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"Mexico" flu and Cinco de Mayo: Fact and FictionMay 5, 2009 On this Cinco de Mayo, the New York Times reports on how swine flu fears have raised the ugly specter of anti-Mexican hysteria with Mexican citizens typecast as disease carriers and subjected to humiliating treatment (healthy travelers quarantined in China; Chile refusing to host Mexican soccer teams). While scientists have yet to pinpoint the origins of the virus, which is less lethal than once feared (and some news reports speculate on a connection to U.S. factory farm practices), our neighbor to the south has once again been stigmatized. And tonight, Americans with little knowledge of Mexican history will celebrate Cinco de Mayo with margaritas and Corona beers in the misguided belief that May 5 is Mexico's Day of Independence (the official day is September 16). Today actually commemorates the 1862 defeat of invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla.  May 5 is also the publication date of two new novels that reexamine Mexico's turbulent history. From Unbridled Books comes The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo, an American writer who has lived in Mexico for many years. Her debut novel is based on the little-known but true story of two-year-old Prince Augustin de Iturbide, the son of a Mexican diplomat and an American mother, who was adopted in 1865 by the newly French-installed Mexican Emperor, the childless Maximillian von Hapbsburg, and his wife Carlotta. When the boy's parents sought to reclaim their child, Maximilian refused to relinquish him, sparking an international scandal.And Scarletta Press is publishing today Ignacio Solares's Yankee Invasion: A Novel of Mexico City, which tells about the 1847 invasion and occupation of Mexico City by American troops during the Mexican-American war, which eventually led to the loss of half of the country's territory to the United States. Not surprisingly, it was a bestseller in Mexico, and the English translation includes an introduction by Carlos Fuentes that provides the political and social context for the novel. Posted by Wilda Williams on May 5, 2009 | Comments (0)
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