MEXICO CITY — In 2019, a mass shooter at an El Paso Walmart specifically targeted Latinos, sending shock waves throughout the continent. As part of its response, the Mexican government launched a project to empower its citizens and Hispanics across North America through language. The project has now turned into an institute.
The Mexican government launched the César Chávez Digital Institute for Spanish in North America this week.
To develop the institute, Mexico has an agreement with the Cervantes Institute, a cultural public organization from the government of Spain.
The institute’s goal is to promote the Spanish language and its culture among Mexican and Latino communities in the U.S. and Canada, in the face of linguistic supremacism and discrimination.
Mexico’s secretary of Foreign Affairs said the institute seeks to defend a multicultural perspective, and that the name of César Chávez was chosen given the labor activist’s search for justice.
Mexico and the U.S. are the two nations with the most Spanish speakers in the world.
