BENITO JUÁREZ FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE
Writing in first person, Hernandez traces the course of young Benito from village sheepherder to trained lawyer, from exile to repeatedly elected president—emphasizing his lifelong dedication to human rights and protecting the poor and vulnerable. The author’s close focus on his values not only leaves her narrative free of dates until the afterword, but so unanchored in historical context that at the end Benito just trails away—walking down a road to a mystical vision of his country and its residents. Also, though his strong and able wife, Margarita, receives proper attention and the fact that the two belonged to different ethnic groups (Benito was Zapotec; Margarita was of European heritage) is at least signaled in the wedding tableau by their different skin colors, his earlier relationships and children go unmentioned, and his ruthless execution of the forcibly installed French “emperor” Maximilian in 1867 is described, at best, obliquely: “I make the tough decision to punish him.” Overall the illustrations do underscore his liberal, republican principles in richly atmospheric scenes of dark-skinned figures gathering to work, talk, and march collectively beneath flags and banners. And if, as the author notes in her closing remarks, Benito “has become unreachable through time and hard to identify with,” her eloquent tribute will go some way toward spurring younger readers to look into his life and legacy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
