Cuitláhuac

Iván del Rivero

Little is known about the life and work of Cuitláhuac; the historical record is exceedingly thin. What we do know comes from the oral tradition recovered by seventeenth-century chroniclers of indigenous descent — among them Hernando de Alvarado Tezozómoc and Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin — as well as from a handful of Conquest chronicles that were preserved and compiled years later.

Unlike his brother Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, Cuitláhuac always distrusted the Spanish and opposed receiving them with honors in Tenochtitlan. When Moctezuma died, he succeeded him on the Mexica throne and from the first moment took up in earnest the task of confronting the European invaders.

His most remembered feat happened more than 500 years ago, when he led the Mexica to defeat Cortés's troops and their Tlaxcalan allies on the night known as the Noche Triste. Many stories and legends have been woven around that battle; what is certain is that the night established Cuitláhuac — an illustrious son of Iztapalapa and a formidable strategist — as the only man to defeat the Spanish during the Conquest.

His vision as a leader and his resolve in defending his land have never been given their due, which may be why his roundabout, right on Paseo de la Reforma, is neither widely recognized nor visited. The Glorieta de Cuitláhuac sits toward Tlatelolco, near the Técpan, Cuauhtémoc and Querétaro buildings. It is the tenth and last roundabout placed on the emblematic avenue, just before it forks into the Misterios and Guadalupe causeways.

The base of the monument was the work of the architect Jesús Aguirre, while the imposing bronze sculpture was the last piece completed by the Chihuahuan artist Ignacio Asúnsolo. The monument was inaugurated on November 21, 1964, and the roundabout project was finished in 1976. Since then it has remained a place of memory that keeps alive the recollection of an epic night and a stoic defense.