MEXICO'S BIGGEST CELEBRATION COMMEMORATES ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN ON SEPTEMBER 16TH.

THE WHOLE COUNTRY TURNS TO PATRIOT PARTYING.

THE MOST IMPORTANT FIESTA TAKES PLACE IN THE SMALL CITY OF DELORES HIDALGO, MEXICO'S CRADLE OF INDEPENDENCE.

IT BEGINS WITH EL GRITO, THE CRY FOR INDEPENDENCE.

FUNDING FOR IN THE AMERICAS WITH DAVID YETMAN WAS PROVIDED BY AGNES HAURY.

[MUSIC] ALL OF US HAVE HEART THE CRY VIVA MEXICO .

I'M STANDING ON THE SOCCOLO WHICH FOR MORE THAN 500 YEARS HAS BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN MEXICO.

EACH YEAR ON SEPTEMBER THE 15TH, MORE THAN A MILLION MEXICANS GATHER HERE TO CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF THEIR COUNTRY.

THE BIRTHPLACE OF THEIR STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION IS A TOWN 200 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST.

IT'S CALLED DELORES HIDALGO.

[MUSIC/CHANTING/CHEERING] THE TOWN OF DELORES WAS NAMED AFTER A PRIEST WHO BECAME THE SPIRITUAL LEADER OF MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE, FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO.

FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO HAD A COMPLEX PERSONALITY.

HE WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS, A POLYMATH, A SUPER INTELLIGENT MAN WHO WOULD HAVE PROBABLY MADE IT UP THROUGH THE CHURCH HIERARCHY TO ARCHBISHOP BUT HE HAD A STRONGLY HUMANISTIC STREAK AS WELL AND HE CARED FOR THE AVERAGE MEXICAN IN WAYS THAT THE OFFICIALS AT THE VICEROY LEVEL DID NOT.

CONSEQUENTLY HE KEPT ENDING UP IN TROUBLE WITH THE INQUISITION AND AT ONE POINT THE INQUISITION DECIDED TO SEND HIM TO THIS SMALL, LITTLE TOWN OF DELORES TO KEEP HIM OUT OF TROUBLE.

ONCE HE ARRIVED HERE HE CARRIED OUT A SERIES OF ACTIONS THAT CLIMAXED IN WHAT BECAME THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 16, 1810.

DURING THESE EIGHT DAYS OF THIS FESTIVAL WE HAVE SPORTING EVENTS.

NOCHA LIBRE, SOCCER, TENNIS AND BASKETBALL.

IT SEEMS A BIT OF A STRETCH TO THINK THAT FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO MIGHT HAVE INCLUDED FOOTBALL IN HIS INTEREST.

HE WAS A RENAISSANCE MAN, IT'S PART OF THE CELEBRATION AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO LOCAL PEOPLE.

WE HAVE A LIVESTOCK SHOW WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND BUY COWS.

WE HAVE DISPLAYS OF CERAMICS, A LEGACY OF FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO.

EVERY DAY WE HAVE ARTISTIC AND POPULAR EXHIBITIONS IN THE MAIN PLAZA AND ALL ARE FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

BUT THE MAIN EVENT IS A CEREMONY OF EL GRITO.

THE GOVERNOR AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT COME TO OUR CITY.

THEY JOIN 15,000 PEOPLE WHO COME TO THE PLAZA.

WE WILL CRY OUT VIVA MEXICO, VIVA DELORES HIDALGO .

[BAND MUSIC] THIS IS THE HOUSE WHERE FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO LIVED HERE IN DELORES HIDALGO.

EACH YEAR THE CEREMONY COMMEMORATING THE GRITO DE DELORES BEGINS WITH THE LIGHTING OF A TORCH AND RUNNERS CARRY THESE TORCHES TO ALL PARTS OF THE REPUBLIC.

IT'S A POWERFUL SYMBOL.

THE LIGHT REPRESENTS FREEDOM AND FREEDOM IS A VERY IMPORTANT CONCEPT TO MEXICANS.

IN THIS VERY HOUSE IN THE YEAR OF 1810 FATHER HIDALGO MET WITH HIS MOST TRUSTED ADVISORS IN A CONSPIRACY FOR INDEPENDENCE.

THIS IS WHERE THEY MET IN TERTULIAS AND PLANNED THE REVOLT FOR INDEPENDENCE.

