THE CREATION OF FICTIONAL HISTORY IN THE INDUSTRY

Cynthia A. Nichols

Thesis Prepared for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

December 2016

APPROVED:

Roberto R. Calderón, Major Professor Sandra Mendiola García, Committee Member J. Todd Moye, Committee Member Harold Tanner, Chair of the Department of History David Holdeman, Dean of the College of Arts and Victor Prybutok, Vice Provost of the Toulouse Graduate School Nichols, Cynthia A. The Creation of Fictional History in the Tequila Industry. Master of

Arts (History), December 2016, 87 pp., 7 figures, bibliography, 46 titles.

The creation of fictional history in the tequila industry due to changes in government policy, agreements and big business. Copyright 2016

by

Cynthia A. Nichols

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..iv

Chapters

I. INTRODUCTION………………………...... ……………………………………………………………………1 Historiography………………………………………………………………………………………..9

II. THE MYTH OF THE MAGUEY……………………………………………...... ………………………28 Mayahuel, Goddess of Agave...... …...29 Los jimadores, the Caretakers of Agave………………………………………….…...38 Lo mexicano and the Spirit of ………………………………………………….44 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….…...51

III. CREATION OF AN INDUSTRY…………………………………...... …………………………………..56 Beginning of an Empire………………………………………………….……………………..62 After the ……………………………………….……………………...67 Neoliberalism, NAFTA, and Present Day……………………………………………..70 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….77

IV. CONCLUSION...... ……………………………………………………………….80

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………83

iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Figure 1: Map of tequila producing states in Mexico………………………....………………………………………3

Figure 2: Gabriel Flores mural at Tequila Sauza………………………………………………………………………..36

Figure 3: Freshly trimmed agave head……………………………………………………………………………………..39

Figure 4: Rare flowering agave plant……………………………………………………………………………….……….41

Figure 5: Chart showing growth of the tequila industry……………………………………………………………61

Figure 6: Chart showing company sizes in the tequila industry………………………………………………..71

Figure 7: Agave fields on the main road to Tequila…………………………………………………………………..74

iv CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Famous comedian George Carlin once said, “One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor,” when he discussed the effects of tequila. The pervasion of tequila into the popular of the since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s shows how intricate the trade relationship between Mexico and the United States grew after the signage of the North

American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. NAFTA freed up trade between , Mexico and the United States to an extent that it had never been before.

Carlin was not the first celebrity to mention the beverage, or the last. The spirit was found various places in both American and Mexican popular culture. Tequila was also referenced in numerous movies and songs as representative of the spirit of Mexico. Pancho

Villa, a revolutionary leader, further promoted the popularity of tequila, as images showed him swigging tequila from a cantina before he rode off to conquer injustice.1 Research showed that the impact of the tequila industry on Mexico was far more profound than popular culture references indicated. The tequila industry created a rich history of Mexican folklore and drastically changed the landscape of the country, but it altered the relationship between

Mexico and the United States, as well.

The first chapter discusses the historiography of tequila and the industry that surrounded it. This information was presented because it provided a basic knowledge of the

1 Marie Sarita Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico. : Stanford University Press, 2014, 43-51. Jeffrey Pilcher. “ and the Gentrified Worm: Food, Drink, and the Touristic Consumption of Mexico.” Holiday in Mexico: Critical Reflections on and Tourist Encounters edited by Berger, Diana and Andrew Grant Wood. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 2010, 222.

1 tequila industry from its conception to current day. It also showed the overview of the changes that occurred in the industry and how it evolved. The historiography showed not only the changes in history, but the changes in the way that researchers studied tequila. Researchers originally studied tequila from strictly a scientific approach, but it gradually switched to its cultural and economic properties.

The second chapter encompasses the myths and folklore that accompany tequila. This included stories of the ancient Aztec goddess of the agave plant, Mayahuel, and how with her help, originated as a drink that served people for everyday use as well as ceremonial purposes.2 Ancient tribes produced pulque from the agave plant, and used the beverage for nourishment and ritual purposes. Mexican masculinity in regards to the consumption of tequila also played an important part in its history, and developed partially through ’s legacy as a revolutionary. Villa greatly promoted the popularity of tequila on both sides of the border, despite both Mexico and the United States’ controversial views of him.3

Also discussed in Chapter Two will be the typical misconceptions that non-natives have about the way tequila is consumed in . Guadalajara, located roughly forty-five minutes from the town of Tequila, where tequila is produced, is one of the largest metropolitan centers in the area. Visitors of Guadalajara in the past fifty years found the considered name brands in the United States, were not necessarily the most popular or easy to find there.

While some restaurants featured different brands of José Cuervo, very rarely was that brand a

2 Chantal Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila: The Modern Age of Mexico’s Most Traditional Spirit. : Chicago Review Press, 2015, Location 300 out of 4755. 3 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 53.

2 “gold” tequila. Average Tapatíos, people from Guadalajara, who preferred tequila usually chose out of the three main categories of aging: , reposado, and añejo.

Companies marketed tequila as a beverage enjoyed by itself, or mixed in a margarita.

Marketing led consumers to believe margaritas were the traditional way enjoyed the beverage. Research showed this was not the case, and that marketing strategies in the U.S. differed from the reality in Mexico. Few places featured tequilas that typically grace the bottom shelf of liquor stores in the United States. Instead, the cheaper tequilas on the menu were normally local brands that cannot be found outside of the country. Restaurants also did not feature margaritas prominently their drink menus. Instead, the patron chose their tequila, and it was served with a glass of ice and a bottle of Squirt, which was known as a Paloma.

Margaritas were not completely absent, however, and could be found at most tourist spots.4

Figure 1: Map of tequila producing regions in Mexico.

4 Research trip. Guadalajara, , Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.]

3 The third chapter of this thesis presents the various changes the tequila industry underwent, it shows how the rapid growth of the industry vastly changed the town of Tequila and the areas surrounding it, and explores how this affected Mexico’s economic relationships with other countries. Tequila is produced from Blue Weber Agave plants which are allowed to grow in five states in Mexico: Jalisco, , , Michoacán, and (as underlined in the map on Figure 1).5 Jimadores were people who cultivated tequila. They passed this occupation down through the generations, but now mainly by day laborers and hired help make up this field.6

A product originally handcrafted by Mexicans for Mexicans is now exported all over the world to 120 countries, and Mexico sends approximately eighty percent of all global exports to the United States. This is twice the amount of tequila that is consumed by Mexicans.7 Some companies, such as Sauza, have brands specifically manufactured for export into the United

States. Companies are also aware of the growing amount of United States residents of Mexican descent, and this was evident in their campaigns that boast authenticity and heritage. The third chapter also covered the various marketing strategies of tequila companies.

The reputation tequila had in other countries, has not gone unnoticed by marketing executives, who used it to their advantage. Many companies have specific brands designated

5 José Orozco. “Tequila Sauza and the Redemption of Mexico’s Vital Fluids, 1873-1970.” Alcohol in : A Social and Cultural History. Ed Gretchen Pierce and Áurea Toxqui. University of Press, 2014, 186. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 1256 out of 4755. Ana G. Valenzuela-Zapata and Gary Paul Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 2004, 46-47. 6 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 6 out of 4755. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 43-44. 7 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 194 out of 4755. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 63-64.

4 for the party consumer who enjoys the quantity of their liquor over the quality. For example, fifteen million gallons out of thirty-five million gallons exported to the United States every year was one hundred percent agave.8 The rest of the exported tequila is called mixto because companies distill almost half of the finished product from corn or sugarcane instead of agave.9

Other companies also recognized the desire for something top shelf and distinguished.

This gave rise to companies producing brands like Clase Azul, and Fortaleza in small batches and packaged in handcrafted bottles.10 Tequila Fortaleza is owned by Guillermo Erickson Sauza who was the great-great-grandson of Cenobio Sauza. Guillermo’s goal was not to have the biggest company, but to have the best tasting tequila. By making his tequila the traditional way, with stone-crushed agave, he claimed it resulted in a more authentic tequila than the mechanically shredded agave that Tequila Sauza used.11

The United States seemed to take George Carlin’s words to heart. Tequila is found throughout colleges at numerous frat houses and spring break parties, and most people associated it with their own drunken youth, or that of others. Almost every adult in the United

States who consumed alcohol can recall an encounter they had with the liquor that some believe has hallucinogenic properties.12 Enter into any bar or restaurant in the United States today, and one can find a variety of beverages featuring the spirit tequila. The third chapter

8 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 127 out of 4755. 9 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 89 out of 4755. Jeffrey Pilcher. “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm,” 234. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 76. 10 Clase Azul. “Tequila Clase Azul.” Last modified 2012. Accessed May 17, 2016. www.claseazul.com. Sarah Bowen. Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015, 51. 11 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1148 out of 4755. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 48. 12 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 106 out of 4755. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 59.

5 explores this popularity, and how tequila quickly grew into an international success, which caused its demand to escalate throughout the world.

Lately, however, tequila evolved into a more sophisticated beverage. Companies crafted boutique, aged, and small-batch brands to appeal to higher-end consumers. What was once touted as the “Spirit of Mexico,” and believed to fully embody Mexican life and heritage, morphed into an international industry that is no longer administered by small family-owned companies, but instead by large corporations.13 Some celebrities even endorsed and participated in the manufacture of their own brands of tequila. George Clooney and Randy

Crawford own a portion of Casamigos and Sammy Hagar contributed to the production of Cabo

Wabo.14 This change in the tequila industry is discussed further in the third chapter.

With the growth of the industry, tequila seemed to be less about the production of a truly Mexican beverage, and more about the creation of profit. Neoliberalist policies changed the culture in the tequila industry. Over the past fifty years tequila became industrialized.15

Numerous tequila companies, previously owned by Mexican corporations changed hands to foreign investors who merged with other liquor companies, such as Beam Suntory who owns

Tequila Sauza, Jim Beam, Pinnacle, Maker’s Mark, Cruzan, and Basil Hayden’s, to name a few.16

Herradura is now owned by Brown-Forman, an American firm, and Patrón is distributed by

13 Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 14. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 2. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 2472 out of 4755. Pilcher. “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm.” 232. 14 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 2226 out of 4755. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 55. 15 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 2011 out of 4755. 16 Beam Suntory. “Our Heritage.” Beam Suntory about History. Last modified 2015. Accessed April 1, 2015. www.beamsuntory.com/about/history.

6 Bacardi which has facilities on four different continents. 17 These corporations industrialized the tequila making process and produced more tequila at a reduced cost.

José Cuervo remained one of the last companies completely owned by Mexicans. Half of the seven million cases the company sold in 2012 shipped to the United States. This made up approximately one-third of the industry’s production.18 While the company manufactured a majority of their brands using the mixto method, they produced higher-quality aged brands as well. Their Reserva de la Familia brand is housed in a unique series of bottles created by several different Mexican artists which retails for approximately one hundred dollars a bottle.19

This operational streamlining influenced the farming of agave as well. Some companies hired biologists to genetically clone the plants that produced the ‘best’ tequila, but views toward this approach vary. Ana Valenzuela-Zapata, an agronomist, claimed the genetic alteration of agave plants could lead to the destruction of the industry. While the Consejo

Regulador del Tequila (CRT), the bureaucracy that governed official tequila industry decisions, argued cloning the most successful plants created the strongest crop, Valenzuela-Zapata insisted this is what gave way to a dangerous monoculture that negatively affected the industry in the late 1990’s.20 Disease easily spread from plant to plant because they grew in such close

17 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 2002 out of 4755. 18 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 517 out of 4755. 19 Ibid., Location 525 out of 4755. 20 Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, xxiv-xxv. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 890 out of 4755.

7 proximity to each other, and were clones of one another. Valenzuela-Zapata posited crop diversity would be a simple method to prevent this type of event from reoccurring.21

The Mexican government formed the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory

Council), more commonly known as the CRT, due to the growing popularity of the tequila industry. Officials designed this organization to protect the integrity of the methods of production in the tequila industry. Considered one of the most regulated spirits in the world, tequila is daily monitored by the CRT to supervise cultivation and harvest of agaves, labeling of bottles, and collection of data.22 The CRT employed two different types of inspectors to travel the five states that allowed tequila production and oversee the tequila-making process.

Agronomists sent by the CRT supervise the farming of agave, while chemical engineers verify production.23

While popular culture in the United States led us to believe tequila was an extension of

Mexico, this was just not true. After researching tequila, it was evident this alcohol transformed from a uniquely Mexican drink, to a spirit manipulated to conform to the consumer preferences of a primarily United States market. Influenced by neoliberal policies and trade agreements, such as NAFTA, the tequila industry changed from being composed of small, handcrafted companies to large conglomerates which left no space for anything but big business. This was seen by studying the historiography of tequila and what researchers already contributed to the field, as well as comparing the myths and factual information about the spirit, and examining

21 Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 55-57. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1036 out of 4755. 22 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2002 out of 4755. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 5. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nathan, ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 47. 23 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1012 out of 4755.

8 the evolution of the once hacienda-based industry into the international, two billion dollar annual industry it is today.24

Historiography

Tequila’s current popularity is a stark difference from what it was in the past. Originally, elites relegated tequila to the lower classes in rural Mexico. Now tequila is shipped and sold in countries all over the globe, but during the time of the Spanish conquest, elites considered it an antiquated beverage only consumed by the poor or working-class. The roots of tequila production began centuries ago with the Aztec civilization in Mexico, long before the Spanish conquest. People did not produce tequila until after the Spanish conquered the Aztec peoples.

Instead, pulque was the beverage of choice, made from the fermented juice of the agave plant.

Mescal was also a popular drink among indigenous peoples.25 Eventually after they noticed a distinct difference in the taste of mescal produced in the Jalisco region by a specific strain of agave, people referred to mescal manufactured there as tequila.

