Castizo Hispanic Catholic

In Mejico, the CHCs (from the acronym of Castizo Hispánico Católico, also known simply as Cahiscas) are a cultural group that fulfil the hegemonic traits of contemporary Mejican society. The term "cahisca" is used colloquially to refer to those belonging to this social stratum. In Mejican sociology, this group is compared to the WASPs of the various Anglo-American societies for their influence on Mejican politics, economy and culture.

The Castizos succeeded the previous Criollo elite during the period of the government of José Vasconcelos (1930-1959) and Salvador Abascal (1959-1970), who carried out a project of "castizaje" in the country: a social and demographic reconstruction that sought to consolidate the Mejican national identity in a castizo framework, described by Vasconcelos in La Raza Cósmica as the "epitome of Mejicanity". Castizaje promoted a narrative that emphasized Mejico's Hispanic roots, placing indigenous heritage in a fundamental role in the construction of national identity. This approach was part of an effort to engender a new image of Mejico in the context of modernity and nationalism, fostering social cohesion.

Vasconcelos, the leading theorist and standard-bearer of castizaje, commented that "Mejico, without the valorization of its indigenous roots, would be nothing more than a pale copy of Europe". The Mejican regime, through a paternalistic attitude, adopted a vision in which Indigenous Mejicans were extremely important for the construction of the national identity. The ideology had been developing for decades, with authors such as the Tlaxcalan hidalgos Álvaro Manríquez de Xicalchalchímitl, Antonio Cortés de Totoquihuaztli and the Spanish-Zapotec Domingo Cocijopij de Burboa arguing that Mejico's "racial health" was based on the fusion of Indigenous and Spanish cultures, advocating a castizo identity that was deeply respectful of its roots; Manríquez described in his works the "inevitability" of the gravitation toward Europeanness in Mejico's new elite caste.

Despite the improvement in relations between Catholic and Protestant Mejicans, and the increasing openness to have Protestants in important positions of power, Vasconcelos saw Protestantism as "inherently averse to the intermingling of races", while applauding Catholicism and the example of Queen Isabella I of Spain in the greater openness to miscegenation. The new Mejican culture that would be born from Vasconcelos' project would be guided by the Catholic Church, and the clericalism of the regime became a fundamental pillar of its political vision, to the extent that a Hispanic Castizo who was not Catholic was considered an anomaly within the social scheme. This clericalist approach fed a rhetoric that stressed the importance of religious unity as a cohesive element in Mejican society, leading the regime to establish close ties with the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Their association with the established power in Mejico, with the economic, corporate, banking, educational, cultural, literary and religious elite, allowed the CHCs to consolidate their influence and dictate the rules of public and private life in the country. Access to key positions in governmental and educational institutions was restricted and regulated, generating a structure in which Catholic-caste ideals were promoted and maintained. Within Mejico's Central University Axis, similar to the Ivy League of British North America, approximately 70% of the student body and 75% of teaching positions were held by members of the CHC group.

According to 2024 estimates, some 90% of Castizo Mejicans are of Hispanic descent, and approximately 93% of them to the Catholic religion. This would place approximately 125 million Mejicans in the category, demonstrating their demographic and cultural predominance in the country. In total, it is estimated that the CHCs represent 40.8% of the national population.