FATHER HIDALGO HAD A SENSE OF LATENT NATIONAL IDENTITY.

HE LOVED THIS PART OF MEXICO, HE LOVED MEXICO CITY AND HE HAD A FEELING FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE.

EVENTS IN EUROPE, THAT IS NAPOLEON'S INVASION OF SPAIN AND THE POSSIBILITY THAT SPAIN WOULD DISAPPEAR AND THAT MEXICO MIGHT EVEN END UP BEING A FRENCH COLONY, MOBILIZED PEOPLE LIKE FATHER HIDALGO TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY SHOULD DO TO PRESERVE THIS NATION.

AND HIS ANSWER, WITH THE ANSWER OF SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE OF COURSE, WAS THAT MEXICO SHOULD BECOME AN INDEPENDENT NATION.

AFTER FATHER HIDALGO CALLED FOR INDEPENDENCE, BY THE NEXT MORNING HE HAD ORGANIZED AN ARMY.

IT'S HARD FOR US TO IMAGINE TODAY WHAT THIS ARMY LOOKED LIKE AS IT MOVED ACROSS MEXICO.

HIDALGO HIMSELF DECIDED TO DRESS AS A GENERAL AND HIS CONCEPTION OF A GENERAL'S CLOTHES WAS TO WEAR A PURPLE TURBAN, A SHORT JACKET, SHORT PANTS AND TO CARRY A SCIMITAR AND OF COURSE HE WAS RIDING A HORSE SO THIS IS AN IMAGE.

BEHIND HIM WAS THIS HORDE OF PEOPLE, POORLY ARMED, SOME OF THEM WITH ONLY SLINGSHOTS, OTHERS WITH WOODEN SPEARS, SOME WITH GUNS AND THEN WOMEN, CHILDREN, DOGS, CATTLE, THEY MOVED THEIR COMMISSARY RIGHT WITH THEM, AND THEN ALL THE THINGS THEY HAD LOOTED.

SO SOME PEOPLE WERE CARRYING CHAIRS, SOME PEOPLE WERE CARRYING TRUNKS, ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS AS THEY HEADED TOWARD GUADALAJARA AND CALLEJA'S ARMY WAS FOLLOWING THEM.

JUST OUTSIDE OF GUADALAJARA AT A PLACE CALLED PUENTE DE CALDERON THERE WAS A MAJOR BATTLE AND CALLEJA'S ARMY DEFEATED HIDALGO.

HIDALGO AT THAT POINT DECIDED THAT HE NEEDED TO RETHINK HOW THEY WERE GOING TO FIGHT THIS WAR SO HIDALGO HEADED NORTH WITH SOME OF HIS CHIEF LEADERS, THEY HEADED NORTH TO TRY AND REACH THE UNITED STATES AND OBTAIN FINANCIAL AND MILITARY AIDE AND HE LEFT IN CHARGE, AMONG OTHER PEOPLE, JOSE MARIA MORELOS WHO BECAME THE SUCCESSFUL LEADER OF MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE IN THE SOUTH.

ON HIDALGO'S MARCH TO THE UNITED STATES HE WAS CAPTURED THROUGH TREACHERY AND TAKEN TO CHIHUAHUA CITY, THE LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREA IN THE NORTH, TO BE PLACED ON TRIAL.

AS A PRIEST, HIDALGO HAD TO BE TRIED BY THE INQUISITION AND FOLLOWING HIS INQUISITION TRIAL HE WAS DECLARED UNFIT TO BE A CLERGY, HE WAS STRIPPED OF HIS CLERICAL POSITION, EXCOMMUNICATED AND THEN EXECUTED AND BEHEADED.

THE FOUR PRINCIPAL LEADERS OF THE HIDALGO REBELLION FROM 1810 TO 1811 HAD THEIR HEADS CUT OFF IN CHIHUAHUA AND THOSE HEADS WERE TAKEN TO THE GRANARY IN GUANAJUATO WHERE THEY WERE HANGED IN IRON BOXES FROM THE FOUR CORNERS.

THEY REMAINED THERE UNTIL MEXICO ACHIEVED ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1821.

FATHER HIDALGO'S ASSASSINATION, RATHER THAN SMOTHERING THE FLEDGLING MOVEMENT, MADE A MARTYR OF THE PRIEST AND GALVANIZED THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE.

