The Cerralvo island

National
To erase the Mexican history
By: Carlos Damian November 24, 2009
The Cerralvo island
Jackes Cousteau expressed that the sea of Hernan Cortez has many tourist places
México. – A band of land of the Estados Unidos Mexicanos (EUM) that is achieved to confine in the Atlantic Ocean, form a state called Baja California, to similarity of the north of E.U.M., a designated American California State. This paradisiacal place in Mexico is located in the middle of the Gulf of Hernan Cortez and the Atlantic Ocean, has many tourist places between them achieve to emphasize to an island that it has been returned news, is found located to the south of the Bay of La Paz, Mexican California this beautiful land has by name Cerralvo island.

It has surprised us that to the Cerralvo island may have changed to its name by that of oceanographer French Jackes Cousteau. Which doesn’t have relationship historical or social with the Mexicans? In Mexico and in the world the names of places of cities, of islands, peoples, mountains, etc., they have relationship to the given country history and of the national identity.

Cerralvo Island
In this case of changing names to the free and without giving reason some is erased of the Mexican California a referring of centuries, of local and national history of a rapid blot. The daily official of the Federation of the 17 of November, subscribed in Aguascalientes by the general Geography director and environment of the INEGI by the one which, "is updated the geographical name change of the Cerralvo island by that of Jackes Cousteau".

In the cited agreement, is declared that "the executive branch through the Governance Secretariat, commissioned with administering the federal jurisdiction islands (…), requested Inegi accomplishes the necessary negotiations to register the geographical name change (“topónímo”) of the Cerralvo island in the National Record of Geographical Information".

The erased history of a rapid blot
The great historian Francisco Xavier Clavijero two centuries before described to the sea of Cortez as an immense maritime mine by its resources fishery. We see the history: in 1662 arrived to Acaponeta, in Nayarit, a ship captain, Francisco of Ortega. Had it previous expedition’s knowledge to the California peninsula and he wanted to prove fortune. The small inconvenient were that the king Felipe IV, had ordered that is discontinued any new exploration attempt, since until later nothing had been able to achieve.

In this attempt of proving fortune the astute captain Francisco de Ortega was directed “virrey” marquis of Cerralvo, informing to him that had a frigate with the one which would go to California and not precisely to explore it, but to verify if value suffer such exploration. With this childish proposal he obtained the license requested the frigate captain.

The frigate captain undertook three expeditions, in 1632, 1634, and 1636. Established contact with the indigenous of the port of La Paz and explored northward until about parallel 28. In the mediator of the trips the vessel of Ortega remained destroyed in a hurricane, but this with its men and with the remains of the frigate, it could build other. In such a way that in this expedition authorized by the “virrey” of Cerralvo took place the first construction of a ship in the Californians.

Ortega let an agenda of its trips in a Capitan’s diary that realizes of all what was discovering. He baptized throughout his expedition to many islands and in recognition by the authorization conceded by his “virrey”, gave the name of Cerralvo to the considerable extension island located a little to the Bay south of La Paz. Precisely this is the meander of the river of the history, if this island has been known for four centuries with that name, currently; what for is changed to it of rich name in evocations? Who was the responsible for changing the national identity?

We will propose from these lines, that to avoid aberrations as the before described, is approved a law in the Congress of the Union for power to alter or to change locality names, islands and nations. That there are plebiscite or public conferences, which observe the local and national history. All this with the end that not disappear and change the history of the locality and of the as a rule alone country by an infantile tantrum. (La Jornada, politica, p. 32, November 24, 2009)