Mina station
Metrobús · 3 Line 3
Neighbouring stations
- 3Line 3Buenavista Mina Hidalgo
Transfers to other networks
The story behind the icon
The station icon represents the silhouette of Francisco Javier Mina. The station takes its name from a nearby street of the same name. Martín Xavier Mina Larrea, known as Francisco Javier Mina, was born on 6 July 1789 in Navarre, Spain, the third son of Juan José Mina Espoz and María Andrés Larrea, a family of well-off farmers from Otano.
In his youth he was sent to the Seminary of Pamplona and then to Zaragoza, where he was to complete his law studies; he interrupted his career, however, to enlist in the central army that fought Napoleon when he invaded Spain. He distinguished himself in the two French sieges of Zaragoza. Joining his uncle, General Espoz y Mina, he formed a guerrilla band and fought the invaders in Navarre, Aragon and La Rioja; he was taken prisoner at the siege of Labiano in 1810. On 1 April, after the capture of Paris by Prussian and Russian troops, all prisoners of State were released. Ferdinand VII chose to disregard the people's legitimate hopes by repealing the Constitution of Cádiz; he proclaimed a "general amnesty" that consisted of executing everyone who had fought for liberty, even in his name, and the disillusionment of many Spaniards was widespread. Facing persecution, Mina moved to England, where he met Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, who was writing about the Mexican War of Independence. Convinced that he could fight the absolutism embodied by Ferdinand VII either in Spain or in the Americas, he sailed from Liverpool for the United States on 15 May 1816, accompanied by Fray Servando himself and other officers.
He obtained money and weapons, and on 15 April 1817 he landed at Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas. Mina left his camp on the 24th with 300 men, entered the town of Horcasitas and seized 700 horses destined for the royalists, with which he mounted his whole force and began his expedition inland.
On 3 July he took Valle del Maíz, on the 15th Peotillas, on the 19th Real de Pinos; on the 22nd he joined an insurgent band and on the 24th entered Fuerte del Sombrero, defended by the insurgent Pedro Moreno. At Soto la Marina, however, the soldiers he had left behind were defeated, and among them Teresa de Mier was captured. He went on fighting in various places and marched to Jaujilla, where the Governing Junta was based. He was charged with attacking Guanajuato, but his troops were scattered by the enemy; he took refuge with Pedro Moreno at the El Venadito ranch, where they were attacked on 27 October. Moreno died fighting and Mina was taken prisoner; on 11 November 1817 he was shot at Cerro del Borrego in Pénjamo, Guanajuato. Despite the brevity of his campaign, it was a military action of the utmost importance, among the most brilliant of the Resistance stage of the Mexican War of Independence; he was named general of the "Auxiliary Army of the Mexican Republic". His remains rest in the Angel of Independence in Mexico City.