DELORES HIDALGO IN THE STATE OF GUANAJUATO IS A CITY OF A LITTLE OVER 100,000 PEOPLE.

FOR MUCH OF THE YEAR IT'S A FAIRLY QUIET TOWN AND ITS PLAZA IS A LAID BACK PLACE.

BUT AROUND THE 16TH OF SEPTEMBER, INDEPENDENCE DAY IN MEXICO, THINGS CHANGE.

AS THE DAY PROGRESSES, THINGS TRANSFORM RAPIDLY AND BY NIGHT THE POPULATION OF THE WHOLE CITY HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED AND THE PLAZA, WELL, IS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

[BAND MUSIC] WHAT'S IMPRESSIVE IS THE RANGE OF NAMES OF THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.

THERE'S NATIONAL HEROES LIKE GENERAL LÁZARO CÁRDENAS.

GUADALUPE VICTORIA WE JUST PASSED.

YEAH, GUADALUPE VICTORIA AND THE HEROINES OF MEXICO, WHAT A WONDERFUL NAME.

THERE'S A REAL INTEGRATION OF DELORES HIDALGO WITH THE STATE AND NATIONAL HISTORY THAT ALL MEXICAN'S SHARE.

LOOK AT THESE INDIGENOUS COSTUMES COMING UP.

SO IT'S THE RECOGNITION OF THE BI-CULTURAL OR MELTING POT OF MEXICO.

RIGHT.

AND THERE'S FATHER HIDALGO RIGHT THERE.

OH, THERE HE IS, YEAH.

WITH THE BANNER OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE GOING BY.

[DRUMS] HOW DOES A TEACHER IN SCHOOL IN MEXICO INSTILL IN THE STUDENTS THE ATTITUDE TO TAKE THIS SO SERIOUSLY?

IN THE U.S. THAT WOULD BE ALMOST UNHEARD OF.

WELL, I THINK IT'S BECAUSE TEACHERS HERE TAKE TEACHING AS THEIR MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY, NOT SOME KIND OF SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT, NOT MAKING PEOPLE FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES BUT REALLY TEACHING THEM THINGS ABOUT THEIR COUNTRY AND THAT'S PART OF IT.

I THINK THEY TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, THE TEACHERS, AND I THINK THE STUDENTS TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.

AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, THE FAMILIES INSTEAD OF CLAPPING WHEN THEIR CHILD GOES BY, ARE THROWING CONFETTI OUT AND CELEBRATING... THAT'S RIGHT, THE CONFETTI IS APPLAUSE.

YEAH.

AND SO IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE THE KIDS RUN OUT AND THROW CONFETTI ON AN OLDER BROTHER AND SISTER OR A YOUNGER BROTHER AND SISTER.

SO EACH SCHOOL HAS A NAME, AN IMPORTANT NAME CONNECTED WITH THE REVOLUTION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AND INCORPORATED INTO THAT IS A SERIOUSNESS OF INTENT THE KIDS RELATE TO THEIR PLACE, TO THEIR SCHOOL, WHERE THEY WERE BORN AND THAT REVOLUTIONARY HERO.

ABSOLUTELY.

YOU'RE AT SCHOOL TO LEARN TO BE A BETTER MEXICAN AND A BETTER CITIZEN AND IT'S CLEAR THEY'RE DOING THAT, JUST WATCHING THIS GO BY.

FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO PROBABLY DID NOT ANTICIPATE THAT ONE DAY THE DAY IN HIS HONOR WOULD BECOME A MAJOR MOTORCYCLE RALLY ALSO.

THE GRITO DE DOLORES HAS BECOME MOTORCYCLE HEAVEN FOR MOTORCYCLISTS IN MEXICO.

DOLORES HIDALGO DOES NOT JUST BELONG TO THE PEOPLE OF DOLORES HIDALGO.

IT'S BOTH A NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYMBOL.

IT'S MORE THAN JUST THE CRADLE OF INDEPENDENCE.

THIS IS OUR NATIVE LAND, OUR IDENTITY, WHAT MAKES US PROUD TO BE MEXICAN.

HISPANICS ARE THE LARGEST MINORITY GROUP IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY AND OF THOSE THE LARGEST NUMBER ARE MEXICANS.

