In this posting, we will continue down this long andador (walking street) to check out the other attractions along the way. I will also relate the story of Manuel Doblado, a young attorney from Guanajuato who became the state's Governor, then a skilled diplomat and eventually Mexico's Foreign Minister. He played a key role just before and during the 5-year French occupation of Mexico in the last half of the 19th century.
Calle Manuel Doblado comes in from the upper left corner of this aerial view. Templo San Francisco, seen in the last posting, faces onto the street right at its beginning. Manuel Doblado joins Calle Cantaranas in the upper center at a small grove of trees sheltering the Restaurant El Chahuistle. In this posting we'll check out Plaza del Ropero, where a monument to the musician Jorge Negrete stands. Across the street is a callejon called Del Campanero that leads to the charming little Café Santo (bottom center). Branching off to the left of the Café is the historic Calle Tecolote.
A customer tries on a bracelet at a street market along Manuel Doblado. In Mexico, just about any open space with foot traffic is fair game for street marketeers to set up and hawk their wares.
Overview
So, who was Manuel Doblado and why does he have a street named after him? As usual in Mexico, this involves a hell of a back-story. Doblado was born in 1818 into a prosperous Guanajuato family. He became an attorney as a young man and was active in the Liberal Party. In 1847, Doblado was elected Governor of Guanajuato at the age of only 28. However, the minimum age to take office was 30 and he had to get a special dispensation from the Mexican Congress to take office. He was able to do this because those were unusual times. Mexico was struggling with an American invasion (1846-48) and the conquest of half of the nation's territory.
Manuel Doblado was staunchly opposed to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, viewing it as the dismemberment of his country through an act of outright theft. Many Americans at the time agreed with this view, including a young Congressman named Abraham Lincoln and General Zachary Taylor, who helped lead the invasion. By 1847, the war was lost. In a protest of the result, for a short time Doblado allied himself with a rebel priest named Celedonio Domenco de Jarauta. However, the priest was soon captured and executed. Doblado managed to avoid any charges and for some time after devoted himself to his legal career.
A colonial mansion stands on Calle Cantaranas at its intersection with Manuel Doblado. The street level contains various stores and shops, while the second floor is probably occupied by apartments or offices. I found the juxtaposition of the colonial architecture with the modernist metal sculpture to be an interesting feature of this intersection.
Young Manuel couldn't stay away from politics, however, and he soon joined the Revolution of Ayutla against the feckless President/Dictator Santa Ana, who had lost both the war with Texas (1835-36) and then the Mexican American War. Santa Ana was forced out, and replaced by General Juan Alvarez. However, Doblado came to view the Alvarez government as corrupt. In 1857, he threw his support behind Benito Juarez, a Justice of the Mexican Supreme Court who then became one of its most famous presidents and a national hero. In the meantime, Doblado had once again became Governor of Guanajuato where he instituted various liberal reforms.
A old fountain occupies the center of the plaza. For reasons unknown to me, the name of this place means "Plaza of the Wardrobe". It is possible that clothing was sold here at some point in time. However, the plaza is better known for its association with Pedro Negrete, a famous native of Guanajuato.
Strollers pass beneath a pedestrian bridge leading into Café Santo. Callejon del Campanero branches off Manuel Doblado to the right, across the street from Plaza del Ropero. Following it will lead you to Plaza Allende, which will be covered in my next posting. However, it you take the ramp up to the right, you can gain access to Café Santo and the beginning of Calle Tecolote.
Callejon Tecolote is an old and slightly shabby alleyway with an historic past. Down this street, marching toward me, came the ragtag army of Padre Miguel Hidalgo in September of 1810. Armed with machetes, slings, farm tools, and a handful of firearms, thousands of Hidalgo's men marched into Guanajuato. Except for a few rebelling regular soldiers and militia, the overwhelming majority of the men were peons from haciendas, indigenous villagers, mine workers, shopkeepers, and craftsmen. They were led by Hidalgo, a Catholic priest turned rebel general.
Plaza Ropero
Plaza del Ropero is just past the colonial mansion, along Cantaranas. This small plaza looks a bit worn, with chipped, faded paint, compared to the mansion that preceded it. However, I kind of like the timeworn look because of the antique feel it creates.
