Liberty in Mexico: Writings on Liberalism from the Early Republican Period to the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

3. Letter to Fidel

258 Ures, March 1865 Dear Fidel: Do you remember that in one of my last letters I spoke toyou of a woman of someyears, but of much talent and a well-preserved beauty? Well, she knows you and has insisted on writing to you; I enclose her letter. As ever yours.—The Necromancer Señor Fidel:—You were so gallant to me when I was in Mexico that, without fear of bothering you, I take the liberty of asking some news of you, because your friend, the Necromancer, does not answer my questions without caricaturing the persons who deserve from me the liveliest and most affectionate compliments. Is Mr. X still a specialist in history? Does he still preserve, among his Mexican antiquities, the ring of Acatempan? Why have some rectors and professors around you become so enamored when they abandoned the studious youth? From Mexico to Chihuahua you have acted as a Tyrtaeus;1 do you believe that the brave ones who accompany you will be enthusiastic to the point of fighting after arriving at the Paso del Norte, not having done it before?2 Two years ago, with deputies and other functionaries, you were more than a thousand, you who represented the nation; now there Original title: “Carta a Fidel [Guillermo Prieto], marzo de 1865.” Source: El Semanario Ilustrado, vol. 1, September 25, 1868, pp. 341–42. 1.Tyrtaeus of Sparta was a poet who composed elegies to courageous warriors. (Editor ’s note) 2. Ramírez was at the time traveling with the Juárez republican government in its march to the north, withdrawing as imperial troops closed on them. (Editor’s note) 3 Letter to Fidel letter to fidel : 259 are not even thirty, counting Romero,3 who is helping out so much in the United States so that the states of the South might be ruled by those of the North; what would become of both republics without our diplomacy? Do you believe, my sweet friend, that eight million Mexicans are well represented in a foreign war by thirty persons who play, make love, and intrigue when they are not running? These questions will surprise you when you do not know what I am going to confide in you: Have I become an imperialist? Only the love of my sex has committed me to this change; you see how I reason . The great caprice of Mexicans, which has been such a misfortune for them, consists of the adoption of that system they call representative . They, who make a war to the death on the clergy, have delivered themselves body and soul to a theocratic system! Do not laugh or feel scandalized. Who does the pope represent? God. Who does the lord bishop represent? The pope. Who do the priests represent? The lord bishop. Who do the sextons represent? The priests. And that whole hierarchic machine, who does it represent? God and the Christian people. God is the law; the people are the beneficiaries . But in reality, neither does the people gain anything nor is God obeyed. If God and the people understood each other directly, our affairs would go better, and I would ask him for the eternal youth of Chavito and those eloquent words with which you charmed me. Who does Don Benito represent? (I say the same of the other powers when there are some.) The states. Who do the states represent ? The prefectures and municipalities. And those? The electors . And that whole representative retinue? The Constitution and the sovereign people. The result is that you are organized like the Church; you have done nothing more than parody it; and you treat the law and the people as the others do God and the Christians. I would like to represent myself myself, because in doing that it interests and amuses me so much more, no one can humanly represent me, not the priest, not the deputy, not my own husband. Both systems of social organization can exist only under this sup3 . Matías Romero, President Juárez’s ambassador to the United States at the time of the French intervention. (Editor’s note) 260 : iGnaCio ramírez position: some individuals were born to represent and others to be represented . But what does it mean to represent? It is to play the role of another; it is to pretend to be another person; it is to substitute the mask for the face. And...