THOSE MEXICANS, MANY OF THEM ARE BOTH U.S. AND MEXICAN CITIZENS AND THEY WILL REAFFIRM THEIR MEXICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY TONIGHT.

PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY COME HERE FOR THE CELEBRATION.

MANY COME FROM THE NORTH, INCLUDING MEXICANS LIVING AND WORKING IN THE U.S.

THEY COME BACK FOR THIS FESTIVAL AS WELL AS FOR CHRISTMAS.

[BAND MUSIC] THE CAVALGADA, THE CAVALRY IS A HUGE COMPONENT OF THE GRITO CELEBRATION.

YES, THERE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A GRITO WITHOUT THIS ARRIVAL FROM QUERETERO AND MEXICANS HAVE TO THANK FOREVER THE SPANISH WOMAN JOSEFA ORTEGA DE DOMINGUEZ WHO'S ON THE FIVE PESO COIN AND ON STAMPS.

SHE WAS THE WIFE OF THE LOCAL SPANISH OFFICIAL IN QUERETERO.

IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY DOLORES WAS HARDLY MORE THAN A BACK WOODS RUSTIC TOWN.

QUERETERO WAS THE CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND SPIRITUAL CENTER OF MEXICO NORTH OF MEXICO CITY.

A NUMBER OF INFLUENTIAL QUERETEROANS LONGED FOR INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN.

HERE IN THE CITY OF QUERETERO, ABOUT 80 MILES FROM THE TOWN OF DOLORES IN THE STATE OF GUANAJUATO, FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO HAD A FRIEND.

HER NAME WAS JOSEFA ORTIZ DE DOMINGUEZ.

SHE WAS THE WIFE OF AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL AND SHE WAS VERY SYMPATHETIC WITH FATHER HIDALGO'S IDEAS.

SHE LEARNED THROUGH HER HUSBAND THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD DISPATCHED TROOPS TO CAPTURE FATHER HIDALGO.

SHE SENT A HORSE POSTHASTE TO WARN HIM.

HE GOT THE MESSAGE AND LAUNCHED THE MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE ON SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1810, ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE HE PLANNED BUT THE MOVEMENT GOT UNDERWAY THANKS TO THE HELP OF A WOMAN.

THEY WERE GALLOPING AS FAST AS THEY COULD TO GET HERE AND LET THE CONSPIRATORS, WHO WERE HERE IN DOLORES, KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.

AND THESE GUYS CALLED THEMSELVES THE CONSPIRATORS OF QUERETERO, THAT'S WHAT THE CAVALCADE REFERRED TO THEMSELVES AS.

WHAT'S ESPECIALLY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS IS THERE WAS A NETWORK OF SPIES IN QUERETERO THAT REACHED INTO MEXICO CITY, STRETCHED UP TO HERE AND THOSE SPIES, REVOLUTIONARY SPIES, CALLED THEMSELVES THE GUADALUPANAS REFERRING TO THE...

THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE.

YES, AND THAT REFERENCE TO THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE COMES UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN DURING THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE.

ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS FATHER HIDALGO DID WHEN HE ORGANIZED HIS ARMY WAS TO GO FROM HERE TO ATOTONILCO, THE LITTLE MISSION TOWN THERE TO THE CONVENT, GO IN AND TAKE AN IMAGE OF THE VIRGIN THAT HE USED AS THE BANNER.

THOSE ARE THE TWO GREATEST SYMBOLS OF MEXICAN NATIONALISM THERE ARE; FATHER HIDALGO WITH HIS LONG, WHITE FLOWING HAIR AS A WISE OLD MAN AND HER AS A RELIGIOUS FIGURE WHO ALSO UNITES ALL MEXICANS.

HE WAS ALSO A CHAMPION OF THE POOR AND OF THE INDIANS.

HE CERTAINLY WAS A SPOKESMAN FOR THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN THIS AREA AND HE HAD BEEN READING DEEPLY INTO THE PHILOSOPHS AND OTHER FRENCH PHILOSOPHERS AT THE TIME AND WANTED TO CARRY OUT PRACTICAL CHANGES THAT WOULD BENEFIT THE INDIGENOUS AND POOR AND THAT GOT HIM INTO A GOOD DEAL OF TROUBLE WITH THE ARCHBISHOP IN MEXICO CITY WHO DIDN'T WANT HIM READING THOSE KIND OF POLITICAL TRACTS AND DIDN'T WANT HIM CARRYING OUT THOSE KIND OF ECONOMIC REFORMS.

