End of drinking ban lifts spirits in Mexico

Saturday, 16 September 2000
By Traci Carl
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/000916IMexico-FreetoToast.html

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans weren't just free to celebrate their independence from Spain yesterday - they were free to publicly toast the event with a glass of tequila for the first time in 70 years.

This week, officials in several Mexican cities - including the capital - announced they would remove the ban on alcoholic beverages as a test to see if Mexico can do without its so-called "Ley Seca," or Dry Law.

Since President Pascual Ortiz Rubio was wounded in an assassination attempt the day he took office in 1930, the sale and public display of alcoholic beverages have been banned during patriotic Mexican events.

While it was unclear whether Ortiz Rubio's would-be assassin had been drinking, the measure was apparently aimed at quelling a twin evil: the celebratory gunplay that had become customary at public festivities in Mexico.

In 1930, Mexico was coming off nearly two decades of almost constant armed conflict, and drinking - accompanied by shooting off pistols - was one of the favored ways of whooping it up.

It's still against the law to buy a drink on Election Day - or during the hours the president gives his state of the nation address.

And until this year, it had been illegal to even bring a bottle of Mexico's famous drink, tequila, to the huge Independence Day celebration in Mexico City's main plaza, where thousands of masquerading partygoers gather to mark the country's break from Spain.

Mario Ramirez, manager of a bar near Mexico City's Independence monument, applauded the decision. "We are free, so we should be free to drink," Ramirez said. "We are just enjoying the day."

Like other bar managers in Mexico City, Ramirez stocked up on extra tequila and other liquor, anticipating a big crowd yesterday.

Traditionally, most Mexicans who wanted to enjoy a drink during the holiday stocked up on liquor before Sept. 15-16, the dry days of the country's Independence Day celebrations.

Add to Community Front Page
------------------------------------------------------------------------