López Obrador inaugurates the Cultural Center of Reform Laws in Veracruz

Veracruz, Ver., President Andrés Manuel López Obrador yesterday inaugurated the Leyes de Reforma Cultural Center in the port of Veracruz, and toured the recently renovated Casa Benito Juárez, spaces that will open their doors to visitors starting in November, through which he seeks to generate reflection on the most important laws published in the 19th century.

This Cultural Center of Reform Laws was needed, because this episode is not very well known. This period of Juarez being here and the proclamation of the Reform Laws was hidden. Not much is said about it.he explained.

The president considered that national history cannot be understood without taking into account that of Veracruz, a place that, he considered, played a leading role in the four transformations of the country.

After Independence, the Spanish were expelled through the port of Veracruz; during the Reform, the Reform Laws were proclaimed here; during the Revolution, Venustiano Carranza was here, and the first Agrarian Laws of 1915 came from here. Now, in the Fourth Transformation, Veracruz is also present.

During his stay in the port, López Obrador first visited the Benito Juárez House, located at 415 Manuel Gutiérrez Zamora Street on the corner of Francisco I. Madero Street, in the Centro neighborhood of Veracruz.

There, together with his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, he toured the facilities and unveiled a plaque with the words that Juárez pronounced when he was welcomed by the city in 1858. Afterwards, he went to the Leyes de Reforma Cultural Center to see the building and lead the official inauguration.

Outside both venues, there were people carrying their book Gracias, and dolls known as amlitos, so that he could sign them as a souvenir: Love is paid with love, The best president of Mexicothe banners said.

INAH Historical Heritage

Adriana Castillo Román, general director of the National Palace and Cultural Heritage Conservatory, who coordinated the project for both spaces, said that in these two cultural buildings dedicated to historical memory We will reflect on the most important laws published in the 19th century, and their significance for the rights that we Mexicans currently enjoy..

He explained that 21 months ago the head of the Executive asked him to rescue and enable these two buildings as museums, which, despite being listed as historical heritage by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), were abandoned.

“The importance of carrying out this recovery lies in the fact that both spaces were houses inhabited by Benito Juárez and his ministers.

“Both sites served as the seat of the national government; that is, they were the National Palace and, in particular, in this house, in front of which we are, the Reform Laws were enacted.

Love with love is paid to those who considered it necessary, not only the creation of bridges, roads, refineries, dams, hospitals, railways and airports, but also the construction of cultural spaces, so that in them we can continue to defend our millennial cultural greatness, national history and the universal ideas that nourished it.

He stressed that in our exceptional and fruitful political history, the Reform Laws constitute a milestone that made possible the consolidation of a sovereign country.

Castillo Román said that the recovery, rehabilitation and transformation work of these spaces was carried out in a coordinated manner with the INAH, the Institute for the Administration and Appraisal of National Assets, the Navy, the Administration of the National Port System of Veracruz, the National Fund for the Promotion of Handicrafts and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature.

Strategic site

In an interview with The Day, Ricardo Cañas Montalvo, curator of the Veracruz City Museum and local chronicler, said that Juárez came to the port city for three main reasons: the protection provided by its wall, the port’s connection to the outside world, and the financial resources provided by the customs office.

Juárez chose Veracruz to establish his government because at that time it was still a walled city; another reason is that since it was home to the country’s most important customs office, which collected 85 percent of the country’s gross domestic product at that time, it provided the resources to continue his government; in addition, since it had access to the sea, it allowed access to the outside world, with countries like the United States, which supported his government.

He stressed that since the promulgation of the Reform Laws, the first birth, marriage and death certificates were registered in Veracruz.

Juárez had several important personal episodes here, including the birth of his daughter Jerónima Francisca Juárez Maza, on October 1, 1860, who, in the context of the promulgation of the Civil Registry Law, was the first person to have a civil birth certificate drawn up 10 days after birth.