500 years after Spanish conquest, still under ‘colonial domination Spain’s conquest of Mexico didn’t end on Aug

500 years after Spanish conquest, still under ‘colonial domination Spain’s conquest of Mexico didn’t end on Aug. 13, 1521, “499” filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes said. Racism and classism “continue to this day,” a legacy of brutal colonization battles. As Mexico looks back on the 500th anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, an award-winning filmmaker wants his fellow Mexicans and others to confront their national identity — and re-examine how the legacy of colonial history still affects people today. “Nationalism tells you where you come from so it can tell you where you’re going,” Rodrigo Reyes told NBC News. “I think it’s important to feel proud of where you’re coming from. I’m super proud of being from Mexico. But I do believe that some of these narratives are so simplistic, so black and white, that they damage our understanding of who we are and how we’re interconnected.” On Aug. 13, 1521, the army under Spanish “conquistador” Hernán Cortés took the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán after a brutal siege with warships and cannons that lasted at least 75 days. The popular idea of a small Spanish army defeating a much larger Mesoamerican empire is factually incorrect, Reyes said.