Research on tequila encompassed several different fields of history which included cultural, political, economic, and transnational. These varied approaches highlight the importance of tequila as the drink of a nation, and show the integral part that this beverage played in Mexican efforts at nation building. The historiography shows how thoughts and

24 Ibid., Location 194 out of 4755. 25 The terms ‘mescal’ and ‘mezcal’ can be used interchangeably. The beverage is typically spelled ‘mezcal in Latin American countries, and referred to as ‘mescal’ in the United States. For consistency, unless part of a quote or brand name, it will be spelled ‘mescal’ in this document.

9 research on tequila evolved over the years, and how free trade between the United States and

Mexico.

Mylie K. Walton’s article entitled “The Evolution and Localization of Mezcal and Tequila in Mexico,” was one of the earliest published articles that addressed the growth of the production of mescal and tequila. Walton was a geographic attaché for the U.S. Department of

State. Revista Geográfica featured this article in 1977, and displayed a brief, cursory knowledge of the production of tequila. This article focused primarily on a small subset of history that explored the changing scientific classifications of the multiple types of agave plants in Mexico.

Walton discussed how the species of agave plant the Aztecs used to create pulque differed biologically from the species of agave plant native Jaliscienses used to make tequila. Walton attributed the emergence of tequila to the Spanish introducing the distillation process after the conquest in the 1500’s.26

Another important contribution this article made was that it discussed the basics of the process in which tequila was produced and explained typical jargon that someone unfamiliar with tequila would not know. Both mescal and tequila come from the agave plant. After harvesting, the plants ferment. Then locals placed the agave in either a pit or oven to be cooked. The base of the plant was the only part of the agave plant used. Workers who harvested these agave hearts call them piñas.27

26 Walton, Mylie K. “The Evolution and Localization of Mezcal and Tequila in Mexico,” Revista Geográfica. No. 85 (June 1977), Published by: Pan American Institute of Geography and History, 115. 27 Ibid., 113-114.

10 This information was critical in providing an understanding of the basic process of the production of tequila. While this article provided rudimentary information about tequila, and its ancient ancestor, pulque, it left out much of the social aspects of this drink. This article approached the subject almost from a scientific viewpoint rather than engaging the reader on a social level. However, the amount of social information, or lack thereof presented provided the researcher with an idea of the popularity of tequila. While the United States exported tequila at a small rate during the 1950’s and 1960’s, popularity and consumption occurred a few decades later in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Unfortunately the historiography of tequila experienced a large gap after Walton’s article, with research not resuming until after 2000. Research did not uncover any articles or books published during this time period that pertained to the history of tequila. The export of tequila skyrocketed in the 1990’s, as consumers demanded higher qualities and quantities of tequila.28 One can posit until its popularity surged after the passage of the North Atlantic Free

Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the topic was not of much importance to historians.

Information about the way tequila was transported and sold was also important in the historiography of this subject. In Organized Crime and Democratic Governability, authors John

Bailey and Roy Goodson, both government professors at Georgetown University, presented a collection of works about the increase of crime in Mexico since the Spanish arrival and conquest. Several of the chapters in this book focused on smuggling contraband across the border, and more specifically the role of tequila as contraband. They also showed how

28 Pilcher. “José Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm,” 233.

11 different Mexican companies produced beer and liquor, like tequila and mescal, specifically for distribution in the United States.

Louis Sadler’s chapter aptly named, “The Historical Dynamics of Smuggling in the U.S.

Border Region,” covered a large span of time from Spanish conquest to present day. He built this history through using numerous interviews he conducted, his own personal experience with border control, and information from various FBI files. He explained how a frequency of smuggling between the United States and Mexico existed, and how this frequency became so great during Prohibition in the United States, that it eventually led to the formation of the

Border Patrol in 1924. He further asserted the formation of the Border Patrol was necessary to assist the Texas Rangers. The Texas Rangers lacked the proper resources to complete their duties because they could not halt liquor smuggling, which included tequila, rum, whiskey, and cordials, during Prohibition.29

Sadler also pointed out that smuggling made up a part of the tumultuous history between the United States and Mexico, much like other countries with shared international borders. Contrary to popular belief, he cited the flow of illegal goods often went both ways.

Before the Mexican Revolution, smugglers made a living transporting alcohol, like tequila, pulque, and rum. During this time the sale of alcohol across borders was legal, but it required the purchase of a tax stamp. Smugglers created a higher profit margin for themselves by selling

29 Louis R. Sadler. “The Historical Dynamics of Smuggling in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region, 1550-1998: Reflections on Markets, , and Bureaucracies.” Edited by John J. Bailey and Roy Godson. Organized Crime & Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. [Pittsburgh]: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000, 165.

12 alcohol illegally, without a tax stamp.30 During the Mexican Revolution, the demand for weapons and ammunition far outweighed the demand for alcohol. This caused smugglers to switch their focus to aid the war effort. Once the war ended, alcohol was priority contraband once again. Later, when alcohol was more readily available, smuggling stakes increased to drugs and human trafficking.

His chapter did excellent work at weaving in detailed information that showed how it was common for women to be successful smugglers. He also showed how smuggling provided a way for the poor to make a living and provide a life for their families. However, more research could be done on some of the larger players in the smuggling industry. Financially disadvantaged people trying to survive were not the only ones who illegally transported contraband across the border. Other smugglers trafficked different goods solely to make a large profit margin. Sadler provided numerous details when he described the intricacies of the law enforcement on the border, however, he did not sufficiently address any known corruption that likely occurred within the Border Patrol.

Similar to Sadler, historian Francisco Javier Molina Ruiz, investigated the smuggling market between Mexico and the United States, but did so by looking at the smaller geographical area of the borderland region. He discussed a regional history of the borderlands from the 1900’s to present day by using many primary sources such as police reports, FBI files, and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) records. He posited the borderland created a

30 Ibid., 164.

13 geographical space that is uniquely Mexican American because of the different ideas and cultures that were in such a close proximity to one another.

Due to this interconnectivity, cities and states like Ciudad Juárez, , ,

Baja California, and Tamaulipas generated massive amounts of wealth during Prohibition by supplying Americans with easy access to the vices they were missing in the United States.

These vices included casinos, horse races, saloons, and brothels.31 Not only did the border provide a place for people to go to indulge in these vices, but it also produced vice. Border cities produced major amounts of alcohol for the explicit purpose of selling it in the United

States.32

Molina Ruiz’s chapter provided a well-rounded transnational history that expanded on the complicated, integrated relationship that both countries had with one another. He also discussed class and gender in the context of smuggling. The chapter provided much information about the various business endeavors that went on in the border region, and he presented statistical information with the assistance of abundant charts and graphs.

While local residents consumed pulque, tequila, and other mescal wines in Mexico for centuries, many scholars credited the Mexican Revolution, and Prohibition as two of the key time periods that people brought these alcoholic drinks into the United States. Gabriela Recio’s article discussed the increase of smuggling during the time frame of 1910-1930. While her

31 Francisco Javier Molina Ruiz. “Border Zone Dynamics.” Edited by John J. Bailey, and Roy Godson. Organized Crime & Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. (Pittsburgh): University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000, 180. 32 Ruiz. “Border Zone Dynamics,” 182.

14 article was about the illegal transport of all contraband, alcohol, more specifically tequila, was a major part of this.

Her transnational border history posited the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919 caused the creation of very profitable black markets in Mexico, which she estimated to be worth millions.33 By sifting through numerous Secretary of State files, Department of State documents, Internal Revenue Service papers, and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) files, Recio strove to shed light on the longstanding complicated trade routes between Mexico and the

United States. Her research showed that a majority of illegal goods found their way to the

United States via and the Gulf of Mexico.34 The article provided a good macro view of illegal trade routes, but spread focus to all matter of contraband, not just alcohol.

Equally important to transportation networks, was how distilleries managed to produce tequila so successfully in Mexico. In ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, the authors discussed the agave plant’s biological and cultural history from the 1950’s to the early 2000’s.

Ana G. Valenzuela-Zapata, a botanist and Gary Paul Nathan, a historian teamed together to study both sides of this issue. Analyzing the way locals cultivated agave, gave historians insight into the specific traditions of Jalisco, and how commercialism affected it.35

They posited tequila transformed from a traditional Mexican beverage to a transnationally known and consumed drink with the introduction of the margarita in the

1970’s. After Americans got a taste of tequila mixed with lime juice and orange liqueur,

33 Recio, Gabriela. “Drugs and Alcohol: US Prohibition and the Origins of the Drug Trade in Mexico, 1910- 1930.” Journal of Latin American Studies. Vol. 34, No. 1. Cambridge University Press (February 2002), 27. 34 Recio. “Drugs and Alcohol,” 33. 35 Valenzuela-Zapata and Gary Paul Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History.

15 consumption in the United States doubled.36 Today tequila has a distinct place in popular culture, and is found anywhere in the United States as a prominent representative of our southern neighbor.

Researched using agricultural records, field experience and oral traditions, this book contributed details about the farmers who grew agave for centuries, and how caring for the plants was part of their bond with nature. It also communicated how commercial growers jeopardized this delicate balance by trying to industrialize the growing process. In an attempt to maximize their profits, companies commissioned entire fields to be planted with the same strain of agave. When planted this way, it made it incredibly easy for bacterial infections to spread, thus destroying an entire crop, and wasting several years’ worth of work.

Another method of examining the tequila industry was found in the book Holiday in

Mexico. The book in its entirety discussed tourism as a whole, but one chapter focused solely on tequila. This chapter differed from the botany perspective as it lent insight into the tourism industry. The chapter, “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm: Food, Drink, and the Touristic

Consumption of Mexico,” written by Jeffrey Pilcher delved into the specific consumption of tequila by tourists in Mexico. The book served as a compendium of information because it combined several different chapters on various spirits and food related to .

Pilcher’s chapter dealt solely with the consumption of tequila with respect to historical relations with foreigners, and encompassed the time period slightly before the advent of tequila, in

36 Ibid., xxiii.

16 1857, up to present day.37 This history took the approach of a national history of Mexico with a concentration on the business side of tourism.

In his chapter, Pilcher posited tequila was one of the many ways that Mexicans simultaneously produced the ideas of culture and nation. By insistent marketing of tequila as an authentic Mexican beverage, Mexicans promoted and projected an idea of their culture to other countries. In doing so, however, Pilcher questioned the sincerity of the representation of

Mexican culture in the United States. He supported this idea by explaining the origin of the worm found in the bottom of certain bottles of tequila, and how it was merely a gimmick employed by manufacturers to market tequila to more Americans.38 Tequila became synonymous with the and this further represented the way that the tourism industry commodified culture. Many tequila companies made a fortune in the way that they marketed their products to consumers. According to most brands, tequila is essentially Mexico in a bottle, readily available to drink or to be purchased as a souvenir.

However, Pilcher seemed to disagree with this notion by providing numerous examples of products touted as being Mexican, but which had no actual roots in the country at all. He cited non-ethnic businessmen Dave Pace and Elmer Doolin as prime examples. These two men created the successful corporations of Pace Picante Sauce and Fritos corn chips, respectively.39

This showed that Mexicans were not the only ones capitalizing off products supposedly representative of their culture. He also discussed how American culture created upscale versions of , and the tequila industry responded to this by offering upscale

37 Pilcher. “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm,” 220. 38 Ibid,, 222. 39 Pilcher, “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm.” 228.

17 tequila. Some brands even compared their product to fine wine, and suggested it be consumed in a similar fashion.40

These advances in the tequila industry, and the consumption of Mexican cuisine and beverage as a whole, left Pilcher asking some larger questions about the future of Mexico. He questioned whether this type of tourism was representative of the culture of Mexico, and if it was sustainable at the rate it was currently occurring. Fellow authors Valenzuela-Zapata and

Nabhan, Marie Sarita Gaytán, and Sarah Bowen shared the concern for the economic future of

Mexico and the sustainability of the tequila and tourism industry.

Alcohol in Latin America also took a multi-layered approach to the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic drinks, including tequila. This book featured chapters by different historians, and encompassed a large time period from the pre-

Columbian era to present day. Leaving no demographic unexplored, these chapters covered what the elites thought about alcohol consumption, and how everyday people used the beverages in their routines.

Chapters also featured women as prominent players in the alcohol industry, and Áurea

Toxqui discussed how female pulque sellers engaged in successful businesses alongside food vendors. She explored the processes they went through during 1850-1910, to try to save their businesses from liberal reforms that threatened their livelihoods. These women proved they conducted their businesses as upstanding moral citizens by petitioning the Mexican

40 Ibid., 234.

18 government when they felt reforms would harm their businesses.41 Even though pulque is not the same as tequila, the treatment of those that sold it by government officials was remarkably similar. Mescal and tequila producers also faced restrictions on growth and sales by local and federal governments in an attempt to discourage alcoholism.

José Orozco’s chapter entitled, “Tequila Sauza and the Redemption of Mexico’s Vital

Fluids, 1873-1970,” examined the differences between mescal and tequila and helped show why tequila ultimately surpassed mescal in popularity. Orozco explored the general evolution of tequila from mescal, and how tequila first made its way to the United States via Cenobio Sauza in 1873. He did this by using a microhistory of the tequila industry told through the business of the Sauza family. By using advertisements, interviews, and secondary literature, Orozco completed his “quest to understand how tequila became Mexico’s national drink.”42

Orozco also began his chapter with a brief explanation of how tequila was produced, and what actually differentiated it from mescal. Farmers made mescal from the distilled, fermented juice of approximately 136 different variations of agave plants found throughout

Mexico, whereas farmers in the municipality of Tequila made tequila from one species of agave plant, the Blue Weber agave plant.43 After explaining where and how people produced tequila,

Orozco branched out to discuss the families responsible for the manufacture, and distribution of tequila.

