Do we really believe that there is something new under the sun?… just take a look at what was happening around us 30 or 40 years ago and then – if you still have the capacity for wonder – admire or simply smile at what we see. Now they want to consider us as new, as the latest cry of fashion, the most advanced technological project, the scientific discovery that will make the mental stature of the human race grow… What do I know!… some clueless gaucho would say.
For example, did you know that in 1956, Elvis Presley was considered by the international press as “the rock and roll madman whose epileptic dances set to music have given him fame and fortune?” Elvis – according to this information – was filming “Love me Tender” -uuuhh- in the company of Debra Paget and Richard Egan and would have sold more than a million records of a new song. His fortune grew exponentially day by day. His passion for luxury automobiles was proverbial and he gave “Cadillacs” to the first person who passed in front of his house.
By the way, that year -1956- a liter of fresh milk from Hacienda Los Portales cost 1.90 and in the Mexico City cinema the film “Angustia de un Querer” with Jennifer Jones and William Holden was shown; The Italian FIAT made its appearance in the automobile market, which, according to advertising, turned the curves of the road into straight lines. Of course the mushroom cloud had an impact on the style of women’s hairstyles while the women of Mexico cleaned their faces with the “Cocaine in Bloom” cream. Incredible true?
Since then, the UN called on Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip; and let me tell you that in 1957 Lilia Prado had insured her fabulous legs for one hundred thousand pesos! and Pope Pius XII gave his approval to the use of anesthetics “because they do not contradict either the moral order or the specifically Christian ideal.” On April 15 of that year, Pedro Infante tragically died when the plane he was crewing, the XAKUN, from Mérida, Yucatán, crashed.
A month later, Great Britain exploded the first English hydrogen bomb there in the Central Pacific, and on the fateful July 28, a 7th earthquake. degree of the Mercalli scale spread panic among the inhabitants of Mexico City. The Angel of Independence flew and several buildings fell to the ground.
Do you remember SPUTNIK? It was launched into space on October 4. It was the first artificial satellite of the Earth. It measured 58 centimeters in diameter. As part of this competition, the Americans launched the ATLAS ballistic projectile into space, a weapon capable of unleashing atomic fury on any target anywhere in the world. Let’s ask about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Oh, distant times… Pepita Embil premiered the zarzuela “La Calesera” at the new Iris theater and it was said that Tapado, the creation of the cartoonist Abel Quesada, smoked Elegantes. There is no space, gentle reader, and there are many memories but, as she told you, I think there is nothing new under the sun.
But as I said, there is nothing new under the sun. Age has come to me and there are several, quite a few friends of mine who have already moved on to another dimension: friends from childhood, from primary school, from middle school, from high school, from UNAM and from graduate school, and from today.
Then came the creation of Notimex, which was given a tender burial, and we are living in unprecedented times in political matters. I have memories from the time of Miguel Alemán, and 12 six-year terms have already passed with his comings and goings, but none like this one. The manipulative polls praise it but I know it is not true; His relationship with citizens has deteriorated greatly.
Every day we hear that Mexico is experiencing a historic moment. I don’t think that’s the truth. None of the sadness that the media reports in a measured and consistent manner are historical; They are simple sorrows and anguish that have been left to us by kidnappings, homicides, financial and property crimes, settling of accounts, marches, naked sit-ins, street market protests, corruption always accompanied by its faithful friend, impunity, etc., etc. It is the Mexico of these days, of my Mexico that has been so exhausted and lives already tired and aged. Citizens no longer understand, they do not know; Rather, he does not want to understand what is happening and prefers to turn his gaze towards the less grotesque that is television and shows. Distract yourself, try to have fun and keep your family distracted, even if only for moments. And that’s as long as you don’t go out to eat at a good restaurant and someone in your family suddenly gets shot three times in the head. We should not be surprised. Almost 75 years ago, in June 1936, a hitman entered the famous Café de Tacuba and fired a single fatal bullet at the famous lawyer Manlio Fabio Altamirano, politician, elected governor of Veracruz, who was having dinner accompanied by his family. It was then said that the perpetrators were the rich landowners of his State. Some famous politician from Veracruz was favored, so much so that his career, after that shooting, was on the rise. Exactly the same thing happens today. There is nothing new under the sun.
The last regimes accompanied by their court of criminals and thugs under the glossy mantle of the sly politician and country-seller, the other Mexicans. There is no event that is not based on another previous one; There are politicians who believe they guide history, but there are others who react according to how reality forces them. (I will continue)