MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexicans will celebrate their Independence Day without primary public ceremonies for the first time in 153 years on Tuesday night due to restrictions on public meetings because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Every year, the president rings the bell that marked the call to arms of the struggle of 1810-1821 for the independence of Spain and shouts “Viva México!”
This cry, or “scream,” gives the rite its name. Independence Day is officially September 16, but is celebrated the night before for more than a century.
The occasion has not been cancelled since 1847, the Mexican-American War, when American troops occupied Mexico City.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to play the “scream”, but in front of a small number of guests.
Obrador regularly has no challenge with crowds and does not like to wear face masks, however, with more than 668,000 cases and nearly 71,000 deaths, the fourth highest number in the world, the president’s idea twice before packing the same 100,000 raucous revelers in Mexico City’s main square, known as Zocalo.
“It is a ritual that you can see on television,” López Obrador said Tuesday. “We can all participate from our homes. “
The coronavirus pandemic will be discussed at this year’s ceremony, he said. “Let’s go to the dead and their families,” he said, adding, “We will light a torch in the Zocalo, a torch of hope. “
Security was so tight in the main square (infantry soldiers were sent to provide security and avoid meetings) that it prompted an ecclesiastical government warning that troops had “taken control” of the doleading around the Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in the north. end, of the place. The archdiocese later clarified that this was a misinterpretation and that the faithful would be allowed access to the cathedral.
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The pain was not felt alone in Mexico City. To get away from COVID-19. “
Alejandro Murat, governor of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, known for his cuisine and craftsmanship, said the most others can do on Tuesday is stay home and wear masks. Murat wrote that “it is vital to take care of our fitness. “and that of everyone else, and it’s a wonderful way to show our love for Mexico. “
The governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureolles, who is recovering from COVID-19, wrote that “this year we will celebrate the freedom of our country in another way, to take care of its health, that of its circle of relatives and all others. “