San Salvador Atenco

Last updated
(San Salvador) Atenco
Town & Municipality
Coordinates: 19°33′30″N98°54′45″W / 19.55833°N 98.91250°W / 19.55833; -98.91250
CountryFlag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
State State of Mexico
Founded968 BC
Municipal Statusafter 1820
Government
  Municipal PresidentMario Ayala Pineda (2009-2012)
Area
  Municipality84.9 km2 (32.8 sq mi)
Elevation
(of seat)
2,250 m (7,380 ft)
Population
 (2005) Municipality
  Municipality42,739
  Seat
14,995
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (US Central))
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (Central)
Postal code (of seat)
56300

San Salvador Atenco is the municipal seat of Atenco, in the Mexican state of Mexico. The name "Atenco" comes from a Nahuatl phrase meaning "place on the edge of water". [1]

Contents

The town

Fifteen excavations have been done in this area, uncovering mammoth bones, stone tools and other artifacts showing human habitation from at least 7000 B.C. According to some traditions in the historico-mythical accounts of the 16th century Nahuas, early Nahuatl-speaking groups ("pre-Aztecs", called also Chichimeca) invaded the area from the north around 968 BC. There was supposedly an intermarriage with the last Toltec king Topiltzin. From this lineage came the king Nezahualcóyotl, one of the three founders of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Atenco became subject to Texcoco in 1428. [1]

After the fall of Tenochtitlán to the Spaniards under Hernán Cortés, the Aztecs of this area continued to fight against the Spanish conquest, supporting the lord of Texcoco. However, this area fell to the Spaniards in 1521. After this the Spaniards imposed a tribute system and Spanish law onto the land and built the Chapel of Cristo de Esquipulas in 1571. [1]

This chapel was built by the Franciscans for the purpose of evangelization. It is constructed of stone and "tezontle" (porous volcanic rock). Its gilded retablo is the original built with the chapel with its saint's day celebrated the second Monday after Carnaval. [1]

San Salvador Atenco received wide media coverage both in 2002 [2] [3] [4] and 2006, when it was the site of violent mass protests against the federal and local governments. The 2002 protests were against the planned construction of a new international airport for Mexico City. The construction of the airport was cancelled. [5]

In 2006, violent clashes followed the expulsion of eight downtown flower vendors by the police. The latter confrontation marked the beginning of the 2006 Atenco Riots, which lasted over a week and resulted in over 100 arrests and numerous allegations of human rights abuses committed by the police against the local population, including the detention of forty women, eleven of whom claimed they were sexually assaulted while in detention and who subsequently brought a case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging, in part, that the abuses were the result of a crackdown ordered by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who at the time was governor of the state of Mexico. In September 2016, the Commission upheld the women's claim. [6]

The municipality of Atenco

As municipal seat San Salvador Atenco has governing jurisdiction over the following communities:

Chileleco (Ampliación Nexquipayac Chileleco), Colonia el Salado, Ejido San Salvador Acuexcomac (Ejido la Purísima), Ejido de San Cristóbal Nexquipayac, El Amanal, Granjas Ampliación Santa Rosa, Hacienda la Grande Fracción Uno, La Pastoría, Los Hornos (El Presidio), Nueva Santa Rosa, San Cristóbal Nexquipayac, San Miguel Arcángel (Tepetzingo), Santa Isabel Ixtapan, and Zapotlán.

The municipality borders the municipalities of Acolman, Tezoyuca, Texcoco, Chiautla, Chiconcuac and Ecatepec with a total area of 94.67 km2. This territory lies on the Neovolcanic Axis that crosses Mexico. Even though the only elevations are in the south of the municipality (Huatepec and Tepetzingo hills), there is volcanic activity underground, under what was Lake Texcoco. [1]

Most of the economic activity of the municipality is based on subsistence farming with a large percentage of its inhabitants owning farmland. Very little of the food grown is sold in markets. [1]

Kennis, AC. Small Farming Community Successfully Struggles to Preserve its Way of Life Against the Forces of Neo-Liberalism" in Synthesis/Regeneration, Spring 2003.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahuas</span> Indigenous ethnic group in Central America

The Nahuas are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, and the Toltecs are often thought to have been as well, though in the pre-Columbian period Nahuas were subdivided into many groups that did not necessarily share a common identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Paz, State of Mexico</span> Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

La Paz is a municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico, with its municipal seat in the town of Los Reyes Acaquilpan. It is located on the dividing line between Mexico State and the eastern edge of the Federal District and is part of the Greater Mexico City area. The area was part of a region called "Atlicpac" which in Náhuatl means 'above or at the edge of water.' The current city's/municipality's glyph symbolizes water.