When Benito Juarez came to power, Mexico was effectively bankrupt, thanks to Santa Ana's profligacy and the lost war with the Americans. In addition, Juarez had proposed reforms that prompted the Mexican Conservative Party to revolt, in what became known as the Reform War (1858-60). During this struggle, Mexico borrowed heavily from various European powers, including Britain, France, and Spain. Following his Reform War victory, Juarez' had to suspend payments for two years. The foreign powers, insisting on being repaid regardless of Mexico's financial situation, formed an alliance to seize the Gulf port city of Vera Cruz.
The seizure of Vera Cruz had the aim of taking control of the customs duties on goods imported through there, in order to collect the funds owed to the three European powers. It was at this point that Manuel Doblado, a rising figure in the national Liberal Party, was selected as Foreign Minister and given the task of negotiating a settlement. He proved to be very able and gradually brought Britain and Spain around to reasonable agreements. However, France, then ruled by Napoleon III, had a hidden agenda. Napoleon wanted to overthrow Juarez and the Mexican Republic and install the Austrian Archduke Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico.
Statue of Jorge Negrete, el Cantante Charro. The lifesize bronze was the work of Raul Jaramillo a local sculptor. Jorge Negrete (1911-1953) was a famous singer and actor who was born in a house right next to this plaza. His father had been a colonel in Pancho Villa's famous Division of the North during the Mexican Revolution. In 1920, the family moved to Mexico City, where Jorge was recognized as a brilliant student. However, he had a wild side so his father enrolled him in military school. He graduated as a junior officer with a "gallant presence" which served him well in his later career as an actor. It was during this military period that Negrete discovered his talent for music and singing.
After leaving the military Jorge began to sing in operas and on the radio. In 1932, Negrete traveled to the United States where he became a popular singer in Latin clubs. Then, in 1937, he was cast in his first movie role La Madrina del Diablo (The Devil's Godmother). It was the beginning of a film career that led to roles in a total of 38 movies. Negrete helped found the Mexican actors' union called the National Association of Actors, succeeding the famous Mexican comedy actor Cantinflas as its chairman. Cantinflas and Negrete eventually became rivals for control of the union. In 1953, Jorge Negrete died at the age of only 42 of hepatic cirrohosis.
Café Santo y Calle Tecolote
Napoleon III's ambitions were spurred by the support of the Mexican Conservative Party, still smarting from their defeat by Juarez in the Reform War. They convinced the French that Maximilian would be welcomed with open arms in Mexico. In 1862, the French launched an all-out invasion. Doblado convinced Britain and Spain to take no part in this and they quickly withdrew their troops from Vera Cruz and sailed back to Europe. The French lost the initial Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 (celebrated today as Cinco de Mayo). However, they managed to defeat the Mexican army and occupied the country until 1867.
Café Santo has seating inside, but the best spot is a table on this little bridge. From here, you can sip coffee or a cold drink or munch a snack while watching the world go by beneath you. In the US and Canada, "cafe" usually means an informal restaurant. In Mexico, café means coffee of various kinds and that is usually the main focus of a place like this. From where I took this shot, Callejon Tecolote rises up the hill behind me.
The French were able to pull off this 5-year occupation because the United States was fully engaged in the American Civil War from 1861-65. Abraham Lincoln, who had opposed the dismemberment of Mexico in 1848, supported Juarez with money and arms, but could do little militarily until the South was defeated in 1865. After that, Mexican victories and American threats of intervention finally forced the French to withdraw in 1867. Maximilian and many Mexican Conservative Party leaders were then captured and executed as traitors. Unfortunately, Manuel Doblado never saw the end of the conflict. He died in 1865, while the fighting still raged.
The men had responded to Hidalgo's famous grito (cry) for revolt, given on the steps of his church in the pueblo of Dolores. The revolt had exploded into action and the men were headed toward Guanajuato's huge stone storehouse for grain, known as the Alhondiga, which was being used as a fortress by the Spaniards. (For the story of this see Part 3 of this series, as well as Mexican Independence Day, What's it all about?).
This completes Part 15 of my Guanajuato Revisited series. I hope you have enjoyed it and, if so, you will leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.
Hasta luego, Jim
HiJim Mark here Vince’s friend really enjoy your historical writing, thanks
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