There is actually more to the holiday of Cinco de Mayo than great tacos or lively music; there are lessons to be learned hidden within the history of this holiday, which provide deeper understanding of a very perilous time in the Americas. Today Cinco de Mayo has taken on a more political significance in light of Donald Trump’s campaign promises, and his challenge as the President of the United States to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. It was one major campaign theme that helped Trump to capture the attention of the American people, as well as the votes that got him elected. Yet, once upon a time, long, long ago, the U.S. stood by Mexico to defend the nation against a genuine enemy. Ironically, the reason that there is a Cinco de Mayo holiday was partly due to problems that confronted a newly elected Mexican president, Benito Juarez, are similar to problems that Donald Trump faces as a new president of the United States. In the middle of the 19th century, economic woes led to Mexico’s struggle for survival against a full-scale French invasion. In 1861, newly elected Benito Juarez, the first Native American elected president of Mexico (a definite outsider), faced a huge national debt left by a previous government, faced hostility from the nation’s elitist politicians, and confronted an internally organized attempt from former government officials to destroy the administration of the legally elected Juarez, a genuine representative of the people.

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