IT'S HARD TO TELL HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE ARE ACTUALLY FROM DOLORES HIDALGO AND HOW MANY ARE FROM OTHER TOWNS, OTHER STATES AND EVEN OTHER COUNTRIES BUT SOMEHOW THE SPIRIT OF VIVA HIDALGO, VIVA MEXICO JUST GRABS YOU.

ABSOLUTELY.

AND THERE WILL BE FIESTAS TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO, SAN ANTONIO, OF COURSE IN MEXICO CITY WHERE THE PRESIDENT WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT IS DONE HERE BUT THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION FOR MEXICANS EVERYWHERE AND SO THIS IS A CELEBRATION THAT TAKES PLACE IN PUBLIC LIKE WE ARE NOW BUT ALSO IN PRIVATE HOMES WHERE PEOPLE ARE GETTING TOGETHER, PLAYING ALL SORTS OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC, EATING ALL SORTS OF TRADITIONAL FOOD, DRINKING ALL SORTS OF TRADITIONAL DRINKS.

[MUSIC/CHEERING] DOLORES HIDALGO IS IDENTIFIED WITH FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO, THE FATHER OF MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE.

MOST MEXICANS WOULD AGREE THAT THEY'RE DESCENDANTS OF FATHER HIDALGO BUT LIZ CARANSA IS A DIRECT DESCENDENT OF THE MAN HIMSELF.

YES, MY MOTHER, SHE'S A FIFTH GENERATION OF PADRE HIDALGO.

IT WAS KIND OF A SECRET FOR HER FAMILY BUT NOWADAYS, TWO YEARS AGO, MY FAMILY, THEY GOT RECOGNITION FROM THE MUNICIPALITY AND NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT PADRE HIDALGO HAD TWO KIDS.

YEAH, TWO CHILDREN.

TWO KIDS, YEAH, TWO CHILDREN.

SO YOU CARRY HIS GENES IN YOUR BLOOD.

YES, I'M THE SIXTH GENERATION.

I'M ALSO FIGHTING FOR THE FREEDOM.

THAT'S WONDERFUL.

IN THE PAST THE DESCENDENTS OF FATHER MIGUEL HAD TO KEEP IT QUIET BECAUSE IT WAS A MAJOR SCANDAL THAT A PRIEST WOULD HAVE DESCENDENTS BUT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, WITH THE POPE'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT FATHER MIGUEL WAS IN FACT A GOOD GUY, THE FAMILY HAS BECOME QUITE POPULAR IN MEXICO AND LIZ IS NOW A SEMI-CELEBRITY IN HER OWN COUNTRY.

THE HISTORY OF MANY IMPORTANT MEXICANS OF THE 19TH CENTURY CAN BE FOUND IN THIS CHURCH.

FROM DOCUMENTS HERE, WE KNOW THAT FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO Y COSTILLA HAD INTIMATE RELATIONS WITH DOÑA JOSEFA QUINTANA.

THEY CONCEIVED TWO DAUGHTERS.

ONE NAMED MARIA VICENTA BORN IN 1805 AND THEN MARIA MICHAELA IN 1807.

THE FIRST DIED YOUNG BUT IN 1823 THE SECOND DAUGHTER MARRIED DON JULIAN MENDOZA, A DOCTOR FROM GUANAJUATO.

THEY HAD EIGHT CHILDREN.

WELL, MY MOTHER IS HERE AND MY AUNT IS ALSO HERE.

ESPERANZA VASQUEZ MENDOZA Y MARIA ESTHER VASQUEZ MENDOZA.

TWO YEARS AGO THEY GOT THE RECOGNITION FROM THE MUNICIPALITY FROM DOLORES HIDALGO AND IT PROVES THAT THEY ARE DIRECT DESCENDENTS FROM MIGUEL HIDALGO.

SO THIS IS THE PROOF OF SOMETHING THAT MANY YEARS AGO PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ASHAMED OF AND NOW YOU'RE PROUD OF.

YES, OF COURSE.

IN THE NAME OF THE TOWN AND GARMENT OF DOLORES HIDALGO, CRADLE OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, I TURN OVER TO YOU THIS SYMBOL THAT REPRESENTS OUR LIBERTY AND THE BLOOD SHED BY THE HEROES WHO GAVE US OUR COUNTRY.

