Jorge Antonio Rocha
17 May 2021•Update: 18 May 2021
MEXICO
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador apologized on Monday for the massacre perpetrated against the Chinese community in the northern state of Coahuila 110 years ago.
"As is the case throughout the world, the history of nations records times of splendor and greatness, as well as times of darkness and shame," said the president at the beginning of an event in the city of Torreon.
The massacre occurred during the Mexican Revolution, which started in November 1910. The fragmented country was sieged by violent confrontations between federal armed forces and revolutionaries.
Tens of Chinese families settled in Torreon, a flourishing city in northern Mexico. Most escaped perilous conditions from their community or racial persecution from the United States.
By 1911, the total Chinese population in the Mexican city amounted to 600.
On the morning of May 15, 1911, around 2,000 soldiers loyal to Francisco I. Madero, the founder of the Mexican Revolution, arrived in Torreon.
Overpowered, the federal army had to abandon their position, leaving the city with no government for a few hours.
Initially, neighbors had ransacked local businesses, accusing them of allying with the federal government to protect Torreon's main square. The claims that local business owners had allowed government soldiers to shoot from their stores was a mere justification for the violence to come.
The violence was specially targeted against the Chinese community. In total, 303 Chinese nationals were brutally murdered, over half of the total population back then.
Back then, Mexico had a clear anti-Chinese agenda. In one instance, in the northeast state of Sonora, the local congress had prohibited marriage between Mexicans and Chinese. Political parties with such xenophobic agendas were funded and supported by the Federal Government.
"The racism that the inhabitants of China have suffered for centuries is equal to or worse than that suffered by indigenous Mexicans or Africans.
"It is enough to remember that until 1968 a person of oriental culture, especially of Chinese origin, could not marry in California with a white woman," the president added.
