by Oscar J. Martinez
Given the recent disturbing revelations about Cesar Chávez, it seems certain that the local Border Highway’s name will be changed. Many El Pasoans believe that the new name should be the “Benito Juárez Border Highway.” Benito Juárez, a Zapotec Indian, is a beloved 19th century president of Mexico who spent a significant amount of time in exile in our border area in the 1860s while Mexico was occupied by France, then an imperialist power. Apart from leading the fight against the French invaders, Juárez steered Mexico’s significant reform movement of that crucial period. Appropriately, in 1888 Paso del Norte was renamed Ciudad Juárez.
Please support El Paso City Council Representative Lily Limón’s effort to have the Border Highway renamed in Juárez’s honor.
Please contact city leaders and César Blanco. El Paso’s state senator in Austin.
mayor@elpasotexas.gov;District1@elpasotexas.gov;district2@elpasotexas.gov;district3@elpasotexas.gov;District4@elpasotexas.gov;district5@elpasotexas.gov;district6@elpasotexas.gov;district7@elpasotexas.gov;district8@elpasotexas.gov;
District29.Blanco@senate.texas.gov
Benito Juárez and El Paso-Ciudad Juárez
For centuries, most history of the El Paso region took place on the south side of the river, known then as Paso del Norte and, since 1888, Cd. Juárez. Benito Juárez was president of Mexico from 1857 until his death in 1872. He was president when the French invaded Mexico and placed Maximilian on the throne there. Juárez was forced to leave Mexico City and was driven as far north as the border, to Paso del Norte in August 1865. It was not until the French withdrew that he left Paso del Norte in June 1866. During his time in Paso del Norte, Juárez formed a close and affectionate relationship with the people of Paso del Norte. He wrote about Paso del Norte: “There are no traitors here.” The town across the river was then known as Franklin, which offered him refuge and friendship, but he never left Mexican territory. El Paso and Cd. Juárez, then, have a common and unified history. They celebrate that joint history in having large parks facing each other to commemorate the Chamizal Treaty, where the U.S. has dedicated a statue to Benito Juárez. Juárez is clearly the most important Mexican in its history, and Cd. Juárez was named in his honor because of the close relation he developed with the border and its people. What better way to celebrate the close ties that El Paso has with Cd. Juárez than to rename our border highway the Benito Juárez Border Highway.
Oscar J. Martinez
Professor Emeritus, U. of Arizona
Now living in El Paso, Texas
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