CARRY THIS TORCH WITH HONOR AND PRIDE BACK TO THE PLACES FROM WHERE YOU CAME.

MAY THIS FLAME GUIDE YOUR COMMITMENT TO LIVE UNDER THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM OF FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO.

I FEEL LIKE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF HISTORY.

THIS IS THE ACTUAL PLACE WHERE FATHER HIDALGO MADE THE GRITO.

YES, THIS IS ORIGINAL PLACE WHERE HIDALGO CALLED FOR INDEPENDENCE OF THE COUNTRY.

AND NOWADAYS THERE ARE MANY HEROES REMEMBERED ON THAT GRITO.

VIVA HIDALGO, VIVA ALLENDE, VIVA ABASOLO.

VIVAN LOS HEROES DE LA INDEPENDENCIA.

BUT HIDALGO IN THOSE DAYS HE JUST SAID VIVA LA INDEPENDENCIA, VIVA LA LIBERTAD .

AND THAT GALVENIZED EVERYTHING, IN TERMS OF THE MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE THAT WAS THE KEY, THAT WAS THE SPARK.

EXACTLY.

IT WAS THE SPARK OF INDEPENDENCE, OF THE FREEDOM OF A WAR THAT TOOK 11 YEARS IN FINISHING.

AND HE WAS BEHEADED LONG BEFORE THAT WAS OVER.

THESE YOUNG MEN WERE GOING TO CARRY THE TORCH TO THE VILLAGE OF PINAL DE AMOLES AND IT'S IN THE SIERRA GORDA.

HOW FAR AWAY IS THAT?

WELL, BY CAR FROM HERE IT WOULD BE LIKE THREE OR FOUR HOURS DRIVING.

SO THEY TAKE TURNS BUT THEY'RE GOING TO DO THE WHOLE WAY ON FOOT CARRYING THE TORCH.

YEAH AND THE IDEA IS THAT THEY WOULD BE BACK IN PINAL DE AMOLES AT THE TIME OF THE GRITO, THE INDEPENDENCIA EN PINAL DE AMOLES.

IT WILL BE AT 11:00.

THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO PRETTY FAST TO DO 100 MILES IN 12 HOURS.

THEY'LL DO IT, THEY'LL MAKE IT.

WELL, THEY ARE TRAINED.

YEAH, THEY'RE PRETTY FIT.

I'M GOING TO GO RUN WITH THEM IF IT'S OKAY WITH YOU.

I WOULD DO THAT.

DESCRIBE YOUR GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER PADRE MIGUEL HIDALGO.

WELL, HE WAS ACTUALLY A REALLY EDUCATED MAN.

HE SPOKE FIVE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.

HE WAS A PRIEST.

HE WAS LIKE THE SPIRITUAL TEACHER OF THE INDIANS.

OF THE INDIANS.

OF THE INDIANS, YES.

HE WORKED MAINLY WITH INDIANS IN THAT WAY TO TEACH THEM HOW TO DO PRODUCTIVE PROJECTS LIKE THE SILK, LIKE THE POTTERY THAT NOWADAYS WE HAVE AND IS VERY FAMOUS IN DOLORES HIDALGO AND OTHER ACTIVITIES FOR THE INDIANS.

HE REALLY WANTED THE INDIANS TO HAVE A BETTER WAY OF LIVING.

SO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL AFFILIATION BECAUSE YOUR GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GRANDFATHER WAS PADRE HIDALGO.

I FEEL SO RICH PERSONALLY BECAUSE OF THIS AND WHEN I SEE THE HUGE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE SCREAMING DURING THE CEREMONY OF THE GRITO, HOW PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT THE NATIONALISM THAT MEXICANS HAVE, I FEEL PROUD AND SOMETIMES I JUST, IT'S LIKE CRYING.

WELL, I'M GOING TO WATCH AND SEE THOSE TEARS FLOWING AS THE NIGHT GOES ON.

FATHER HIDALGO TODAY HAS MOVED FROM BEING A HUMAN BEING IN 1810 INTO THE NATIONAL FOLKLORE SO HE'S BECOME ALMOST UNASSAILABLE AS A FOLKLORE CHARACTER.