41 Áurea Toxqui. “Breadwinners or Entrepreneurs? Women’s Involvement in the Pulquería World of , 1850-1910.” In Alcohol in Latin America: A Social and Cultural History. Ed Gretchen Pierce and Áurea Toxqui. University of Arizona Press, 2014. 42 José Orozco. “Tequila Sauza and the Redemption of Mexico’s Vital Fluids, 1873-1970” in Alcohol in Latin America: A Social and Cultural History. Ed Gretchen Pierce and Áurea Toxqui. University of Arizona Press, 2014, 185-186. 43 Ibid., 186. Since his publication, the regulations on tequila production have shifted. Currently, tequila can be produced in five different states in Mexico.

19 The Sauza family, along with the Cuervo family, were two of the oldest manufacturers of tequila. Orozco’s research also showed that Cenobio Sauza was the first person to legally export tequila to El Paso del Norte in Texas in 1873.44 This helped cement the family’s reputation as one of the most dominant tequila producers in Mexico, and their legacy continued for three more generations. He also cited Prohibition as a massive turning point for the tequila industry asserting that a significant expansion occurred during this time.45

In her chapter, Gretchen Pierce discussed the effect that Mexico’s anti-alcohol campaigns had on the people that sold alcoholic beverages. She used a combination of archives and government papers to form her research on different regulations that pulqueros, cerveceros, and mescaleros experienced during the period of 1910-1940. In her national history of political alcohol regulations, Pierce focused on the small producers and sellers, and considers class and gender. While the United States experienced Prohibition, their southern neighbors experienced a trend in temperance as well.46

Pierce cited many prestigious families traded pulque both legally and illegally because of the stability it provided with its consistent demand. The poor people also sold liquor in their communities as a way to make ends meet in an unstable economy. The anti-alcohol regulations presented an extra risk to alcohol merchants because in some regions the production and sale

44 Ibid. 45 Ibid., 193. 46 Gretchen Pierce. “Pulqueros, Cerveceros, and Mezcaleros: Small Alcohol Producers and Popular Resistance to Mexico’s Anti-Alcohol Campaigns, 1910–1940.” Alcohol in Latin America: A Social and Cultural History. Ed Gretchen Pierce and Áurea Toxqui. University of Arizona Press, 2014, 164-165.

20 of alcohol was illegal on both sides of the border.47 While the legality of alcohol was an issue in

Mexico, few merchants discontinued their businesses because the profits were too significant.

Another contributor to the historiography of tequila is historian Marie Sarita Gaytán. Her book was a comprehensive history of tequila as it relates to the economy and culture of Mexico.

The book spanned from the Aztecs using pulque in ceremonial rituals up to modern-day consumption. Much like Walton’s article, Gaytán captured the legends and rituals in which pulque was used. However, her book took this research one step further by addressing more cultural issues that assisted in building the industry. By examining the business of manufacturing tequila, Gaytán provided insight into why tequila became the national drink of Mexico, and the implications this had on the region of Jalisco as a whole.

She explored the success of tequila by looking at the concept of lo mexicano, which she identified as the “idea, or fiction of a collective unified Mexican national consciousness.”48 She believed Mexicans in cinema, literature, and radio perpetuated this collection of ideas. She stated the origin for this phenomenon occurred after the revolutionaries overthrew Porfirio Díaz was overthrown in 1911. This caused the country to search for ways to strengthen Mexican identity. Her interpretation of the success of the tequila industry differed slightly from that of

Pilcher in the way that she placed more weight on the nationalistic surges that Mexico experienced, instead of the consumption demand of the United States.

Gaytán furthered the common belief of tequila representing the masculinity and strength of Mexico by examining the film industry. Advertisers soon marketed tequila through the

47 Ibid., 169. 48 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 6.

21 entertainment industry via various different methods. Films produced during the Golden Age of

Mexican cinema, which ranged from approximately 1936-1959, showed every male character drinking tequila. Films showed charros, rancheros, and casanovas all swigging from tequila jugs to prove their masculinity. The charro was a national figure who emerged during the as a hero that represented manliness, nationality, and power all in one package. Filmmakers immortalized this image in movies that portrayed a more romanticized version of Mexico, typically using Jalisco as a backdrop.49

Advertisements depicted men drinking tequila as being heroic and brave, while the women who accompanied them were demure and chaste.50 Where native women consumed pulque for centuries without stigma, people considered women who drank tequila masculine and looked down upon by males in society. This came as no surprise however, considering elites always frowned upon consumption of alcohol by females.51

The gender approach to the consumption of tequila was a complicated one and differs depending on what side of the border it was viewed from. While residents of both Mexico and the United States viewed the advertisements Gaytán spoke of, Prohibition in the United States changed the way society saw female drinking. When Prohibition forced the consumption of alcohol in the United States underground, women found more opportunity to consume it. People often consumed alcohol in someone’s home which implied a domesticity drinking in public

49 Ibid., 49. 50 Ibid., 9. 51 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 25.

22 lacked.52 So while advertisements portrayed Mexican women as models of temperance, the women in the United States often drank alongside their husbands.

Gaytán also published an article with fellow historian Sarah Bowen about the effects of neoliberalism on the tequila industry. They cited many changes that occurred with the regulations in tequila policies that the neoliberal government obscured. Examining changes in regulatory policies from the 1970’s to present day, the two authors showed a transnational political and economic history.53

Their article showed that by consistently promoting tequila as Mexico’s national drink of choice, the Mexican government essentially “de-Mexicanized” the tequila industry. What was previously known as an industry founded on the strength of local communities, and produced according to the ancient traditions of indigenous people is now increasingly influenced by multinational companies. By using their wealth, these corporations succeeded in asserting control over regulatory committees, local communities, and the direction that the industry took as a whole. They cited that these changes happened due to the broader implications of neoliberal politics.

George T. Díaz continued the study of borderland smuggling and contraband in his book of regional, transnational history that encompassed the decades from 1900 to present day. His smuggling history concentrated more on the broader area of all contraband, but still contained vital information pertaining to tequila. He explored the rampant alcohol smuggling that occurred

52 Pilcher. “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm,” 233. 53 Marie Sarita Gaytán and Sarah Bowen. “Naturalizing Neoliberalism and the De-Mexicanization of the Tequila Industry.” Environment and Planning A. 2015, vol. 47, 267–283.

23 during the United States Prohibition, as well as the shift from alcohol to drugs. Díaz’s concentration on a macro-history of smuggling was informative for a broad audience, but left some of the details of the distribution of tequila open for interpretation.

Society mostly accepted the smuggling of tequila and mescal in the early 1900’s. If law enforcement apprehended a smuggler, the court considered the scale of their operation, method of transport, and their gender. If the offender was a female whose operation was small and transportation was nonviolent, the courts often released them. They also released ill or elderly if they were caught transporting illegal substances.54 This leniency allowed for many poor

Mexicans to support themselves and their families without fear of ruining their reputation.

Even after the prosecution of illegal trafficking increased, females circumvented apprehension quite easily because the area lacked female custom agents. Laredo did not receive their first female customs agent until 1913, and many stations did not get one until much later.55 This freedom allowed females to hide contraband, like tequila, under their clothing without being detected.

Over time intricate, illegal trade routes formed between Mexico and the United States.

Tequileros would smuggle tequila, using pack animals, across the border where they handed it off to Tejanos, who sold the tequila wholesale to Anglo bootleggers. These bootleggers then transported the tequila to major demand centers such as , Corpus Christi, Houston, and Dallas for distribution.56 Díaz posits that the complexity of these routes implied that the

54 George T. Díaz. Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2015, location 1314-1321. 55 Díaz. Border Contraband, location 1326. 56 Ibid., location 1829-2086.

24 organized trafficking of alcohol occurred during Prohibition, and that these routes remained intact for later use with drug cartels.

For a more cultural approach to the study of tequila and its consumption there is

Deborah Toner’s book, which examined the conflict between the consumption of alcohol as a form of nationalism and patriotism, and as a disease which hindered the progress of the nation.

She researched this social and cultural history by using archival records, government papers, and art work. Her book primarily featured the views of the intellectual, political, and economic elite.57 The elites often overestimated their own importance in society and tended to exaggerate the negative effects of alcohol in the nation.

Toner stated that a lot of information can be gleaned by studying the way a society consumes their alcohol. Her research, like Gaytán’s upheld the idea of tequila and masculinity as being inexplicably intertwined. The idea of tequila as a national construct became prominent through the use of fictional literature and film. She came to the conclusion that the government used the representation and consumption of tequila as a traditional Mexican drink as a form of nation-building tool.

The last book featured in this historiography covered the time span from the first known usage of agave to produce a beverage up until modern day. Ian Williams concentrated on tequila from a global viewpoint and provided a history of tequila as a national business commodity. He pointed out that other spirits are produced in multiple locations, but tequila is an anomaly in the fact that it was the only spirit to be produced solely in Mexico.

57 Deborah Toner. Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Mexico. University of Press, 2015.

25 The first chapter of this book laid out the basic history of tequila by beginning with ceremonial uses of pulque by the Aztecs and the eventual formation of tequila as its own variety of mescal. The majority of this book, however, concentrated on the modern history of tequila in the twentieth century. Williams discussed the industry and its growth from a backwater, small-town beverage to a beverage now known and consumed across the globe.

Williams noted how as of late a trend emerged of companies changing focus from producing large quantities of average quality tequila to producing small quantities of luxury brand tequilas. By increasing the quality of tequila and the amount of time they are aged, companies have greater profit margins than those with more massively produced brands. The tequila industry currently directly employs 30,000 people in the Jalisco region.58 This trend inspired changes in the mescal industry as well. Growers in and the vicinity formed their own regulatory committees in the same vein as the tequila industry. Each region that has produced mescal for centuries wanted to have the same success as the growers in the Jalisco region.

There is still an abundance of information to be uncovered about tequila, such as the extent of the affect consumerism had on the nation of Mexico, and the small native businesses that struggled to survive in regions like Jalisco and Oaxaca. These sources presenedt a starting point for further research on tequila’s ability to assist Mexico in building a national identity.

Each source provided a slightly different view on how tequila impacted the Mexican people and

58 Williams, Ian. Tequila. A Global History. London: Reaction Books Ltd, 2015.

26 their economy, culture in the United States, and global trade. The production, distribution, and consumption of tequila affected the culture, politics, economy, and foreign relations of Mexico.

27 CHAPTER II

THE MYTH OF THE MAGUEY

This chapter discusses tequila, its many myths, and its origins from the maguey, or agave plant. These myths often circulated via marketing campaigns from specific tequila companies, or tourism advertising promoted by the tourism industry and the Consejo

Regulador del Tequila (CRT). Thoughts of tequila, its consumption, and history conjured different memories from different people in both the United States and Mexico. The prevalent themes found in the popular culture version of tequila’s history were the legend of the Aztec goddess Mayahuel, the vital role the jimador played in creating this spirit, and the feeling of lo mexicano as it contributed to the assertion of tequila as the ‘Spirit of Mexico.’

These common misconceptions about tequila included the history of the Aztec goddess

Mayahuel and how locals believed she made agave and by proxy, tequila available to them for their enjoyment. Various entities such as tequila companies, the CRT, and the tourist industry often repurposed her story. Many prominent brands featured the occupation of the jimador as a group of people endowed with safeguarding the integrity of the industry. However, this occupation greatly changed throughout the years. Other sources, more notably Deborah Toner and María Sarita Gaytán, credited the feeling of lo mexicano as created in part by tequila.

Finally, most tequila companies, and drinkers referred to the beverage as being the ‘Spirit of

Mexico’ as they claimed it is the one true, authentic product that fully embodied Mexican culture.59

59 Williams. Tequila, 5. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 109. Toner, Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Mexico, 75-76.

28 The examination of these three major components of tequila folklore, showed that these constructs set forth by the tequila industry and other government agencies were not truly representative of the Mexican culture. The growth of the industry did not occur because of the production of an authentic Mexican product, but as a result of favored emerging and established neoliberal administrations in the late twentieth century that attempted to cement

Mexico globally in an advantageous economic position. With the passage and implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) starting in 1994, the United States, along with other countries gained increased access to Mexican resources. Once other countries obtained ownership in the tequila industry, tequila stopped being an authentic Mexican beverage, and transitioned to being another international industry exploited for profit.60

Mayahuel, Goddess of Agave

One of the oldest myths that surrounded tequila was that of the Aztec goddess

Mayahuel. Originally worshipped by the Aztecs circa the fourteenth and fifteenth century, she was the goddess of what the indigenous people called the maguey plant, or agave plant. The deity’s popularity recently experienced a comeback and started trending again in 2006. Her involvement in the tequila industry was a quite recent phenomenon.61 When discussing the history of the $2.7 billion tequila industry, tequila aficionados often conjured her name. Seen by many tequila enthusiasts as the Aztec goddess of tequila, they celebrated her throughout the industry. There was even a restaurant as far away as New York City whose namesake is

60 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 105. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 118. 61 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 106. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 160 of 4755. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 96.

29 Mayahuel. The trendy lounge featured upscale food and an equal blend of tequila and mescal based drinks. The tequila and tourism industries often used the story of Mayahuel in the history of the spirit in order to link the beverage to the traditional past and ancient heritage of

Mexico. Some saw this tie to the past as a way that the authenticity of tequila further cemented itself in a consumer culture that lately became fascinated with cultural commodification.62

However, there was a fallacy in the claims that Mayahuel was the goddess of tequila and played an intricate part in the history of the beverage. Mayahuel and the religious rituals that surround her existed long before the production of tequila. The ancient Aztecs, who worshipped Mayahuel, along with numerous other deities, did not drink tequila. In fact, the ability to distill liquor did not reach Mexico until approximately the sixteenth century. Aztecs consumed pulque, fermented sap from the agave plant.63 Said to be the goddess of fertility and agave, Mayahuel’s story varied based on which historical religious text, or tequila history is consulted.

