To which character is attributed the expression “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States”, which AMLO modified

This Friday morning, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) led a meeting with government officials of the United States, chaired by the Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, as part of the first High-level dialogue on security. President Lopez Obrador met officials from the neighboring country, after giving his now classic morning press conference.

The breakfast took place in the Leona Vicario Room, at the National Palace, and in it, the Mexican Federal President addressed a few words to members of his cabinet and senior American officials, also underlined the relations between Mexico and the United States.

underlined the the union that exists between the two nations and as well as the historical events that took them away, there is now a different kind of to close in different domains.

“So there are other historical events, of course, in which we take a distance, but there are also things that unite us: history, our cultural relations; now, 38 million Mexicans in the United States, The three thousand 180 kilometers of border, The economic changes and commercial in the world, which demand greater unity from us, let us integrate to consolidate ourselves as an economic and commercial region, ”said AMLO.

During the meeting, the President recalled a sentence uttered by the former President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz Mori, who ruled Mexico from 1876 to 1911: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States”, although he said he let her know Joe biden, President of the United States, to Vice President Kamala harris and the Secretary of State, Antoine Blink what is said now: “Blessed Mexico, so close to God and not so far from the United States.”

The controversial expression “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States” It is attributed to Díaz, however, it was written by the intellectual of Monterrey Nemesio García Naranjo, in an article published in the newspaper Chihuahua herald on December 3, 1962. Naranjo also developed as lawyer, journalist, writer, historian, politician, professor and scholar.

In the article titled “Story of a sensational sentence”It is said that in 1926 he heard the priest Carlos M. Heredia in New York, “the expression which caused a sensation thereafter; “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.”

“Do me the favor of repeating this phrase,” I said to the intelligent Jesuit, “for I am going to use it in a speech.”

Father Heredia repeated it and said he was surprised it was new to me as it had been familiar to him many years ago.

-Who is the author? I asked him, and he replied that his brother Vicente, also from the Society of Jesus, had told him that General Díaz had expressed these words to close friends. “

“I don’t think so,” I replied categorically, “because Don Porfirio was not used to letting off steam with such sharp and transcendent expressions.”

The sentence is subtle, fine, witty and does not fit into a bronze figure, ”concludes historian García Naranjo in his text.

Naranjo was a collaborator of Porfirio Díaz’s regime, which is why he knew what he was talking about. In addition, in those years he was a deputy. He was also part of the cabinet of Victoriano Huerta and has been exiled from the country twice. He died a few days after the controversial article was published on December 21, 1962.

Throughout his career he wrote for several of the most important newspapers in the country and other countries, such as Excelsior from Mexico; Press from San Antonio, Texas; The universal, from Mexico and The country of Havana, Cuba. And of course, for him Chihuahua Herald.

On March 1, the president Lopez Obrador He had already said Diaz’s phrase, and changed it, during his first conversation with Joe Biden already as President of the United States.

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