By Eloy Cantú Segovia, Ambassador of Mexico to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union.
Each September, Mexico commemorates its Independence Day, the most important event of its civic calendar.
Mexico’s independence from Spain was the result of an armed movement initiated on September 15, 1810, by a priest, Miguel Hidalgo, and a patriotic group of men and women fighting for their freedom. The struggle gave birth to a national identity whose outline and character were completed by the reform of the State defined in the liberal Constitution of 1857 and by the profound reforms led by President Benito Juárez. In the XX century, its full social and political consolidation was accomplished with the Revolution of 1910 and its political and legal expression, the Constitution of 1917.
Parting from this heritage, Mexico arose as a multi-ethnic and multicultural nation, as recognized in Article Two of the Mexican Constitution. Our identity is based upon this diversity and consolidated in our unity, as represented by our country’s symbols—that is, our flag, our coat of arms and our national anthem.
This unity based on diversity has underpinned Mexico’s extraordinary evolution in the last 206 years. In the present century, our transformation has been furthered by the structural reforms passed by the Mexican Congress and with the initiative and leadership of President Enrique Peña Nieto. They reassert Mexico’s independence by seeking social justice to raise our country’s productivity; they reinforce and extend civil rights, and consolidate the democratic régime and freedoms that we have embraced as a fully modern nation.
These twelve[1] important structural reforms allow us to reiterate upon the world stage that Mexico is, more than ever before, both willing and able to fulfill its commitments as a responsible international player. The Embassy which I am honored to represent vis-à-vis the European Union, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg works tirelessly in the service of this great responsibility.
In our relations with the European Union, we see ourselves as full partners looking toward the future. For more than 15 years, we have been linked by an Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement which, thanks to negotiations now underway, will modernize our relationship—thus reflecting the substantial increases in our political dialogue, our cooperation, and our mutual trade and investments.
As concerns our relations with Belgium and Luxembourg, our room for cooperation is as vast as our countries’ potential for development. We have already consolidated our connection by signing several cooperation instruments, furthering our joint effort to benefit our respective populations.
In sum, this month we celebrate the birth of our nation, which makes us proud of our past; but we also reassert our commitment to the future–one with more justice, harmony, and brotherhood with the free countries of the world.
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[1] Labor Reform, Fiscal and Tax Reform, Financial Reform, Amparo Reform, Transparency Reform, National Criminal Code and Procedural Reform, Telecommunications Reform, Political Electoral Reform, Economic Competition Reform, Energy Reform, Reform of Criminal Justice, Anticorruption Reform
