Mexico Vindicates Woman Long Blamed for Aztec Empire's Collapse

Hernán Cortés and La Malinche depicted in the Durán Codex from 1576

October

/ 2025

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For five centuries, La Malinche has carried the burden of being labeled a traitor who facilitated the downfall of the Aztec Empire in 1521. Known by multiple names – Marina to the Spanish, Malintzin to pre-Hispanic peoples, and later as Malinche – this Indigenous woman served as translator and interpreter for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés during one of history's most transformative and violent periods. Now, as Mexico's first female president Claudia Sheinbaum takes office, the nation is launching a major initiative to reassess and vindicate this controversial figure whose story has been told exclusively by others for generations, according to The Independent.

Beginning Sunday, October 12, 2025, Mexico is commemorating the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas with cultural events dedicated to reclaiming Malinche's narrative. "We have a working group of anthropologists, historians, and philosophers studying this important, much-maligned figure, and it is very important to vindicate her," President Sheinbaum announced recently. This governmental push represents a significant shift in how one of Mexico's most divisive historical figures is understood and remembered.

From Slavery to Survival: The Life Malinche Lived

Born around 1500, Malinche grew up south of the Gulf of Mexico where she learned Nahuatl and the now near-disappeared Oluteco language. Her early life was marked by tragedy when the Aztecs sold her as a slave to a Maya people. By the time she encountered the Spanish, she had mastered multiple languages including two Mayan dialects.

Following a Spanish military victory, she and other women were given to the conquistadors, who baptized them to provide religious justification for sexual violence. Historian Camilla Townsend from Rutgers University explains that Malinche was "at their mercy as a victim," but "she saved her own life really by choosing to translate."

La Malinche depicted in a historical codex

La Malinche depicted in an historical codex. (Public Domain)

Her linguistic abilities soon placed her at the center of monumental historical events. Standing before Moctezuma in the imposing capital of Tenochtitlan, she bridged two radically different worldviews as translator for Cortés. Historical documents suggest she saved lives, though she was also forced into impossibly complex situations. "She was forced to be an intermediary between the Spaniards and these other poor women who were going to be raped," Townsend noted. Most academics today reject the traitor narrative, recognizing that the Aztecs were her enemies in a world of constant warfare between diverse peoples who were only later categorized more generally as "Indigenous" under colonial systems.

Challenging the Mythology of Betrayal

The negative portrayal of Malinche has deep roots in Mexican national identity, yet this characterization ignores crucial historical context. According to Federico Navarrete, historian at Mexico's National Autonomous University, viewing her objectively is challenging because race and class conflicts stemming from the conquest persist today. However, schools have traditionally taught only a "nationalist" perspective, downplaying nuances such as the support some Indigenous groups provided to the Spanish.

Painting of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan

The magnificent Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. (Public Domain)

Yásnaya Aguilar, a Mixe linguist who has written extensively about Malinche, describes her as "a native woman who moved from being a slave to being respected and honored by society in her time." The name Malinche was also used to refer to Cortés himself – they were considered one entity, though she was the voice. The Spanish respected her capabilities enough that Cortés arranged her marriage to one of his commanders, the only way to prevent her return to slavery, to ensure she would continue as his interpreter. She died around age 30, apparently in an epidemic, leaving behind a son with Cortés and a daughter with her husband, as reported by El País.

A New Historical Understanding Emerges

Malinche was largely forgotten until the early 19th century when Mexico gained independence from Spain. She first appeared as "a lascivious and scheming traitor" in an anonymously published 1826 novel, becoming the perfect villain for the new nation. Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz solidified her negative image in his influential work "The Labyrinth of Solitude," describing her as "a figure representing the Indian women who were fascinated, violated or seduced by the Spaniards" and for whom "the Mexican people have not forgiven her betrayal." Her name became synonymous with betrayal – "malinchista" refers to someone who prefers foreign things over their own culture.

Historical depiction of Cortés and La Malinche. (Public Domain)

Yet Indigenous peoples themselves maintained respect for her, naming volcanoes, peaks, and ceremonial dances in her honor. In rural towns, girls are still registered at birth to represent Malinche in traditional dances, as Aguilar documented. Since the 1970s, Chicana feminists in the United States began questioning her negative portrayal, recognizing the difficulty of serving as a bridge between two peoples. Now, a growing body of academic literature contextualizes her life within the brutal realities of 16th-century colonial violence, slavery, and survival.

The Mexican government's current initiative to vindicate Malinche represents more than historical revision – it acknowledges how gender, power, and colonialism have shaped national mythology. By examining her story through the lens of agency, survival, and the complexities of a woman navigating impossible circumstances, Mexico confronts uncomfortable truths about its own formation. As historian Camilla Townsend observed, Malinche's story demonstrates how historical figures become symbols that often obscure the human beings behind them. This reassessment invites reflection on how nations construct their origin stories and whom they choose to blame or celebrate in those narratives.

Top image: Hernán Cortés and La Malinche depicted in the Durán Codex from 1576. Source: Public Domain

By Gary Manners