City, is the site of the final victory of the Spanish over
the Aztecs. A nearby plaque reads: "On August 15, 152 1, heroi-
cally defended by [Emperor] Cuauhtkmoc, Tlatelolco fell to the
power of Hernan Cortks. This was neither a victory nor a defeat,
but the painful birth of the mestizo people that is today's
Mexico."
Like any country's mythology, Mexico's contains an ele-ment of truth. The birth of her mestizo people, part Spanish, mostly Indian, actually took three centuries....