The most popular version of her story originated with her caught in the crossfire of a war that occurred between the god Quetzalcóatl and the evil goddess of the sky, Tzitzimitl.

Existing religious writings said Quetzalcóatl journeyed to the sky to kill Tzitzimitl and end their feud. When he could not find her, he stole her granddaughter, Mayahuel, instead. Claiming his love for her, he then hid her on Earth by disguising her as a tree. Tzitzimitl descended to Earth searching for her and uncovered their plot. In a fit of rage she split the tree in half, killing

Mayahuel. Outraged Quetzalcóatl murdered Tzitzimitl and then buried Mayahuel. From her

62 Williams. Tequila, 5. $2.7 billion was the estimated industry worth in 2009. 63 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 108. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 54 out of 4755. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 15.

30 burial site the first agave plant grew, and when harvested, it produced a sweet nectar like honey, and locals used its leaves to make walls, plates and paper.64

Later, it they found this nectar tasted even better once it fermented. They produced this crudely made beverage by letting the plant nectar sit and ferment. Then they consumed it without being distilled. The end result was a thick, milky liquid with a slightly sour taste and a phlegmy texture.65 Pulque retained many of the original nutrients found in the agave plant itself, and was full of necessary vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin B, and carbohydrates. This proved to be essential to the community because it provided them with nourishment when other sources of nutrients were scarce.66

Since it came from a plant instead of an animal, it was an affordable way for many people living in poverty to provide for themselves and their families. However, pulque still retained alcoholic properties and remained greatly regulated by indigenous officials. Common consumers were the elderly and pregnant women because of the extra nutritional benefits the vitamins provided them. The consumption of pulque for other than strictly nourishment was traditionally reserved for use in religious ceremonies by religious leaders. Pulque played such a

64 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 19, 106-107. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 300-337 out of 4755. Eloise Quiñones Keber. “Mayahuel and Maguey: Sustenance and Sacrifice in an Aztec Myth.” Latin American Indian Literatures Journal. Vol. 5, No. 2. Pennsylvania (Fall 1989), 73. Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. ”Mayahuel” London: Thames & Hudson. 1993, 112. Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. “Maguey.” London: Thames & Hudson. 1993, 108. Williams. Tequila, 54-55. 65 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 20. 66 Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. “Pulque.” London: Thames & Hudson. 1993, 138. Williams. Tequila, 49.

31 vital role in the lives of the ancient Mexicans of central Mexico that the drink had its own circle of gods which were collectively known as Centzontotochtin, or the 400 rabbits.67

In addition to Aztecs conducting rituals using pulque, other peoples such as the and the Zapotecs from Oaxaca produced it as well. While biologists date agave plants as far back as ten million years ago, the research conducted showed the Zapotec civilization was the earliest recorded group of people that used the plant in their daily lives. These cultures all collected agave from the wild and used the fermented sap as part of their daily lives. During exploration and after the Conquest, the perceived perpetual state of drunkenness by the natives initially shocked and appalled the Spanish. At first the Spanish crown sought to ban pulque altogether as a way to promote their own spirits through trade and commerce, and dominate the people they considered savage. 68

However, pulque was such an integral part of life among the indigenous peoples that in

1795 Spanish King Carlos IV realized instead of spending time and resources trying to prohibit it, they could use its popularity to generate income. He began taxation on the beverage as early as the mid-seventeenth century.69 While taxing pulque led producers to skirt the law and created a substantial market for pulque that bypassed the existing tax laws. The revenue pulque brought into the government coffers was still very significant because it paid for colonial administrative expenses including war, street maintenance and repair, and prison employee

67 Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. “Rabbit.” London: Thames & Hudson. 1993, 142. Williams. Tequila, 52. 68 Miller and Taube. “Pulque,” 138. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 19. Williams. Tequila, 30. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 158 of 4755. 69 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 415 out of 4755. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 25.

32 salaries, among other things. This marked the beginning of government involvement in the distribution of beverages made from the agave plant.70

Mayahuel was an autonomous Aztec deity that symbolized the importance of pulque in society. She was not a part of Spanish colonial culture, or the mestizo culture that developed as colonization occurred. As previously mentioned, the distillation of tequila did not occur until almost one hundred years after the height of the Aztec reign. Also, the Aztecs had very little, if any control over the area that became the town of Tequila, or the larger region that is currently known as Jalisco and the Amatitán Valley. Thus the worship of Mayahuel did not have any strong ties to the community living there by the turn of the seventeenth century.71 Therefore, while Mayahuel arguably was as a prominent figure in the history of pulque, she did not really affect the history of tequila as much as the tequila industry would like consumers to believe in contemporary society.

Also, after the introduction of Catholicism to the Post-classic Central Mexico region the

Aztecs governed, many people that included Mayahuel in their constellation of gods, transitioned to worshipping the Virgin of Guadalupe.72 The worship and popularity of

Mayahuel, along with other Aztec gods dwindled as religious doctrine and practices shifted toward Catholicism. Some even meshed characteristics of the goddess with the Virgin of

70 Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 423 out of 4755. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 29. 71 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 111. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 18 out of 4755. 72 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 109. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 22 out of 4755.

33 Guadalupe. As early as 1772, images of the Virgin of Guadalupe surfaced with the rays of light surrounding the virgin being depicted as agave leaves.73

Eventually iconography of the goddess disappeared completely, and by the time tequila became widely known and marketed in Jalisco, and throughout Mexico circa the 1950’s,

Mayahuel was a remote icon of the past. Until she resurfaced in the modern marketing strategies of neoliberalized tequila companies, the public only knew and associated her with pulque, not tequila. With the political neoliberal shift, which is discussed extensively in the following chapter, companies resuscitated past icons, such as Mayahuel and sought to sell the culture of Mexico to foreign consumers via the tequila industry. The tequila and tourism industries promoted Mayahuel as representative of how important ancient myth and religion was to Mexican culture.74

Despite the lack of Mayahuel’s involvement with tequila, she still received credit in the industry, primarily from the CRT. In the book Tequila por Quien Lo Hace, the CRT classified itself as the “Guardians of the Heritage of Mexico and Its People.”75 They considered her an important part of the history of tequila and the CRT pushed for Mexican consumers to celebrate and explore their history by purchasing tequila. By using iconography of Mayahuel in tequila advertisements and travel brochures, the tequila and tourism industries targeted both

Mexican and Mexican-American travelers by inviting them to reconnect with their new fictional history.

73 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 109. 74 Tequila Por Quien Lo Hace. Edited by Abad, Elvira. Rotomagno, S.A de C.V. July 2010, 22. 75 Ibid., 8.

34 Many images of Mayahuel, in multiple mediums adorned the walls in the Te Quiero

Tequila museum located in Guadalajara. These ranged from paintings that depicted her among agave plants, to statues, all of which the museum commissioned Mexican artists to create. The museum, situated in an older house outside the historical district, claimed to house the largest collection of tequila in the world. The museum also sold tequila and promoted a specific brand each week. The tour guide explained the different types of tequila, distillation process, and ageing process, but also focused on Mayahuel. The museum contained an entire room devoted to the goddess and the tour guide carefully explained the legend of Mayahuel and insisted that she was one of the main reasons consumers were able to enjoy tequila today.76

Surprisingly though, further imagery and discussion of Mayahuel outside the museum was scarce. While books and articles found in the United States about tequila contained plenty of references to her, locally she was almost non-existent. This furthered the idea that the use of the story and iconography of Mayahuel was a construct of the tequila industry’s marketing strategy to sell the culture of Mexico abroad, along with tequila.

The tour of the distillery at Tequila Sauza, featured a mural completed in the 1950’s by

Gabriel Flores that illustrated the creation and subsequent effects of tequila, as seen in Figure

2. However, the mural, along with other areas showcased during the tour contained no imagery of her, nor did the tour guide mention her at all during the portion of the tour that contained a brief history about tequila. The guide instead focused on the company’s own history,

76 Research trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.]

35 contributions to the industry, and the ways that Sauza differentiated themselves from the competition.77

Figure 2: The Gabriel Flores mural at Tequila Sauza. Photo by author.

Public spaces in the City of Guadalajara lacked any Mayahuel iconography, as well. The

City of Guadalajara, by its proximity to Tequila traditionally served as a transportation, and more recently a tourist hub. The most prevalent historical figure in the greater Guadalajara area appeared to be Father Miguel y Costilla, who was one of the leading figures of

Mexican Independence. Murals and statues abounded in the city, as well as in the neighboring artisanal town of . Artist José Orozco greatly publicized Father Miguel Hidalgo and his legacy in numerous murals in the Instituto Cultural Cabañas and the Palacio de Gobierno.

Other artists memorialized different contemporary heroes at the monument Rotonda de Los

77 Research trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.]

36 Jaliscienses Ilustres, which showcased the people that Jaliscienses feel influenced their lives the most.78

Ancient, indigenous representations in the city were not lacking, they just did not include Mayahuel. Imagery of the Aztec god Quetzalcóatl occurred throughout the city of

Guadalajara, especially at the Plaza Tapatía, which featured a large statue and fountain of the god. While the tequila and tourism industries focused on the legacy of Mayahuel and emphasized her importance in Mexican culture, artwork and public imagery in the city of

Guadalajara and the surrounding towns of Tequila and Tlaquepaque did not indicate that is the case. While historical landmarks showed that heritage was important to locals, the legacy of

Mayahuel was not as common in this region of Jalisco, or Mexico as the literature about her indicated.79

Gaytán cited the reason for Mayahuel’s involvement in the tequila industry as part of the “hacienda fantasy” that large tequila companies created for marketing purposes.80 She explained the “hacienda fantasy” as a manufactured history that promoted the people that produced tequila as adhering to a certain lifestyle, and portrayed them as following a specific set of beliefs and values in order to assist in the commodification of Mexican heritage as an instrument for generating corporate profits.

She described this fantasy as full of paradoxes because the Guadalajara Chamber of

Commerce used, “reincarnated landscapes and fictitious figures that obscured realities of

78 Research trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.] 79 Ibid. 80 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 91. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2472 out of 4755. Tequila Por Quien Lo Hace, 22.

37 modernization and economic struggles.”81 Mayahuel contributed to this fantasy because she helped transport people back in time to a more traditional Mexico, whose actual history is mostly obscured and one which consumers were mostly unaware. The industry relied on the naiveté of consumers in order to impart their own manufactured history onto the public and increase revenue in the process. The inclusion of Mayahuel in the story of tequila, and the belief that consumers were purchasing an authentic Mexican product increased due to the long-standing .

Los jimadores, The Caretakers of Agave

Traditionally, only one group of people was responsible for the growth, maintenance, and harvesting of agave plants. Called jimadores, these men dedicated their lives to producing the best agave plants possible. Tequila companies credit the dedication of their jimadores with their tequila’s success almost as much as they do their agave and distillation method. The jimador historically had the final say when it came to the proper care of the plants as they grew, all the way through to deciding when was the perfect time to harvest each plant. The value of the jimador was so critical that Herradura even produced a 100 percent blue agave tequila in

1994 called El Jimador.82 Much like Mayahuel, the veneration of the jimador as a cultural icon was a recent emergence, with the first reference found in a 1983 Tequila Sauza coffee table book that documented the heritage of the company.

81 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 95. Martineau. How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2484 out of 4755. Toner. Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Mexico, 75-76. 82 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 53. Williams. Tequila, 110.

38 Often on distillery tours, the jimador was one of the few employees that visitors met other than the tour guide.83 The guide presented him to the group typically as a middle-aged, friendly, knowledgeable man with whom the distillery entrusted their crop. The guide emphasized the amount of physical labor that went into the harvest and explained how the jimador dedicated his life to working in the fields to not only produce high-quality agaves, but to support his family as well. Typically such tours included the jimador demonstrating how to properly trim a piña, as seen in Figure 3. The jimador was seen as a physical embodiment of the traditional Mexican values; hard work, family, and unity, that go into producing tequila.84

Figure 3: A coa and a freshly trimmed agave piña. Photo by author.

83 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 99. 84 Ibid., 100-103. Research trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.]

39 Before the popularity of tequila soared, the occupation of a jimador mirrored the previous story. Jimadores spent a majority of their lives working the same fields for the same distilleries, and remained well-versed in the art of planting and growing thriving agave plants.

The local community considered being a jimador a noble career which workers passed down through the generations. The belief was that they imparted their knowledge onto their sons who then continued the successful growth and harvest of agave. These men donned all white clothing, as was typical of the Mexican campesino, or peasant, to attempt to stay cool in the hot agave fields, and began work early in the morning. A typical day in the life of a jimador included workers spending the day doing a variety of activities that ranged from planting new crops, inspecting the plants for pests, selecting some to prune, and ultimately harvesting the ones that were deemed ready.85

However, since the rampant industrialization of the production process during the

Porfiriato, the role of a jimador today is drastically different. While major companies such as

Cuervo, Herradura, and Sauza showed visitors the importance of the jimador to the industry, they very rarely portrayed an accurate picture. The job was no longer exclusively a generational job, as many companies were no longer owned and administered by individual families, but by impersonal transnational liquor conglomerates.86 The switch to these larger owners, which began during the Porfiriato, stalled during isolationist policies that followed his regime. After neoliberalism took hold in the 1980’s, larger companies became more wide

85 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 102. Williams. Tequila, 34. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila. Location 1419 out of 4755. 86 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 104.

40 spread which created a switch in values too, where companies concerned themselves more with ways to increase production, cut costs, and raise profits.

Industry changes also led to a decrease in existing jobs, or changes from full-time to part-time positions. This caused many families to migrate to urban areas where they had a better chance of securing sustainable and better paid work. The increase in demand from the

U.S. in the 1960’s initiated one of these changes, and caused wide scale mechanization of a majority of factories. The introduction of more machinery to the cooking and distilling processes increased production and reduced expenses. Companies cooked agave faster, distilled it faster, and did so with less oversight. Changes in the way agave grew also reduced job opportunities. Companies brought fertilization techniques and herbicides into the growing process. Growers cloned agave plants instead of leaving them to flower and reproduce naturally, as seen in Figure 4.87

Figure 4: A rare agave plant that was allowed to flower in the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport. Photo by author.

