Reclaiming Cinco de Mayo

On May 5, 1862, a people’s militia fought invading French troops in the town of Puebla, Mexico, defeating an army twice its size. Napoleon was planning to intervene in the U.S. Civil War on the side of the slavocracy. The intervention of the French could have been a decisive factor leading to a Confederate victory in the Civil War. After the battle of Gettysburg, Union forces joined Mexicans in their efforts to drive out the French monarchy and reinstall the democratically elected President Benito Juarez. Today, more than ever, we need unity in a renewed struggle for greater democracy, especially economic democracy.

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