What is Aztlan?

This week, we move in a slightly different direction. Immigration remains a hot issue, and I would like to take a closer look at one small aspect of it.

From Aztec to Mexican to American:

According to Wikipedia: "Aztlán is the mythical ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for 'people from Aztlan'."

The Aztec arrived at Lake Texcoco by the 13th Century (possibly much earlier). Finding an eagle on a cactus eating a snake – the prophesied sign of their new home – they built Tenochtitlan, their capital. Over the next 200 years, they built an empire that stretched from the Gulf to the Pacific. The first Spaniards, led by Hernando Cortez, arrived in 1519, and within two years, Tenochtitlan and the Empire were destroyed. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was established, which, in turn, was overthrown in 1820 by locals, who (after a brief flirtation with empire) established the United Mexican States.

In 1836, Americans in Texas, who'd been welcomed into Mexico by President Santa Ana, got fed up with persecutions heaped on them by that self-styled Napoleon. They won independence, and, a decade later, became the Lone Star State. In 1847, the US declared war on Mexico, over a border dispute regarding Texas. The US goal was the advancement of Manifest Destiny, the idea that God had endowed the United States with a divine mandate to control all of North America.

Mexico lost – both militarily and politically – and half the country (now called the Mexican Cession) was turned over to the USA in 1848. More was purchased the following decade (under a silent threat of military action) via the Gadsden Purchase. California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and pieces of other western states now comprise this territory.

Aztlan Redux?

It is not my place to judge the righteousness of the Mexican-American War, nor the events which led up to it or followed it. It is my place, as a citizen of Utah and the United States, to declare, emphatically and unequivocally, that the State of Utah is, and has been for over 100 years, a sovereign state within the United States of America, as are the other former Mexican territories.

That is not a universal opinion, and the opposing view is no mere rant by a few crackpots or extremists.

Back in 2002, a Zogby International poll was commissioned to determine the real opinion of Mexicans. To the statement, "The territory of the United States' southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico," 58 percent of Mexicans agreed, while 28 percent disagreed. To the statement, "Mexicans should have the right to enter the US without US permission," 57 percent of Mexicans agreed, while 35 percent disagreed. That's about 1.8 to 1.
In reporting that poll, World News Daily also quoted The Colorado Republican, "President Vicente Fox has stated that the borders of Mexico extend' beyond the country. 'He has created a ministry for Mexicans living outside of Mexico that has provided goody bags for . . . people coming across the border." [1]

Could such a statement be true? Indeed, it is, according to the website La Voz de Aztlan (The Voice of Aztlan):

In an extraordinary political move, President Vicente Fox has announced the formation of a cabinet level agency to govern, protect and provide services to over 20 million Mexicans now living in Aztlan, a territory encompassing most of the southwest part of the USA. President Fox declared yesterday that he will personally lead the new agency he named Consejo Nacional para las Comunidades Mexicanas en el Exterior (National Council for Mexican Communities Abroad). The Council will consist of the president, most of the cabinet secretaries and a, as of yet unnamed, representative from Aztlan. This is a bold move that essentially extends the arm of the Mexican government into the territories it previously lost during the Mexican-American War of 1848. [2]

The idea has even been featured on a major US news network: Lou Dobbs (then with CNN, recently relocated to FoxNews), has repeatedly linked immigration to La Reconquista (The Reconquest). On March 31, 2006, Dobbs said, "There are some Mexican citizens and some Mexican-Americans who want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States given over to Mexico . . . And they view the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in particular entering the United States as potentially an army of invaders to achieve that takeover."

Passions on such topics run high, and sometimes betray more truth than the passionate want to have in the public view.  In a 2004 editorial in La Voz de Aztlan, by Juan Armando Roque de Lara wrote:

As the 21st Century gets underway, issues of concern to Aztlan surface more and more, demanding attention by those outside of our community. During the tragedy of jewish [sic] inspired Manifest Destiny and the invasion of Mexico by a rogue United States seeking specifically to extend the boundaries of slave territory, Aztlan was lost with the signing of the now rightly reviled Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Mexicanos left behind found themselves behind enemy lines and made to be a part of an ugly empire which didn't want them. Land, lives, families and Aztlan were destroyed. Had the United States pulled this type of gross aggression in modern times it would most likely lead to World War III and may yet still. [3]

Is World War III a realistic possibility? Charles Truxillo, professor of Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico hints that it is. In an Associated Press article, he "predicts a new, sovereign Hispanic nation within the century, taking in the Southwest and several northern states of Mexico." Truxillo proposes Republica del Norte (Republic of the North) as the name of this new country, which, he says, is inevitable. "He envisions it encompassing all of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and southern Colorado, plus the northern tier of Mexican states: Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas."

Truxillo looks at the US-Mexico border situation and believes "there is a growing fusion, a reviving of connections. Southwest Chicanos and Norteño Mexicanos are becoming one people again."