87 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 105. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 54.

41 Jimadores still retained some of their traditional job roles during the shift to distilleries owned by corporations, but their overall role changed. Companies relied on biologists and chemicals for increased production more so than the wisdom of the jimador. The demographic of the average jimador changed as well. The average pay remained the same from 2000 to

2012, and job responsibilities became more strenuous, which lowered the average age the workers retired, and as a whole made this job only for the most physically fit.88 This shift in occupational status was fairly recent as implied by the information in Ana Valenzuela-Zapata and Gary Paul Nabhan’s book, published in 2003. When they wrote, the occupation of jimador was still a decent way for men of all ages to make a living, not just the single men who were the most physically fit.89 In works published since then, the change from noble sage to migrant worker was most noticeable.

Most jimadores were young men who worked the fields in groups of ten to fifteen in what are called cuadrillas. Sometimes they worked the same fields every day, but mostly they went where they were hired. They also no longer wore classical, stark white uniforms either.

Agave fields were home to snakes and scorpions, therefore most modern jimadores protect themselves with thick jeans, work boots, and shin guards.90

An average day for the cuadrilla began at around 5:30 in the morning, and lasted anywhere from eight to twelve hours, depending on the harvest size. The men did all of the

88 Bowen. Divided Spirits: Tequila, 115-117. 89 Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 43-44. 90 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 99-100. Research trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to visit sites where tequila is produced and consumed. [March 17-20, 2016.] Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 34.

42 cutting and harvesting by hand and then manually carried the agaves, which weighed approximately 100 to 200 pounds each, to the truck. After the harvest was complete, the men must unload the truck and split the piñas before their day was complete. For their work, they got paid $15 pesos for every kilogram that they brought in, which was the industry average for the past twelve years. An average cuadrilla can harvest three tons of agave per person per day, which would bring their daily wage to $32 US dollars.91

Author Sarah Bowen argued their pay was horribly low, and in her book she conducted numerous interviews with those that worked the fields and they all lamented how difficult it was to support their families with these low wages.92 Some of the men cannot even work as jimadores full-time, but instead found work only two or three days out of the week. For the rest of their income, they followed the harvesting season of various crops, or looked for other, lower paying positions within the industry such as fumigating crops, to supplement their income.93

In response to the industry boom in the 1990’s, some tequila corporations also imported manual laborers from nearby , Mexico’s poorest state. Due to the state of the economy in Chiapas, these estimated 1200 workers, used to working for extremely low wages, came to work the fields. The tequila companies increased their profits by further propagating

91 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 115-117. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 99. Walton. “The Evolution and Localization of Mezcal and Tequila in Mexico,” 114. 92 However, the occupation of jimador is still higher paying occupation than the 2015 Mexican daily minimum wage. In Guadalajara this rate amounted to what exchanged to 4.69 US dollars, as reported by the Mexican Gulf Reporter. 93 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 118.

43 this low wage system.94 The previous jimador system, which employed mostly local workers, funneled money back into Jalisco’s economy, but this newer method increased profits for foreign corporations while providing substandard wages for their non-Jalisciense employees.

This method of increasing profits by employing laborers who were not as educated about the cultivation of agave, pushed the industry farther away from its roots and corporate public relations notwithstanding, contradicted the role of the jimador as one steeped in tradition.

Despite these differences, the cultural entity of the jimador still resonated with modern tequila consumers, and was a valuable part of the industry’s marketing campaign. Numerous companies’ websites boasted that their brand was cultivated with the upmost care and knowledge in order to produce the most superior tequila.95 The description of the middle-aged, hardworking, compliant indigenous jimador provided a sense of nostalgia to tequila consumers south of the border. It also implied an enhanced level of quality to the American who was sipping an exoticized tequila that they believe experts with familial ties to the plants harvested.

Using the jimador as a marketing technique was another way the tequila corporations sold nostalgia, much like they achieved with the marketing of Mayahuel as the goddess of tequila.

Lo mexicano and the Spirit of Mexico

Imagery of tequila abounded, and it often included strong, virile men consuming the beverage before they rode off into the sunset to defend Mexico’s honor. This idea of tequila

94 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 105. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 118. 95 Beam Suntory. “Our Heritage.” Beam Suntory about History. Last modified 2015. Accessed April 1, 2015. www.beamsuntory.com/about/history. Clase Azul. “Tequila Clase Azul.” Last modified 2012. Accessed May 17, 2016. www.claseazul.com. Mundo Cuervo. “More Than 250 Years of History.” About Cuervo. Accessed April 1, 2015. www.josecuervoexpress.com/en/sobre-cuervo/250-anos-de-historia.html.

44 promoting masculinity and embodying the true spirit of Mexico pervaded the history and marketing of the spirit. Depending on what source one consulted, the validity of these beliefs were drawn into question. According to the tequila companies and the CRT, this was absolutely true. However, if one consulted the Mexicans in the agave-growing and tequila producing regions, or historical texts, the theory falls profoundly short.

Gaytán defined lo mexicano as, “an idea, or fiction of a collective unified Mexican national consciousness.”96 Many saw this idea as necessary to the successful development of a unified Mexican nation. The movement to create a unified, strong Mexican country occurred due to the internal struggles that Mexico experienced from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.

During the rule of Porfirio Díaz, from 1876 to 1911, the revolutionaries who fought against Díaz emerged as national heroes. Research showed that Díaz publicly praised the mestizo population as a progression of the blend of Spanish and indigenous culture, when in reality his programs and land policies tended to favor the elites and corporations.97

A charro was a masculine figure that worked on a hacienda as a farmer, or cowboy, and some of these men later joined the fight against Díaz. The Mexican Golden Age in the 1940’s and 1950’s produced films that romanticized their lives. Literature presented the stories if charros as well, and often these stories promoted traditional gender roles and emphasized the importance of the male as the protector and provider of their family and country.98 Their

96 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 6. 97 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 36. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1337 out of 4755. 98 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 50. Toner, Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth- Century Mexico, 75-76. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 14.

45 identity of being strong revolutionaries who assisted in the fight against the inequalities they faced became greatly intertwined with images of manhood and power.99

When the Porfiriato ended in 1911 with the overthrow of Díaz and the end of the Mexican

Revolution occurred in 1920, Mexicans looked for a common thread that united them as a nation.

Officials sought different ways to encourage unity among the people of this fragile country. The people looked towards local themes and issues to attempt to find something truly Mexican they could call their own, and one of those common threads was tequila.100 Agave grew only in

Mexico, and at the time, people only produced tequila in Jalisco, so the spirit was definitely unique to the country.

Also, numerous corridos, or ballads, featured soldiers drinking tequila. Corridos were folk performances people used to communicate common ideas about, and to illustrate the resistance.101 Mescal, not just tequila, was representative of the poor and middle-classes. While elites could afford imported alcohol and food items from other countries, these lower classes experimented with local ingredients and beverages. Thus, mescal became a common thread among non-elites that they shared during the Porfiriato, the revolution, and establishment of a united Mexico.102 Soon, Mexicans believed tequila to be a popular beverage that could unite the nation.

99 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 49. Toner, Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth- Century Mexico, 73. Pilcher. “Jose Cuervo and the Gentrified Worm,” 222. 100 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 9. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 19. 101 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 52. 102 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 2-3, 21. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 37.

46 The large number of Mexicans who migrated north to the United States in the early twentieth century bolstered this belief. When mining and railroad work decreased, foreign investors laid off Mexican workers. This caused the disenfranchised workers to seek employment elsewhere, and many migrated to the United States, often times aggressively recruited by industrial and agricultural employers. These people brought their own culture and thoughts about alcoholic beverages with them to their new homes. Tequila enabled them to also bring a piece of Mexico with them as they moved away from their native country.103

How did tequila, and not mescal or pulque become the country’s national beverage?

Tequila, then produced only in the state of Jalisco, represented the in the entire country despite the fact that it is now produced in five. Of all of the states in Mexico, Jalisco involved itself the least in the revolution. As a whole, the state was very conservative, and not actively a part of overthrowing Díaz. Pulque tied Mexicans to their roots and broadcasted their rich history. If not pulque, surely mescal embodied a much wider sector of the Mexican population, and was more popular than tequila, with Mexicans.

While pulque, at one time could have won the title of “the spirit of Mexico,” it did not measure up in a modern society for several reasons. First, it could not withstand transportation conditions. Typically pulque soured shortly after it was made, possessing a shelf-life of three days. Thus it was necessary for people to consume pulque locally, close to its point of origin.

This made exportation to nearby states and the United States by rail impossible. The beverage

103 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 58.

47 soured before it even reached its destination.104 In order to promote the unity of Mexico via a beverage, Mexicans needed an exportable product. Mexicans needed something bottled and easily transported when they travelled north, across the border.

Another reason why pulque could not compete with tequila was that it was not as marketable as tequila. Pulque was bitter and harsh tasting in comparison to the smooth, citrus flavor of tequila. Elites drank imported spirits from Europe, or whiskey from the United States because of the nature of production. They considered the distillation process to be somewhat modern. Many of them thought of pulque as an old-fashioned drink that represented the pre-

Columbian past they worked so hard to forget. The temperance movement in the early 1900’s did not wholly stop the consumption of alcohol, but elites used it to classify some alcohol, such as tequila and beer, as appropriate, and to malign others, such as pulque as inappropriate. To them, pulque was déclassé. It represented another source of conflict between the modernity they were trying to create, and the backwards way of the indigenous people they viewed as holding them back.105

If pulque was not fit to be the spirit of Mexico, at the time Mexicans certainly consumed mescal more widely than tequila. Theoretically, it represented a wider sector of the Mexican population and mescal did not focused solely on those from Jalisco. However, some considered mescal still to be not modern enough to be representative of the new country they wanted to

104 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 37. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 110 of 4755. 105 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 32. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 452 of 4755. Toner, Alcohol and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Mexico, 193.

48 build.106 Tequila appeared more mainstream and modern because of the production and distillation process it underwent in comparison to that of mescal. People produced mescal produced in underground ovens and only distilled it once, whereas tequila traditionally roasted in brick ovens and producers distilled it at least twice, if not more.107 This difference in production, along with certain tequilas being aged in barrels, closely aligned tequila with the imported spirits that Mexicans typically consumed.

Tequila, however, was something that elites related to, and it was familiar to most

Mexicans. Even though distilleries for it only existed in Jalisco, people living in other states heard of the beverage. It was a distilled spirit, like their other drinks of choice, and most preferred the taste over pulque. The taste of tequila was so recognizable by those who consumed imported spirits that at first, Tequila Sauza marketed it as Mexican whiskey.108 Then owner, Cenobio Sauza, as previously noted, exported tequila to the United States first in 1873 via El Paso del Norte, which is currently known as Cuidad Juárez.109 He also took his tequila to Chicago’s World Fair in

1893 to officially introduce the spirit globally, where it won international recognition. Sauza showcased the spirit again in San Antonio in 1910 under the name of ‘mescal wine.’110 The close association of tequila with other distilled liquors gave tequila an international advantage that pulque did not acquire.

The area that produced tequila in also influenced its popularity. The valley that agave grew in and the surrounding areas of Jalisco quickly became more industrialized and modern.

106 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 32. 107 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 3. 108 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 40. 109 Williams. Tequila, 107. Orozco. “Tequila Sauza and the Redemption of Mexico’s Vital Fluids,” 186. 110 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 4. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 110 of 4755.

49 Investors purchased property to build distilleries on the affordable land found in Jalisco. In 1830, only nine distilleries existed in the area, including those owned by Cuervo, Orendain, and Sauza.

By 1897, records showed forty-five .111 Existing distilleries and budding entrepreneurs quickly took advantage of the agave-growing climate, and expanded their businesses. Money from the tequila industry, in turn poured back into the state of Jalisco and caused industrialization of the area.

Another geographical advantage tequila had over mescal was the proximity of the valley to the town of Tequila and to Guadalajara. Distributors easily accessed Guadalajara by road from the town of Tequila, where other mescal producing regions such as Oaxaca were not able. To further the ability of tequila to be sold across the country, in 1888, the railway line that stretched from Guadalajara to Mexico City was completed. This gave the distilleries in Tequila easy access to both domestic and foreign markets. Mescal did not have the same access to international trade, and therefore did not flourish as easily.112

Oaxaca, the state that primarily produced mescal, was left out of the industrialization process and remained a more traditional state.113 Investors and businessmen later preferred

Jalisco over Oaxaca because it was more industrial and modern. Government officials and leaders in the tourism industry preferred to promote the more progressive state of Jalisco as the face of

Mexico, and some even went as far as to call Jalisco the most Mexican state in Mexico. The

111 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 34. 112 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 34. 113 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 31.

50 tourism board referred to Guadalajara as the “quintessential Mexican destination” for travelers, and considered it one of the most vital cities in Mexico as far as business and industry.114

In short, Mexicans did not chose tequila as the ‘spirit of Mexico’ because it was truly believed to represent all of Mexico’s inhabitants, but they chose it because of the location that produced it and its marketability. All Mexicans did not naturally prefer the spirit, nor did it have a significant impact on their lives. Tequila was more palatable to the elites, who had the money to invest in Mexico’s future. Mexican officials thought Jalisco was a better state to promote. It was more modern than most states in Mexico, and it projected the image that Mexico wanted to portray to the world as representative to its culture. The tourism industry, coupled with the tequila industry felt that more money could be made and funneled back into the Mexican economy by focusing on tequila from Jalisco versus mescal from Oaxaca and other less developed states.

