Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador led the ceremony Wednesday night to commemorate the 211th anniversary of the beginning of the struggle for Independence in the Latin American country.

Mexico City.- The event was held at the National Palace, the seat of the Executive Power, and for the second consecutive year, there were no people in the central Plaza de la Constitución, to avoid contagion of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

During the ceremony of the Grito de Dolores, López Obrador, accompanied by his wife Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, paid tribute to the almost 270,000 fatal victims of COVID-19 with a minute's silence.

After this, the Mexican ruler went out to the central balcony of the National Palace, where he gave the traditional Grito de Independencia, with "vivas" to the patriotic heroes, to the anonymous heroes, to the pre-Hispanic peoples, to honesty, sovereignty, and independence.

Simultaneously, the Chief Executive rang the historic bell, manufactured in 1768, also known as Esquilón de San José.

As part of the ceremony, there were pyrotechnics and videos were projected on the facades of the buildings in the Zócalo. Mexican singer Lila Downs performed the song "Latinoamérica" as part of the show that followed the Grito de Dolores.

This Thursday, as part of the patriotic celebrations, there will be a military parade, which will be observed by López Obrador, who will have as his guest of honor the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel. (RHC)