The civil unrest in San Salvador Atenco of 2006 began on Wednesday, May 3, when police prevented a group of 60 flower vendors from selling at the Texcoco local market in the State of México, about 30 km (19 mi) from Mexico City. State police used violence and arrest against resisters. The flower vendors appealed to the residents of San Salvador Atenco, a small neighboring community about 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Mexico City, famous for creating their resistance organization against the development of an airport on their land in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico ----, Mexico

Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias is a city that is municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Chalco. It lies in the eastern part of the State of Mexico just east of the Federal District of Mexico and is considered part of the Mexico City metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ixtapaluca</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Ixtapaluca is a city and a municipality in the eastern part of the State of Mexico in Mexico. It lies between the Federal District and the western border of the state of Puebla. The name Ixtapaluca means "Where the salt gets wet".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciudad Nicolás Romero</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico ----, Mexico

Ciudad Nicolás Romero is the largest city and municipal seat of the municipality of Nicolás Romero in State of Mexico, Mexico. It is located 58 km from the city of Toluca, the state capital and lies in the north-central part of the state, just northwest of the Federal District. The seat/municipality's current name is to honor Nicolás Romero, who fought for Benito Juárez during the Reform War and the French intervention in Mexico. He was executed there by the French. The town adopted this name in 1898. The area was settled by the Otomi and named Azcapotzaltongo by the Aztecs after conquering it. During colonial times, it was known as San Pedro Azcapotzaltongo. It was then called Monte Bajo from 1821 to 1898, when the current name was adopted. Both the municipality and city are commonly referred to as Nicolás Romero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiconcuac de Juárez</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Chiconcuac de Juárez, typically referred to simply as Chiconcuac, is a town and municipio (municipality) in the state of Mexico, approximately 10 kilometers north of Texcoco de Mora. The name Chiconcuac derives from the Aztec word Chicome Coatl, “Seven snakes”, which was a date on the Aztec calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acolman</span> Town & Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Acolman de Nezahualcóyotl is a town and municipality located in the northern part of State of Mexico, part of the Greater Mexico City area, just north of the city proper. According to myth, the first man was placed here after being taken out of Lake Texcoco. In the community of Tepexpan, the fossilized bones more than 12,000 years old of a man were found in the 20th century. The settlement was founded in the eighth century and was an important commerce center at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texcoco de Mora</span> City in State of Mexico, Mexico

Texcoco de Mora is a city located in the State of Mexico, 25 km northeast of Mexico City. Texcoco de Mora is the municipal seat of the municipality of Texcoco. In the pre-Hispanic era, this was a major Aztec city on the shores of Lake Texcoco. After the Conquest, the city was initially the second most important after Mexico City, but its importance faded over time, becoming more rural in character. Over the colonial and post-independence periods, most of Lake Texcoco was drained and the city is no longer on the shore and much of the municipality is on lakebed. Numerous Aztec archeological finds have been discovered here, including the 125 tonne stone statue of Tlaloc, which was found near San Miguel Coatlinchán and now resides at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chimalhuacán</span> City & Municipality in State of Mexico ----, Mexico

Chimalhuacán is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of State of Mexico, Mexico. It lies just outside the northeast border of Mexico City and is part of the Greater Mexico City urban area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Mateo Atenco</span> Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

San Mateo Atenco is one of 125 municipalities in the State of México in Mexico. The municipal seat is the town of San Mateo Atenco. It lies west of the Federal District near the municipality of Metepec, in the central part of the state of México, and is part of the Toluca urban area bordering the city to the east. The name Atenco is derived from the Nahuatl language. It means “In the water’s edge”, from atl(water), tentli (edge) and co (in).

