President Felipe Calderón led the ceremony of the Independence at 23:00 hours from the central balcony of National Palace, exalting the names of the heroes of the nation who offered their lives in this historic act.
Without violent incidents and before thousands of people that crowded Mexico City’s central plaza (Zócalo), Calderon praised the heroes of the nation.
In his speech he mentioned the following: “Today, on September 16, nearly two centuries after the Mexican people answered the cry for freedom, we Mexicans proudly evoke our roots and history, re-igniting the ideals and values that guide us in the construction of a great, prosperous future.
During the first century of its life as an independent nation, Mexico suffered attacks from the most powerful nations in the world as well as the highest number of foreign military interventions in America.
Thanks to the heroic deeds of our forebears, it is now a sovereign nation that is admired, loved and respected by the nations of this world.
Mexico comes to this moment as a free, democratic nation, with strong, pluralistic states, with an autonomous, determined judicial branch, with robust, sovereign states, and a more mature, organized and participatory society with an executive branch that knows that its duty is to combine and guide the efforts of all to construct a fairer, more equitable, freer and more democratic Mexico.