Conclusion

While the legend of Mayahuel made a good backdrop for a museum, the crisply dressed jimadores made the Ruta de Tequila more scenic, and tequila heralded as the ‘Spirit of Mexico’ mades a good marketing slogan, the accuracy of these ideas is lacking. Imagery and writing does not display Mayahuel brandishing a copita of tequila, or even mescal for that matter. The jimadores of today no longer tend to the agave like their grandfathers taught their fathers before

114 “Guadalajara.” Mexican Tourism Board. 2012. visitmexico.com/Guadalajara. Accessed June 15, 2016.

51 them. More commonly they are day laborers just trying to eke out a living in an area controlled by the tequila industry, much like the workers in the ‘banana republics’ of Central America.115

The idea of lo mexicano portrayed constantly in film, television and radio further projected the construct of tequila as an inherently Mexican beverage to the rest of the world.

While the sexism of lo mexicano was not as prevalent today as tequila is openly consumed by both sexes, the after effects still linger in brand marketing and design. Tequila 1800 used celebrity spokesperson Ray Liotta to promote their brand by claiming that he is a ‘man of taste and who knows what he wants. ’The ‘spirit of Mexico’ is still deeply intertwined with masculine imagery. For example, Hijos de Villa Tequila is placed into pistol-shaped bottles to remind the buyer of the revolutionary history of Mexico. The name of the brand, Hijos de Villa Tequila, translates into ‘Sons of Pancho Villa,’ using Pancho Villa’s legacy as a marketing tactic.116

With the rise of the ‘foodie’ culture also came the rise of culinary tourism, where travelers sought out unique cultures with the hope of experiencing them through their food and drink.

Foods traditionally consumed in Mexico enticed the U.S tourist because they provided an alternative to the packaged, processed foods that are typically available.117 As the members of the hippie counterculture grew concerned about consuming natural food aged and gained corporate workplace occupations, their ideas translated into a desire for more authentic food.118

115 Richard Alan White. The Morass. United States Intervention in Central America. New York: Harper & Row, 1984, 319. 116 Tequila 1800. “Enough Said.” Last modified 2015. Accessed July 12, 2016. www.tequila1800.com. 117 Pilcher, Jeffrey. “From ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ to ‘Mexican Truffles’: Culinary Tourism across the Rio Grande.” In Culinary Tourism edited by Lucy M. Long. University of Kentucky Press: Kentucky, 2004, 78. 118 Pilcher. “From ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ to ‘Mexican Truffles’,” 84-85.

52 Many tourists craved these natural dishes since typical Mexican cuisine skipped the industrialized growth that the food industry experienced from the 1850’s through the 1900’s.119

A study entitled “Travel Activities and Motivation Survey,” conducted by the Ontario

Ministry of Tourism reported that seventy-one percent of all adult American travelers participated in at least one culinary activity in 2004 and 2005. Culinary tourism in Mexico did not just encompass the travels of United States tourists to various destinations in Mexico, but the travels of fellow Mexicans as well. Since the implementation of a railway system, the Mexican middle-class toured different states in their country and experienced local cuisine.120

Mexican food is one of the top three favorite ethnic foods in the United States, along with

Chinese and Italian food. While ethnic foods served in the United States rarely completely emulated the original cuisine, they still gained popularity with multiple cultures. The American variation of Mexican food typically fell under the category of Tex-Mex, and fare such as queso, margaritas, and fajitas were also served in Mexico as well. 121

The Mexican government supported tourism since 1920 as a tool to revitalize economic and political stability after the Mexican Revolution. By encouraging tourism from United States citizens, the Mexican government attempted to strengthen their relationship with the United

States. The industry continued to grow internationally in 1968 when Mexico hosted the Olympic

Games.

119 Pilcher. “From ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ to ‘Mexican Truffles’,” 81. 120 Pilcher. “From ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ to ‘Mexican Truffles’,” 84. Roberta Roberti. “Have Food? Will Travel.” Travel Agent Central. Questex Media Group, August 1, 2008. 121 Pilcher. “From ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ to ‘Mexican Truffles’,” 92.

53 Private resources mainly funded the tourism industry after the Mexican economic crash of the 1980’s, when the government had to pull their funding. Organizations like UNESCO (United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) funded some tourism ventures after the economic crisis, by promoting programs that preserved certain cultural aspects of Mexico. As of

2013, Mexico was the top destination for United States citizens travelling abroad, the leading international destination in Latin America, and ranked tenth in terms of international tourist arrivals worldwide, receiving upwards of 39.4 million visitors that year.122

With culinary vacation packages becoming more popular in Mexico, there is another spirit that is trying to capitalize on the success of tequila, and may challenge its existence as the ‘Spirit of Mexico.’ The mescal industry secured their own DO in 1994 which stipulated that mescal could be produced in all of , Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, and , as well as in parts of

Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas.123 While the mescal market is not as large as tequila, it is growing rapidly. From the years 2005 to 2014, the production levels of mescal increased from approximately 400,000 liters to over 1.5 million.124

Foreign companies took notice of this, and some began to market their own brand of mescal. For example, Tequila Clase Azul, a luxury tequila company whose tequilas range from $70 to $2100 a bottle, spent two years trying to launch their own successful mescal brand. Tequila

Clase Azul considered themselves an ultra-premium brand and marketed their spirits as being

122 Helene Balslev Clausen and Szilvia Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development: Pueblos Mágicos of Mexico.” Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 111. Part B. Amsterdam: Elsevier (Jan. 16, 2016), 321. José de Jesús Hernández López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional. ¿Patrimonialzación o Privatización?” Andamios: Revista de Investigación Social. Vol. 6, No. 12. Distrito Federal, México: Universidad Autónoma de la Cuidad de México (December 2009), 43. 123 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 4. 124 Ibid., 27.

54 distinguishable from others because of their ties to local neighborhoods and their artisan handcrafts. Clase Azul employed the native to make and hand paint the bottles for their tequilas and mescals.

This use of local businesses contributed to the feeling of nostalgia that consuming tequila gave to its consumers. This appropriation of indigenous people as a commodity aided in furthering the capitalistic gains of large corporate companies. Also, the handcrafted bottles help further the claims that tequila is truly a Mexican beverage. Owned by the company Productos

Finos de Agave, S.A. de C.V. which also produced Casamigos and Avión, Clase Azul branched out and created Clase Azul Mezcal. Durango Clase Azul Mezcal, mirrored the rest of the company’s tradition by being handcrafted and produced locally. It retailed for upwards of $200

USD, making it one of the higher priced mescals and it was quickly gaining a foothold in the market. The ability for Clase Azul remain successful in an international market showed that mescal has the potential to replace tequila as Mexico’s spirit of choice.

55 CHAPTER III

CREATION OF AN INDUSTRY

A recent 2016 United States radio advertisement for Tequila Cazadores asked the consumer to, “remember where they came from,” while enjoying their double distilled tequila.

The examination of tequila advertisements and pop culture references, gave an impression that the industry was full of nostalgia, history and a true embodiment of Mexican values and lifestyles.

However, the business of tequila was far more complicated than marketing, labels, and manufactured history. The production of tequila grew from small and local, exporting 8,800 liters in 1948, to a global industry that employed tons of thousands of people and exported approximately 250 million liters of tequila annually.125 The success of this industry highly depended on a number of factors besides cultural history which included changes in politics, shifts in economics, and an increased in involvement with international companies.

This chapter examines the history of the tequila industry chronologically from the beginning of the first distillery to present day. It explores the impact that NAFTA had on the tequila industry, what economic affect this had on Mexico itself, and how this affected business relations with the United States. It also looks at how these changes altered life in the towns that produced tequila, and if these economic programs were in fact successful.

This chapter also discusses how the various changes in Mexican history and foreign relations impacted the tequila industry, and how tequila morphed into the massive market that it is today. The town of Tequila began as a small village founded in 1530 by the Spanish. Massive deforestation and rich soil from the nearby volcano created agricultural land suitable for growing

125 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 27. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 65. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 128 of 4755.

56 agave.126 The state of Jalisco emerged as a tequila-growing region in the early nineteenth century as a result of the political and modernization efforts of President Porfirio Díaz from 1876 to

1911.127 The industrial and infrastructural modernization that occurred in Jalisco during this time increased the area’s economy, which primed it for international trade and entry into a global market.128

The introduction of tequila into the United States in 1873 by Cenobio Sauza, via Paso del

Norte, also brought significant changes to the industry. Despite Mexico being contiguous to the

United States, tequila experienced a transnational trajectory for more than a century in the borderland regions before formal entry into the U.S. market.129 The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair thrust mescal from Tequila into the spotlight, and gradually expanded the market into all areas of the United States. 130 This market growth led tequila companies to search for ways to increase their profits and renovate their distribution processes. Some tequila companies such as Cuervo and Sauza built bottling factories in mid-twentieth century across the border in states like

California, , , and Kentucky, which already had functioning spirit bottling facilities, to speed up the distribution process.131

126 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 8. Williams. Tequila, 66. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 483 of 4755. 127 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 3. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 45. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2482 of 4755. 128 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 32-33. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 39-40. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1336-1340 of 4755. 129 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 6. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 3-4. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1173 of 4755. 130 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 4. Williams. Tequila, 107-108. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1177 of 4755. 131 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 88. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 511 of 4755.

57 In the early twentieth century Mexico renationalized its resources when it ousted foreign businesses from industries such as railroads, mining, and in an effort to boost the economy. The tequila industry grew despite the renationalization of Mexico’s industries, and exports spiked during both World Wars. Tequila experienced a larger popularity boost during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when Mexico privatized their national resources, and encouraged foreign investment in the country. Other countries such as China, and capitalized on tequila’s popularity boost by growing similar species of agave to produce their own tequilas.132 The production of counterfeit tequila led to the industry securing the first non-

European Denomination of Origin rights to protect their legacy in 1974. With the demand for tequila growing, some American entrepreneurs wanted to take advantage of the new industry by producing and marketing the beverage themselves. This led to the creation of Patrón in 1989 by

John Paul Dejoria, founder of Paul Mitchell haircare products and Martin Crowley, both residents of the United States.133 Austrian businessman Martin Grassl established Porfidio, another tequila company that in 1991.134 Tequila then received official recognition by the European Union in

1997.135

In 1994, Mexico joined NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to increase their international economic standing. This trade agreement promised to boost the economies of

Mexico, the United States, and Canada. One of the benefits of signing the treaty was that the

132 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 70. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 129. Williams. Tequila, 137. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1360 of 4755. 133 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 53. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 46. Williams. Tequila, 26. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2229 of 4755. 134 Williams. Tequila, 95. 135 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 4. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 10. Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, 46. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1383- 1386 of 4755.

58 agreement provided the tequila industry with better protection. It also fostered trade between

Mexico and other countries, which further increased tequila’s global visibility. This entrance into the global market changed who owned tequila companies, wealthy non-Mexican individuals or larger U.S. and European corporations bought many distilleries and brands. With global visibility came the recognition of the town of Tequila as a UNESCO ( Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site in 2003. 136

This new NAFTA partnership led to the creation of other sources for community projects, like the Pueblo Mágico, in which the Secretary of Tourism awarded grants to cities in Mexico. The program anticipated for these ‘Magic Cities’ to use this government funding to better their community, and increase the standards of living. Recipients of the award received a grant that ranged from $50,000 to $700,000. The theory behind the award system was that if a city used the money to invest in themselves by making infrastructure improvements and allowing the tourism industry to flourish in the area that everyone would be much better off than before.137

136 Per the UNESCO World Heritage website, www.whc..org/en/about, the purpose of the UNESCO World Heritage title is to ensure the protection of natural and cultural heritage, provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger, support public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation, encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage, and to encourage international cooperation in the conservation of our world's cultural and natural heritage. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 110. Williams. Tequila, 17. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 96. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 43. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 160 of 4755. Larry Knapek. “Bryant announces formation of NAFTA superhighway caucus.” The West News (West, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 18, 1994, newspaper, August 18, 1994; West, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth716611/m1/2/?q=NAFTA: accessed August 1, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting West Public Library. 137 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 115-116. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 47-48. Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 318. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 3090 of 4755.

59 The town of Tequila drastically changed when it received this award in 2004.138 The notoriety brought on by the improvements made from the Pueblo Mágico allowed the Consejo

Regulador del Tequila, (CRT) to secure a grant of $1.5 million from the Inter-American

Development Bank to establish the Ruta de Tequila in 2009. The Inter-American Development

Bank, developed in 1959 by the Organization of American States, received funding from forty- eight sovereign entities. The bank remains one of the largest sources of funding for the finance of projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The CRT touted the route as the path toward sustainable tourism and their co-sponsor Cuervo, assured it would be beneficial to micro, small, medium and large businesses.139 All of these changes intended to boost the town’s profile as both a domestic and foreign tourist destination while increasing the financial standing for all of the town’s inhabitants.

However, unlike the Pueblo Mágico promised, the existing elites and large business owners only secured these benefits. Small business owners claimed they have yet to see any increase in business from these initiatives, and some even state their businesses took a financial hit because the Ruta de Tequila did not stray from the main road and bussed groups of tourists right past their businesses on towards the big name distilleries. The distilleries also offered food and some even offered lodging, so tourists never left the compound.140

138 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 116-117. Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 321. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 47-48. 139 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 117-118. Williams. Tequila, 94. Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 321. 140 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 48. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 11. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 55. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 489 of 4755.

60 The first six months of 2012, from January to June, CRT records showed 145 tequila companies registered in Mexico. Of these companies, thirteen were considered large, thirteen were medium, twenty-two were small, and ninety-seven were microbusinesses, as seen in Figure

5. The thirteen largest companies, which constituted only 9 percent of the total number of companies, produced 84.5 percent of all of the mixto tequila, and 72.7 percent of all of the pure

Blue Weber agave tequila in the industry. José Cuervo was the only company of these thirteen that remains owned by Mexicans. The other twelve large companies shifted ownership to mainly

U. S. based transnational foreign corporations over the course of the past sixty years.141

Figure 5: The breakdown of the tequila industry by company size.