Jiquipilco Municipality is one of the municipalities of the State of Mexico in Mexico. It is north of the Toluca Valley, part of the region consisting of the southern and western slopes of Cerro La Catedral, which has a concentration of speakers of the Otomi language. It is about 40 km from Toluca, the state capital. The name is a corruption of Nahuatl “Xiquipilli”, meaning “the place of saddlebags”. Jiquipilco is situated on the transversal volcanic axis that crosses Mexico in an area surrounded by lakes and volcanoes. This portion is called "Anahuac”.

Texcaltitlán is a town and a municipality of the State of Mexico in Mexico. It is located 65 km from Toluca on the high plains south of the Nevado de Toluca volcano. The name Texcaltitlán comes from the Nahuatl: texcalli = “rock”; titla= "among", with the complete meaning as “among rocks”.

Tepetlaoxtoc de Hidalgo is a town and the seat of the municipality of Tepetlaoxtoc, which contains the archeological site of Tepetlaoxtoc, in the State of Mexico in Mexico. The name Tepetlaoxtoc comes from Náhuatl and means in limestone caves, and is used interchangeably to refer to the town, the municipality and the archeological ruins. 'de Hidalgo' was added to the town's name to honor Miguel Hidalgo who began the Mexican War of Independence. It is located about 100 km northeast of Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tlatelolco (altepetl)</span>

Tlatelolco was a pre-Columbian altepetl, or city-state, in the Valley of Mexico. Its inhabitants, known as the Tlatelolca, were part of the Mexica, a Nahuatl-speaking people who arrived in what is now central Mexico in the 13th century. The Mexica settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and founded the altepetl of Mexico-Tenochtitlan on the southern portion of the island. In 1337, a group of dissident Mexica broke away from the Tenochca leadership in Tenochtitlan and founded Mexico-Tlatelolco on the northern portion of the island. Tenochtitlan was closely tied with its sister city, which was largely dependent on the market of Tlatelolco, the most important site of commerce in the area.

Chimalhuacán is an archeological site located in the city and municipality of Chimalhuacán Atenco in the eastern part of Mexico State, Mexico. It lies just outside the northeast border of the Federal District. The name derives from the Nahuatl words “chimalli” (shield), hua and can (place), this would mean "Place of Shields".The ancient name of the city by its founders was “Chimalhuacantoyac”.The word Atenco, is also Nahuatl; A, “water”; tentli, “lip” and co, “place”, hence would mean “at the water side”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huejotla</span> Archaeological site in Mexico

Huexotla or Huexotla is an archaeological site located 5 kilometers south of Texcoco, at the town of San Luis Huexotla, close to Chapingo, in the Mexico State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecatepec de Morelos</span> City & Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Ecatepec, officially Ecatepec de Morelos, is a municipality in the central Mexican state of Mexico, and is situated in the north part of the greater Mexico City urban area. The municipal seat is San Cristóbal Ecatepec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexico City Texcoco Airport</span> Airport in State of Mexico, Greater Mexico City

Mexico City Texcoco Airport was a planned airport in Mexico City that was meant to become Mexico's New International Airport. The project was announced in September 2014 but was canceled in late 2018 after a referendum was held stating that the new airport should be built at a different location. Felipe Ángeles International Airport opened in March 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Zumpango</span> Lake in Mexico

Lake Zumpango is an endorheic basin located in the Valley of Mexico in the municipality of Zumpango and adjacent to the municipality of Teoloyucan. Tzompanco was formerlly the northernest of five interconnected lakes, covering about 1,500 square kilometers (580 sq mi). The Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec Empire. After the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spaniards began to drain the lakes' waters to control flooding. Over the centuries Lake Zumpango lost it its inflows and outflows and became polluted by sewage and garbage dumps. However, in recent years, the lagoon is becoming cleaner again.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico Estado de Mexico Atenco". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
  2. "In pictures: Mexican farmers riot". BBC News. 2002-07-13. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. "Mexico airport stand-off ends". BBC News. 2002-07-15. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  4. "Mexican farmers cheer airport victory". BBC News. 2002-08-02. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  5. "Mexican police retake riot town". BBC News. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  6. CNDH – Eventos Archived 2006-08-16 at the Wayback Machine

19°31′N98°55′W / 19.517°N 98.917°W / 19.517; -98.917