederacy was always hoping somebody would bail them out. No Joy there. Of course Mexican self determination doesn't matter much apparently if you were a Confederate, have to be expedient about these things .

The "Squatter" doesn't have the sand to do anything close to what "Honest Abe" did, love him or hate him Lincoln was an entirely different, and much tougher, breed of cat than Obama. Heck, the Obama administration couldn't even move the cattle of a curmudgeon rancher in Nevada who was backed up by a handful of guys with rifles.

Diaz was an interesting character. For a lot of his time in power he was very popular and Mexico was very prosperous for much of that period. In fact for a time Mexico's economy was actually better and larger than that of The United States. His "reign" is sometimes referred to in Mexico as the "Paz Porfiriana." Unfortunately his economic policies eventually resulted in the dispossession of thousands of small farmers by the big landowners or "Hacindados." The resulting increases in unemployment, poverty, economic stagnation and repression at the end of his time in office resulted in a series of revolts that drove him from power. Mexico declined gradually but steadily after the socialist revolutions deposed Diaz, too bad for them, and to a lesser degree, to us as well.