Happy birthday Benito Juárez, Mexico’s Abraham Lincoln

Published March 21, 2025

Every March 21, Mexico celebrates the birth of Benito Juárez, the Zapotec boy who became a president, hero and symbol of just about everything Mexican. Schoolchildren memorize his words, politicians invoke his name, and his stern face stares down from statues across the nation. If you have a peso, you probably have Benito Juárez in your pocket right now.

Juárez was born in 1806 in the small village of San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, a place so quiet you could hear a tortilla flip from a mile away. He spoke only Zapotec until the age of 12. Orphaned at three, he was, by all accounts, a quiet, serious boy.

But he learned Spanish. He studied law. And then, somehow, he overcame his humble beginnings and changed the fate of a nation. He became president not once, not twice, but five times. He fought off European invaders. He pushed for reforms that would put power in the hands of the people. And he did it all with the charisma of an overworked accountant.

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