HIS POLICIES HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED MOST DRAMATICALLY BY CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION IN THE 1990S WHEN THE MEXICAN CONGRESS DECLARED THAT THIS WAS A NATION OF DIVERSE ETHNIC BACKGROUND ON AN INDIGENOUS BASE, A CLEAR REPRESENTATION THAT THIS NATION RECOGNIZED WHAT PADRE HIDALGO RECOGNIZED BEFORE 1810.

THE PRIEST MIGUEL HIDALGO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THIS MOVEMENT OF INDEPENDENCE.

HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE US LIBERATED AS FREE MEXICANS.

FROM THE GRITO ONWARD WE VOWED TO SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM SPAIN AND FORM OUR OWN FREE GOVERNMENT.

WHILE THERE MAY BE DEEP DIVISIONS AND CONFLICTS AMONG MEXICANS, WE STILL CHERISH THE HOPE THAT FATHER HIDALGO GAVE US.

WE ARE PROUD OF BEING FROM DOLORES BUT DOLORES DOESN'T BELONG TO US, IT'S THE PATRIMONY OF THE WHOLE NATION.

IT BELONGS TO ALL MEXICANS.

LOOKING AT MEXICAN HISTORY THROUGH THE PERIOD FROM ITS INDEPENDENCE TO THE PRESENT, THERE HAVE BEEN THREE GREAT POINTS AT WHICH MEXICANS MARK THEIR INDEPENDENCE.

THE FIRST CAME IN 1810 WHEN MEXICO'S STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE WAS INITIATED BY FATHER HIDALGO.

1857 WITH BONITO JUAREZ BROUGHT MEXICO'S SOCIAL INDEPENDENCE FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AT THE SAME TIME RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

AND 1938 WHEN PRESIDENT LÁZARO CÁDENAS MADE MEXICO IN THE MINDS OF MANY PEOPLE FINANCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY INDEPENDENT BY EXPROPRIATING THE FOREIGN OWNED OIL COMPANIES IN THIS COUNTRY.

IF YOU ARE NOT MEXICAN, YOU WILL FEEL LIKE A MEXICAN TONIGHT.

WELL, I'M BEGINNING TO FEEL THAT WAY ALREADY.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FIESTA IN MEXICAN CULTURE.

IN THE ANNUAL CYCLE OF EVENTS THERE ARE TWO; MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE, SEPTEMBER 15 AND 16, AND DECEMBER 12TH, THE CELEBRATION OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE.

THIS CANNOT BE TOPPED.

AS NIGHT APPROACHES, THE EXCITEMENT SWELLS IN THE PLAZA WHERE FATHER HIDALGO'S CRY WILL RING OUT AGAIN, HERE IN THE CRADLE OF MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE, AND THROUGHOUT THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO.

VIVA DOLORES HIDALGO!

VIVA!

VIVA GUANAJUATO!

VIVA!

VIVA MEXICO!

VIVA!

VIVA MEXICO!

VIVA!

[FIREWORKS/CHEERING] THE ALTIPLANO OF PERU IS HIGH AND COLD BUT OVER THE MILLENNIA ANDEAN PEOPLES HAVE MADE THE LANDSCAPE INTO THEIR OWN PLACE WITH THEIR OWN CROPS, THEIR OWN ANIMALS, THEIR OWN CLOTHING AND THEIR OWN TEMPLES.

JOIN US NEXT TIME IN THE AMERICAS WITH ME, DAVID YETMAN.

RIGHT.

BUT WHAT MADE THEM FAMOUS AND INTERESTING I THINK IS THEY CALLED THEMSELVES AS WELL THE GUADALAMANTAS.

SHE SENT A MESSENGER.

SHE SENT A MESSENGER TO FATHER HIDALGO.

SO SHE SENT A MESSENGER TO FATHER HIDALGO AND SO SHE WAS THE PERSON WHO KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON.

FUNDING FOR IN THE AMERICAS WITH DAVID YETMAN WAS PROVIDED BY AGNES HAURY.

COPIES OF THIS AND OTHER EPISODES OF IN THE AMERICAS WITH DAVID YETMAN ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE SOUTHWEST CENTER.

TO ORDER CALL 1-800-937-8632.

PLEASE MENTION THE EPISODE NUMBER AND PROGRAM TITLE.

PLEASE BE SURE TO VISIT US AT INTHEAMERICAS.COM OR INTHEAMERICAS.ORG.