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Journalism of Courage
It’s not a word you hear frequently, but it made headlines on Saturday (May 17), when a Mexican ship known as the Cuauhtémoc struck New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge.
The ship was on a global goodwill tour and was carrying 277 people. Two crew members were reported dead, and 19 people needed medical attention. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation. Several videos showed the ships’ masts striking the bridge and snapping, and people were dangling from the ship on harnesses. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her condolences and said the situation was being monitored.
The Cuauhtemoc is an academy training vessel, which had left a pier in Manhattan and was supposed to have been headed out to sea.
According to the Associated Press, each year, the Cuauhtemoc sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training. The Mexican government’s official website says, “Its keel has cut through the waves to carry the Mexican people’s message of peace and goodwill to countless nations, docking in hundreds of ports to serve as one of our nation’s most important ambassadors.”
This year, it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, and reached New York City, where visitors were welcome aboard for several days.
The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations over 254 days. Built in Spain, it first set sail in 1982 and has since participated in boat races globally. It’s also large – 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican navy.
It is named after Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor (1495-1522). He was king for only a year before his death, which followed his capture by the Spanish colonists. The event marked the beginning of three centuries of Spanish control over Mexico.
An important figure in the story of the fall of the Aztecs was Hernán Cortés, a Spanish man who led a group to undertake the conquest of Mexico. He was initially welcomed by the then-Aztec emperor, but eventually, conflict erupted between the Europeans and the locals.
The Aztecs demanded that Emperor Moctezuma expel the Spanish. The emperor tried to assuage his people, but he was stoned to death. His successor, Cuitláhuac, attempted to remove Spaniards from their territory. However, they regrouped and, with help from another local kingdom, attacked the emperor. At the same time, the smallpox disease that the Spaniards brought to the Americas killed many Aztecs, including Cuitláhuac.
Cuauhtémoc became the new king and defended his capital Tenochtitlán (located in modern-day Mexico City) in a four-month siege. While his reign was brief, Cuauhtémoc is revered for resisting colonial rule, given his position as the last leader of a powerful empire. He was also believed to have been tortured to reveal the location of Aztec treasures.
He has today become a part of several legends, which paint him as a national hero who sought to protect national identity and culture before colonisation. Several places in Mexico are named after him.