The AP also quotes the Professor as saying this new country should be brought into being "by any means necessary," but the AP assures readers Truxillo doesn't think civil war is likely. "Instead," the news service suggests, "its creation will be accomplished by the electoral pressure of the future majority Hispanic population in the region." [Emphasis added.]

The Aztlan movement grew out of the general Chicano movement of the 1960s, and they have a plan:

In March of 1969, at Denver, Colorado, the Crusade for Justice organized the National Chicano Youth Conference that drafted the basic premises for the Chicana/Chicano Movement in El Plan de Aztlán (EPA). A synopsis of El Plan stipulates:
1) We are Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán reclaiming the land of our birth (Chicana/Chicano Nation);
2) Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, who are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture;
3) We are a union of free pueblos forming a bronze (Chicana/Chicano) Nation;
4) Chicano nationalism, as the key to mobilization and organization, is the common denominator to bring consensus to the Chicana/Chicano Movement;
5) Cultural values strengthen our identity as La Familia de La Raza; and
6) EPA, as a basic plan of Chicana/Chicano liberation, sought the formation of an independent national political party that would represent the sentiments of the Chicana/Chicano community. [4; emphasis added]

Part of the plan was organization of college students, which became the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan or MEChA). The Preamble to MEChA's National Constitution states:

Chicano and Chicana students of Aztlan must take upon themselves the responsibilities to promote Chicanismo within the community, politicizing our Raza with an emphasis on indigenous consciousness to continue the struggle for the self-determination of the Chicano people for the purpose of liberating Aztlán.

The National MEChA logo depicts an eagle with a machete-like weapon in one claw and a lighted stick of dynamite in the other. A scary image; one designed to be so.

America Reacts:

Immigration control may not be the top priority on Capitol Hill or at the White House, but it is among voters. A Rasmussen Reports survey of last week reports 63% of likely US voters think gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing undocumented workers already here; 27% put legalizing immigrants first. That's above 2.3 to 1.

Rasmussen adds, "Most conservatives (79%) and moderates (59%) think border control should come first; most liberals (52%) say the priority should be legalizing the illegal immigrants who are already in the United States. Support for border control as a legislative priority has been at this level for years." [5]

Arizona's illegal immigration enforcement law has gained wide press coverage, and the attention of the federal government. Last July, a federal judge put the law on hold and Arizonans are still waiting to see its fate. Other states aren't. An MSNBC report just last month says:

That hasn't deterred elected officials elsewhere — legislation closely modeled on Arizona's law has been introduced in at least 15 other states since the beginning of the year. And legislators in other states say they're awaiting clarification from the courts before introducing their own measures. [6]

In Utah, several immigration bills came through the state legislature before its 2011 session ended Thursday at midnight. Two gained particular attention:

The Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act (HB497) allows (but does not require) law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of persons they arrest or book into jail (among other provisions). It has garnered widespread support among Utahns, and generally favorable press outside the Beehive State.

The Utah Immigration Accountability and Enforcement Amendments (HB116) create a guest worker program that opponents view as a road-to-amnesty bill. They fought it in both chambers, tried to dissuade the Governor from signing it, and vow to fight it until it is repealed. Many supporters are vocal in their desire to see every politician who supported it unseated.

Reality check:

Is the Aztlan movement a real threat or a tempest in a teapot?
 

Do Muslims really intend to re-establish the Caliphate and bring Sharia law to the USA?

Will the Confederacy rise again?

Not all conspiracy theories are only theories. Not all theorists are lunatics, even if they sound insane. Not all real conspiracies have the same chance of succeeding. The point of the discussion is to remind America that she is not the beloved behemoth she sometimes sees in the mirror. There are enemies out there, and some in here. Americans spend billions guarding their homes and businesses with alarm systems, live monitor services, guard dogs and more. They should not do less for their national borders and public institutions. Remember the counsel attributed to Edmund Burke, MP:

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Thanks for listening, tune in next week for another rant.

[1] Jon Dougherty, "Mexicans: Southwest US is Ours," WorldNetDaily.com, June 13, 2002. Web. 11 March 2011.  [2] Ernesto Cienfuegos, "Government into Aztlan," La Voz de Aztlan, reprinted at Rense.com, 2 February 2002. Web. 11 March 2011.  [3] The Associated Press, "Professor Predicts 'Hispanic Homeland'," La Voc de Aztlan. Web. 11 March 2011.  [4] From the website of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán; Web. 11 March 2011. (http://www.nationalmecha.org).  [5] "63% Say Border Control Is Top Immigration Priority," Rasmussen Reports. Web. 11 March 2011.[6] Alex Johnson and Vanessa Hauc, " States seek to copy Arizona immigration law," MSNBC.com. Web. 11 March 2011.