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Mexican leaders seeking a review of treaty that made Texas and three other states a part of the U.S.

Hispanic Reading Room, Library of Congress

There is a new effort emerging In Mexico to nullify a treaty that allowed the United States to annex most of Mexico’s historic territory – what is now Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.

As KUT Public Radio reports, backers of the effort to nullify the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – which Mexican officials were forced to sign in 1848 at the close of the Mexican-American War – argue that the treaty violates now-accepted international legal norms, and therefore is invalid.

A lawsuit filed by the group could potentially reverse the treaty and return the land to Mexico.

An elder statesman with the Mexican left is behind the lawsuit and believes the treaty was enacted under pressure and violates international legal norms, so he wants to bring the case to the International Court for Justice to ask for reparations.

Enrique Krauze, a Mexican historian and contributor to The New York Times recently wrote about the effort, said while the case could be a steep uphill battle, Mexicans have a right to ask the U.S. to look at the war and its aftermath.