141 Mixto tequila is tequila that is only comprised of fifty-one percent blue agave sugars, with the rest be made up of other sweeteners. Duncan Tucker. “Last of the tequila giants set for foreign ownership.” The Tequila Files. August 6, 2012. Accessed June 21, 2016. Thetequilafiles.com. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 104. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 49.

61 Beginning of an Empire

Tequila was originally just an exceptional form of mescal wine made from the agave plants that grew in the rich volcanic soil in the Amatitán Valley in Jalisco. Biologists dated the origins of the agave genus back as far as ten million years.142 Previously discussed, the agave plant provided indigenous peoples with food, drink and textiles for centuries. When, exactly, the first distillation process occurred, however, is still up for debate. Some claimed that indigenous people developed the technology on their own before the Spanish Conquest, while others believed that the Spanish learned the technique from the Arabs and brought it with them overseas. Still others maintained the Filipino coconut cultivators brought the technology over from the Chinese.143

One thing was certain though, by 1650, citizens of the town later known as Tequila petitioned the

Spanish crown to establish a township, and began laying the foundation for a colossal industry.144

The tequila industry really grew after the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). The massive land reform led by the administration of Ignacio Comonfort (1855-1857) occurred several decades after the wars that happened from 1855 to 1867, and paved the way for future industries. The Lerdo Law, named after Finance Minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada sought to break up large landholdings and spread ownership to the poorer classes. This Jeffersonian plan’s main focus targeted the land held by the , which at the time was the largest

142 Williams. Tequila, 30. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 158 of 4755. 143 Williams. Tequila, 56. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 168. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 607-610 of 4755. 144 Williams. Tequila, 66. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 96.

62 landholder in Mexico, as well as the smaller communal holdings. The goal of these highly liberal reforms was to create freer markets through promoting the ownership of land. 145

The Lerdo Law, which passed in 1856, failed to provide Mexican farmers with a chance to be independent entrepreneurs. Instead it facilitated investments from land speculators and large landholding companies. The law did not provide financing options for the poor farmers, therefore, most of the farmers could not afford to purchase the church or communal lands they currently farmed. Under the new law, this land then went to auction to the highest bidder. Once at auction, many upper-class Mexicans boycotted purchasing the land on religious grounds, since most of it was taken from the Church. This left only larger companies to invest in purchasing the land. This failed land reform paved the way for large tracts of land to be owned by companies and corporations, instead of individual people. While this negatively impacted the small farmers, it allowed larger families, like Cuervo and Sauza to acquire massive amounts of land to add to their fields and distilleries. 146

The tequila industry, as well as other industries like railroad and mining, gained hold and flourished in the 1870’s and 1880’s. The War of Independence limited the amount of competition from foreign spirits and enabled the town of Tequila to focus on its own natural resources and improve the growth and production of tequila. The area was fertile and with running water, so agave plants grew easily. Soon, people began to tell a difference in the taste of

145 William D. Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform.” Law and Business Review of the Americas. vol. 16, no. 3. Dallas: Southern Methodist University. (Summer 2010.) 481-490. Emmanuelle Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change: Land Titles, Land Markets, and Tenure Security in Mexican Communities.” World Development. Vol. 37, No. 8. Amsterdam: Elsevier (August 2009). 1392. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 119-120. 146 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 485-495. Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change,” 1393. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 36.

63 mescal from Tequila and mescal from other locales. The official split between mescal and tequila occurred in 1875, when the vino-mescal de tequila became known as its own beverage and not a type of mescal.147 Tequila Sauza was one of the frontrunners in the industry, in part for their participation in international competitions, such as world fairs and expositions in , Paris and San Antonio. The Porfiriato (1876-1910) promoted this international activity as beneficial because it heightened global image and furthered local productivity.148

Among the early tequila producers were current industry leaders such as José Cuervo,

Sauza, and Herradura.149 These companies began as small haciendas that housed traditional distilleries, and make up a bulk of the current industry. José Cuervo is one of the oldest tequila companies that is still in business today, and the company has the oldest distillery, La Rojeña.

Tequila Cuervo initially began in 1758 when a will deeded a distillery to José Antonio Cuervo.

Later in 1795, the Cuervo family received the first permit from the Spanish government for the legal establishment of a mescal distillery.150

The founder of Tequila Sauza, Cenobio Sauza, originally worked for the Cuervo family in

1858. Sauza began his life in Jalisco and was landless, but he worked his way up the ranks at a

Cuervo distillery until he could purchase his own distillery in 1873. Since then, fierce competition occurred between the two companies, with both leading the industry in its modernization. Sauza was the first, however, to offer the beverage in easy to transport glass bottles. The cultivation

147 Valenzuela-Zapata and Nabhan. ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History, xxiv. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 38. Williams. Tequila, 15-16. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 2. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1177 of 4755. 148 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 39-40. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 36. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1182 of 4755. 149 Williams. Tequila, 105-110. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 9. Williams. Tequila, 104. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 31. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1123 of 4755. 150 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 31-32. Williams. Tequila, 107-108.

64 and distillation of agave by other tequileros grew in popularity as well, but in the late nineteenth century, Cuervo and Sauza remained the two big names, together producing more tequila than all other distilleries combined. At this time, Mexicans still owned the industry entirely.151

According to family history Aurelio López established in 1861. One day,

López walked through his agave fields and found a horseshoe. Seen as a sign of good luck, he decided to build his original distillery, San José del Refugio, on that very spot. Herradura’s pride, based on being the only tequila company that used strictly 100 percent blue agave in their tequila, provided an advantage in the industry. For a large span of time in the mid-nineteenth century Herredura distributed the only non-mixto tequila in the United States. Cuervo, Sauza, and Herradura were the three companies which later led the pack of tequila companies that dominated the industry.152

During the administration of Porfirio Díaz, from 1876 to 1911, the underwent many changes. His rule, commonly referred to as the Porfiriato, helped usher in the

Industrial Revolution when he offered tax exemptions and subsidies to encourage foreign investment. This foreign investment increased the mining industries and allowed for the building of railway and telegraph lines which were primarily owned by U.S. capital. Throughout the period of 1883 to 1910, railroad and mining companies owned twenty percent of the national territory of Mexico which amounts to roughly forty-two million acres of land. By the end of the Porfiriato in 1910, foreign investment in Mexico, concentrated in the railway and mining industries, stood

151 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 35-36. Williams. Tequila, 107-108. 152 Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 57-58. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2925-2940 of 4755. Williams. Tequila, 109-110.

65 at $2 billion, with half of that coming from the United States. At the time this was the largest investment abroad made by United States businesses.153

It would be these railway lines that proved to be so vital to the tequila industry. The railway line allowed tequila to be transported from Guadalajara to Mexico City. From there, it reached numerous different destinations via the network of railroads in Mexico City. The

Industrial Revolution also led to changes in agriculture and machinery as well. The demand for tequila, coupled with advances in distillation equipment allowed the industry to grow. By 1888, there were at least sixty haciendas distilling tequila.154

If the liberal land reforms of 1855-1867 did little to help the average worker, then the changes made during the Porfiriato did less. While the Porfiriato greatly assisted in the growth of the tequila industry as well as several other industries in the country, including railway, subsurface minerals, telegraph, these changes did not enable the poor to become more successful. The increase in business and investment in Mexico did not trickle down to the lower

Mexican classes because profits from these industries stayed with the companies that owned them. Foreign companies that invested in Mexico, such as the railway and telegraph companies, employed Mexican workers, but hired their own countrymen for supervisory and administrative

153 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 498-510. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 57-58. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 32-34. Teresa M. Van Hoy. “La Marcha Violenta? Railroad and Land in 19th Century Mexico.” Bulletin of Latin American Research. Vol. 19, No. 1 Wiley Blackwell. (Jan. 2000), 35. 154 Williams. Tequila, 68-69. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 38. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1347 of 4755.

66 positions. It was very rare that the average campesino, or farm worker, advanced past the status of manual labor under the Porfiriato changes. 155

The emergence of a strong railway industry led to many problems for the peasant and small landholding populations. In 1882, the Mexican government allowed private land to be expropriated for projects like the railroads that were public works which displaced many peasants from their land. Wealthy landlords called hacendados often owned the land left for farmers to cultivate, and typically offered very exploitative rental agreements with the tenant farmers. The oppressive financial conditions for the poorer classes created by the land reforms and railway industries ultimately allowed Emiliano Zapata to lead to peasant farmers in ousting

Díaz from office and starting the Mexican Revolution in 1910. 156

After the Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution ‘ended’ in 1917 with a revolving door of unstable leadership, liberal powers in charge, and the formation of a new constitution. The result was the Constitution of 1917 that sought to return to Mexican peasants control of land by expropriating it from large landholders and redistributing it among the poorer classes. The revolutionaries attempted to form a land policy that corrected what the Lerdo Law had failed to do, and decreased the large income inequality gap that led to the revolution.157

155 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 36-37. Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 512- 515. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 45. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 1966 of 4755. 156 Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change,” 1392. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 35-36. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 433 of 4755. Van Hoy. “La Marcha Violenta?” 33-35. 157 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 512-515.

67 This new land reform caused a shift in agave supply in the tequila industry. Between 1927 and 1942, the government redistributed the land of large landholders to peasant farmers via ejidos, or plots of government issued land. Due to the restrictions in the amount of land that an individual could hold, large tequila distilleries began to rely on smaller, independent farmers for their agave supply.158 Changes from the land reform were detrimental to the tequila industry, and almost led to its demise due to a drastic drop in available agave to be roasted and distilled into tequila. This severe agave shortage occurred because many farmers were either unfamiliar with cultivating agave, or could not wait nearly a decade for their first harvest. They chose instead to plant other crops during the first few years they farmed their land. This, combined with the economic distress from the Mexican Revolution, caused total tequila production to fall from 10 million liters in 1901 to 2 million liters in 1930.159

The new constitution also called for the nationalization of the mining and oil industries.

The constitution, in theory, returned industries from private investors and placed them back in the hands of government organizations. However, in the 1920’s, the United States petitioned for an exception to this rule. The results allowed the current regulatory system to grandfather their role in the industries. The United States citizens who owned land in Mexico were both members of the elite class that could potentially influence the government and decisions, and members of the farming class.160 The government made further exceptions to privately owned companies in

158 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 37, 120. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 981 of 4755. 159 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 37. 160 Halbert Jones. “Seeing Cardenista Land Reform from All Angles: The U.S.-Mexican Agrarian Dispute in Context.” Latin Americanist. Vol. 54, No. 1. Wiley Blackwell (March 2010), 137-139.

68 the oil sector as well, even those owned by foreign entities.161 In the 1930’s acting president

Lázaro Cárdenas worked to balance these reforms while maintaining an effective relationship with the U.S. and upholding Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy.”162

Even though the Constitution of 1917 promised restoration of ejidos, plots of land allotted for campesinos to use, they were very difficult to obtain and the laws still favored larger companies and landholders. While the constitution placed limitations on the amount of land that could be held by one entity, it did not stipulate what would be done with the excess land. Many with excess land sold it to family members, and still maintained normal use of it. Also, large landholding companies saved their land from being expropriated to an ejido by either colonizing it, or industrializing it. They colonized large plots of land with no government interference and effectively ran their own city of workers. The industrialization of a tract of land with larger agricultural equipment, mining sites, or factories, made it ineligible for expropriation because it was no longer suitable farm land.163

Even when land became available for the ejidos it was still almost impossible for those who worked the land they received to advance. Since they did not technically own the farm land, it was unusable as collateral to take out loans for advanced farming equipment. Without the necessary farming equipment, their crop yields remained the same, while larger industrialized farmers increased their profit margins.164 Those who received ejidos and chose to grow agave on them, were then at the mercy of the large tequila companies for pricing. If more agave grew than

161 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 514-516. 162 Jones. “Seeing Cardenista Land Reform from All Angles,” 139. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2504 of 4755. 163 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 517-521. 164 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 519-525.

69 the large tequila companies wanted to buy, it rotted in the fields and farmers bore the responsibility of the loss. Records indicated that the price of agave did not rise above one peso per kilogram between 1960 and 1980.165

By the 1940’s and 1950’s, the industrial sector for the most part replaced the agrarian sector and a majority of the Mexican poor sought more sustainable work by emigrating from rural areas to cities. This migration caused a majority of public funds to be funneled towards urban development and away from rural areas. The examination of the decreased contribution of agriculture to the nation’s GDP showed the neglect of rural Mexico. In 1940 agriculture contributed 18 percent to GDP, whereas agriculture only made up 11 percent by 1970. The

United States’ involvement in World War II gave an opportunity for Mexico to send products, crops, and workers to the United States. This also furthered Mexican immigration to the United

States.166

Neoliberalism, NAFTA, and Present Day

Agrarian reforms continued to take place over the next few decades, but to no real benefit to the farmer. In 1982, the default crisis in Mexico allowed the World Bank and

International Monetary Fund (IMF) to annex the Mexican economy. The dependency on foreign capital to bail Mexico out of their economic crisis resulted in Mexico ceding some of their power over land regulations. The World Bank pushed for the use of individual land titling over the use of ejidal property. The government also offered incentives and different

165 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 104-105. 166 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 521-526. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 120.

70 opportunities for investment in order to foster agricultural growth and more efficient production. This made investment in Mexico by transnational corporations even easier, and when analyzed, the affects can definitely be seen in the tequila industry, as shown in Figure 6 below.167

Figure 6: Growth of the tequila industry.

