EMPTY BALCONY
(Published in the website www.elcorreo.ca) By Sergio Granillo Celebrating “El Grito de Independencia” (Shout of Independence) is more than a holiday for Mexicans, it goes beyond party, traditional music, snacks, costumes and pyrotechnics, it is the dream of a nation aiming for liberty since the XIX century, remaining unfound… One of the most popular traditions in Mexico didn’t happen this year. Every September 15th, the President of the Republic comes out to the main balcony of the National Palace on the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main square. It is a tradition that the President tolls a historical bell, the same one that back in 1810 the Priest Miguel Hidalgo used to call the people in a small town called Dolores, to start the War of Independence (against the Spanish rulers); when doing this, the President yells out the names of the heroes of that war. 2006 will be remembered in History like the year that the Bell of Independence kept silence. A political crisis, diminished by mass media, ...