Mexico City – Mexican conservatives may or may not be able to prevent the leftist ex-mayor of this capital from becoming the nation’s next president, but the center-rightist administration of Vicente Fox wants to determine where he will – or, more precisely, will not – live if he does.
Fox, whose successor will be elected in July, plans to convert the National Palace – the former presidential residence and an icon of political power in Mexico – into a museum, thereby preventing presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from governing and residing there if elected.
The Mexican president made the decision after studying recommendations made by international organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Mexican specialists, who suggested the building be made into a museum to ensure its preservation, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.
While still Mexico City mayor, a post he later resigned to make his presidential bid, Lopez Obrador sparked controversy by saying that if he became president he would choose to live in the National Palace – built on the Aztecs’ former seat of government and located in the massive Zocalo square – rather than in the current Los Pinos presidential palace in southwestern Mexico City.
The National Palace ceased to be the presidential home in the mid-1930s, when then-President Lazaro Cardenas decided to move the official residence to Los Pinos, and currently is used only for special ceremonies, especially to welcome visiting heads of state.
It is also the place where Father Miguel Hidalgo’s “Cry of Dolores” – which initiated Mexico’s struggle for independence in the early 19th century – is re-enacted by the sitting president every Sept. 15, an event that brings together thousands of people in nighttime festivities that include plenty of music, food and fireworks.
Experts and officials from the Finance Ministry, the government agency with the most offices in the National Palace, have taken charge of the project to convert the building into a museum, Aguilar said.
Occupying some 40,000 square meters (430,000 square feet) in area, the National Palace is located on the eastern side of the Zocalo, Mexico’s largest square and a site of great historical and political significance.
Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes was the one who in 1523 ordered the building built on the site of the former residence of Aztec emperor Moctezuma. In 1563, the Spanish Crown bought the structure from Cortes’ son, Martin, and converted it into a home for the Spanish viceroys.
Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco was the first to live at the building, which also housed courtrooms and a court prison.
In the 17th century, criollo – or Mexican-born – rioters set fire to the prison and looted the building in protest over Spanish rule. The structure subsequently underwent a period of renovations that lasted until the 18th century and gave the building its current style.
After Mexico achieved its independence in 1821, the building became the headquarters for the three branches of government of the fledgling nation and acquired the name National Palace.
It has been remodeled on several occasions since then, including once by dictator Porfirio Diaz in the 19th century and another time during the 1924-1928 administration of President Plutarco Elias Calles, when the third story was built.
The National Palace currently houses offices of the Finance Ministry, murals painted by Diego Rivera and some museum exhibits, and its central patio, which connects to the former rooms of the viceroys, is used for official ceremonies.
Rivera painted the National Palace murals between 1929 and 1951 alongside the main staircase and on the walls of the central patio. The murals depict events in Mexican history from the time of the Aztecs to the revolutionary period.