The administration of Carlos Salinas de Gortari from 1988-1994 helped usher in neoliberal politics that led to the privatization of Mexico’s resources. Salinas believed that adopting a neoliberal-style government allowed market forces more freedom to create ideal

167 John Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.” Synthesis/Regeneration. Vol. 47. St. Louis: Gateway Green Foundation. (Fall 2008). Greens.org. Accessed June 28, 2016. Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change,” 1390-1391. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 161 of 4755.

71 conditions for independence and political freedom. Salinas argued that while the revolution created a strong central state government, it did not, however, vest the state government with a monopoly over property rights and industry. Therefore, Mexican society should be able to make their own decisions regarding their national resources. Salinas took industries previously considered nationalized such as the telecommunication, natural gas, railway, and banking opened them to foreign privatization. This encouraged rapid and substantial investment by foreign corporations.168

These neoliberal policy reforms changed the way agricultural business occurred in

Mexico. Any social contract rural people had with the state dissolved as the agricultural sector opened up to foreign capital and trade. This change largely benefitted larger companies and corporate investors. Any guarantee farmers had on set prices for their crops ended as agricultural jobs fell from 23 percent to 13 percent of the Mexican workforce between 1990 and 2008.169

Major world events that occurred during the Salinas administration further influenced neoliberal ideology in Mexico. The end of the Cold War in 1989, along with the fall of the Soviet

Union and the Gulf War in 1991, were all events the administration thought created a need to reconsider the previous protectionist policies in place by the Mexican government. Economists who worked in the Salinas administration argued that one of the main ways for Mexico to

168 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 525-530. Gavin O’Toole. “A New Nationalism for a New Era: The Political Ideology of Mexican Neoliberalism.” Bulletin of Latin American Research. Vol. 22, No. 3. Wiley Blackwell. (2003), 271-272. Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change,” 1392. Bowen. Divided Spirits, 40-41. 169 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 120.

72 guarantee their national survival was to join the global market and experience a level of interdependency with the United States.170

This emergence into global markets allowed for foreigners to permeate the tequila industry. Patrón was one of those companies. Founded in 1989 by two United States citizens,

Patrón sales in the United States quickly took off. As of 2015, the brand was the best-selling super-premium tequila brand in the United States. Porfidio was another tequila company, established in 1991, launched by Austrian businessman Martin Grassl. Grassl also introduced a premium tequila to the market that used French oak barrels in the ageing process for the first time.171

The Pueblo Mágico program was among these neoliberal policies meant to encourage foreign investment and promote international business in rural and remote areas. By selecting a town to receive the award, the government hoped to encourage economic growth through sustainable tourism by the conservation and preservation of history. Places that qualified for the Pueblo Mágico title were places that possessed symbolic attributes, legends, history, important events, day-to-day life, and ‘magic’ which emanated from all of its cultural manifestations providing great opportunities for tourism.

The town of Tequila possessed these attributes, especially that of tourism with its picturesque views as shown in Figure 7. More rigid requirements to receive the award stipulated the town must be within a two-hour drive from an established tourist hub, have an

170 O’Toole. “A New Nationalism for a New Era,” 282. 171 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 53-54. Williams. Tequila, 95. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 2224 of 4755.

73 interest of tourism in their local development plans, and have a population under 20,000 inhabitants.172

Figure 7: Agave fields by the main road in Tequila. Photo by author.

Pueblo Mágico in Tequila, however, neither conserved nor preserved. The program had severe ecological and social impacts on the community. In towns that received the award,

Tequila included, reforms often excluded marginalized groups from places that were previously public spaces. Initially, residents populated town center in Tequila daily with communal

172 Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 318-321. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 47-48. Martineau, How the Gringos Stole Tequila, Location 3090 of 4755. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 115-116.

74 activities and markets with local vendors, now the program remodeled the area with bilingual signage and commercial vendors. Also, the program destroyed the existing paved streets in the town and replaced them with cobblestones to enhance the area’s exoticized nostalgia.173

Indigenous people living in Tequila said they have not felt the magic. The areas of the town not seen by tourists faced numerous issues including the lack of a continuous water supply, trash collection, public safety, street maintenance, street lights, and drug violence. Of these problems, the water supply was most severe. The town lacked the infrastructure to deliver water consistently to all areas of the town, and the supply faced pollution daily. One liter of tequila produced up to ten liters of waste water. This water was often still undrinkable after it passed through water treatment facilities.174

Also, in 1992, the government passed another land reform law, the Agrarian Law. This law allowed the individuals with ejidos to sell them. Most owners already migrated, some to larger urban centers in Mexico, and some moved north to the United States. Rather than return to tend their own plot of land, the owners found it beneficial to sell their tracts to other companies, businessmen, and vacationers. This law gave larger corporations a way to easily buy up land in Mexico that they could use to build their businesses because one of the goals of the Agrarian Reforms was to foster agricultural growth through incentives and the transfer of land to more efficient producers.175

173 Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 318. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 46-49. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 120. 174 Clausen and Gyimóthy. “Seizing Community Participation in Sustainable Development,” 318. López. “Tequila: Centro Mágico, Pueblo Tradicional,” 56-59. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 120-121. 175 Signet. “Grading a Revolution: 100 Years of Mexican Land Reform,” 524-530. Bouquet. “State-led Land Reform and Local Institutional Change,” 1390.

75 The creation of the CRT as a governing agency for the tequila industry in 1994 was another result of neoliberal policies. The CRT was a private not-for-profit organization that the

Mexican government delegated to oversee all aspects of the tequila industry. This agency, replete with all of the certification procedures and regulations allowed the industry to be more transparent than before. This transparency fostered an environment where foreign investors felt less financial risk in their choice to enter the industry. While the CRT created a more secure way for transnational companies and foreign investors to enter the tequila industry, it importantly also raised the barrier to market entry for smaller businesses. The formidable bureaucracy and regulations that must be met to grow and produce tequila were often overwhelming for small growers and microbusinesses.176

The combination of the Agrarian Law and the signing of NAFTA caused the displacement of millions of farmers. Unable to afford to farm their ejidos, owners sold them, or just abandoned them altogether. In 2004, research estimated that the displacement of 1.2 million farmers occurred by NAFTA’s ten-year anniversary. With the average household containing six members, the total of displaced persons due to NAFTA reached around six million.177 Statistics showed that during Vicente Fox’s presidential term, from 2000-2006, 2.4 million Mexicans migrated to the United States and displaced farmers made up 70 percent of those immigrants.178

176 Bowen. Divided Spirits, 121. Williams. Tequila, 19. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 125- 129. 177 Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.” 178 Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.” Bowen. Divided Spirits, 21. Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 125.

76 Signing NAFTA, Salinas reasoned, would aid Mexico’s involvement in the world economy.179 While both President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) and Alberto Cárdenas,

Secretary of Agriculture (SAGARPA) from 2006 to 2009, touted NAFTA as having tripled the

Mexican agricultural exports to the United States, very few residents benefitted from the trade agreement.180 Despite the increased level of exports, Mexico ran a $2 million deficit each year in agricultural exports since the late 1990’s. The producers who benefitted the most from

NAFTA were not small farmers, but over 20,000 corporate entities that produced tomato, avocado, tropical fruit and other specialty crops like tequila.181

Conclusion

The history of tequila is one that is varied and complicated. What began as a beverage that Mexicans produced, consumed, and sold is now controlled by global corporations with brands and packaging marketed to buyers who live in other countries. Events in both Mexican and world history, such as the War of Mexican Independence (1810-1821), Porfiriato (1876-

1911), Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945),

Cold War (1948-1991), Gulf War (1990-1991), and the passage of NAFTA (1994) all significantly impacted the formation of the tequila industry.

The Porfiriato created an environment that allowed for the expansion of the tequila industry in a highly privatized Mexico. Even though some setbacks the industry suffered

179 O’Toole. “A New Nationalism for a New Era,” 275. 180 SAGARPA is a Mexican acronym for Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación which translated is the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food. Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.” 181 Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.”

77 occurred because the renationalization of national resources in the aftermath of the Mexican

Revolution, the tequila business flourished and only continued to grow. Later, bolstered by the globalization that occurred during the emergence of neoliberalism in Mexico, the tequila industry successfully acquired international status as a widely distributed commodity.

While these historical events allowed the trajectory of the tequila industry as a whole to skyrocket, everyday Mexicans did not reap these same benefits. Small-time, poor Mexican farmers remained marginalized by governmental policies and regulations. Since colonization, elites often left indigenous farmers out of decisions they made about the land they farmed, just as big businesses and CRT regulations overruled modern-day farmers. This marginalization led farmers to look for other ways to support their families and some decided to leave the area, which caused an increased emigration from Jalisco and other tequila-making regions.

Some Mexican farmers even turned to drug cropping in order to make a living because it became one of the few crops competitively produced for profit in Mexico. During Calderón’s administration, drug cropping and trafficking became so prevalent in the rural areas of Mexico, that he escalated the War on Drugs by deploying 30,000 troops into the Mexican countryside.

In 2007 alone over 2,000 Mexicans were causalities of the War on Drugs. Statistics show that during the Calderón administration from 2007 to 2012, the killings averaged fifty-six people per day.182

Texas borderland officials cited NAFTA as a main reason as to why automobile traffic increased across the border by more than fifty percent. Texas congressmen and Mexican

182 Ross. “NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse.” Gaytán. ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico, 156. Molly Molloy. “The Mexican Undead: Toward a New History of the ‘Drug War’ Killing Fields.” Small Wars Journal. Digital Archive August 21, 2013. Accessed July 18, 2016. www.smallwarsjournal.com.

78 governors both agreed NAFTA increased the number of jobs and the employment rate in their states. While tequila did not cause all of this increased traffic, neither did other legal trade.

Illegal trade, such as drug trafficking concerned Texas congressmen enough to convene a

Homeland Security Committee in 2004 to combat drug trade and prevent security issues.183

183 Mary Collins. “Homeland security committee meets at McAllen.” Newton County News (Newton, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 13, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 3, 2004, newspaper, November 3, 2004; Newton, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth635210/m1/2/?q=NAFTA: accessed August 1, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Newton County Historical Commission.

79 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Like most industries in Mexico, the tumultuous political environment in the country greatly affected tequila, and the increase in globalization of businesses. Both of these factors shaped the growth and trajectory of the tequila industry, and ultimately changed who owned, produced, and consumed the beverage. The different political leaders who governed Mexico controlled the amount of foreign involvement that was acceptable in the country, and dictated not only the amount of land the government allotted for farming purposes, but who controlled these lands. These leaders also made decisions in attempt to better the Mexican economy which allowed certain concessions to large transnational corporations in order to secure their investments in Mexico’s future.

Since the production of tequila highly depended on the easy access of mature agave plants, the history of Mexico’s agriculture played an important role in the industry’s success.

The government designed land reform to specifically impact the agricultural sector and reallocated tracts of land to poor farmers in order to aid in the development of subsistent farming. However, in the late nineteenth century these reforms paved the way for United

States investors to capitalize on Mexico’s natural resources, build railroads and invest in agriculture. Mexico’s dependence on foreign capital proved lucrative for many transnational companies since the Porfiriato (1876-1911). While foreign involvement in Mexico fell slightly after the Mexican Revolution, this dissonance did not last for long.

Dependency on capital from the United States only strengthened when Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The massive amount of foreign

80 capital invested in Mexico did not improve the lives of average Mexicans, but instead lined the pockets of those U.S and European corporations that invested in the country. By aligning the history of the tequila industry with the history of the Mexican economy, this thesis proved that both national and world events, such as the Mexican War of Independence, Mexican

Revolution, World War I, World War II, Mexican economic crisis in the 1980’s, Cold War, and

Gulf War, impacted the tequila industry.

This thesis also showed the way that both the tourism and tequila industries capitalized by commodifying the history and culture of Mexico. The revival of Mayahuel as a symbol of

Mexican heritage, the appropriation of the jimador as a construct of the ideal indigenous worker, and the decision to promote tequila as the ‘spirit of Mexico’ over mescal, which had more of a following with the Mexican population, showed this commodification. The creation of a somewhat fictional history by transnational corporations to market tequila, or travel ultimately led to the misrepresentation of ‘the Mexican culture’ in order to make a profit.

This misrepresentation of Mexican culture was a contributing factor which increased tourism to Mexico as a whole. Tourists travelled to the country in search of experiencing the culture they heard about from various advertisements, rather those be tequila, food, or tourism advertisements. As previously discussed, some tourist areas even sold items, like margaritas and queso that were not standard fare in Jalisco because there was a demand for those items by tourists.

Distillery and museum guides also continued to impress the importance of figures like

Mayahuel and jimadores on their clients because that is what the industry perpetuated and

81 what consumers expected to hear when they toured these faux authentic places. Without these stories, tourists did not feel their experience was authentic. This further perpetuated the fictional history of Mexican culture these industries created in order to market their products.

The globalization that occurred in Mexico in the late twentieth century vastly altered the tequila industry. What originally began as a beverage made by indigenous people and sold locally, transformed to an industry that is almost entirely based on foreign capital. Of the thirteen largest companies that produced over seventy percent of all tequila in 2012, José

Cuervo remained the only one that retained Mexican ownership. The ownership of tequila companies by transnational corporations created the need for increased regulation of the spirit, and led to the foundation of the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT). The CRT was put in place as a regulatory agency meant to protect the integrity of tequila, but in doing so it created more obstacles for smaller, Mexican-owned companies to overcome.

Instead, the CRT mainly served the interests of larger transnational companies, and some smaller Mexican-owned companies went out of business because they could not afford certification fees and mandatory equipment. Some of those small companies continued to produce tequila, but called it mescal and sold it locally. That was an effective alternative until the mescal industry started to follow in tequila’s footsteps and institute their own regulatory committee, the CRM. All of the aforementioned changes resulted in the mass-production of a beverage by foreign companies that is primarily marketed towards U.S. and European consumers as an authentic Mexican spirit.

82 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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