We reprint from the magazine "Latin American Historical Almanac" an
article by the historian of anarchism V. V. Damier about the firstproclamation of anarchist communism in history (Mexico, 1912) ---- In
early 1912, thirteen revolutionaries from the United States crossed the
Rio Grande River and entered the territory of the Mexican state of
Coahuila (1). They went to fight with weapons in hand under the red
banner of the Mexican Liberal Party (PLM), an organization that was
created in 1901, fought for the overthrow of the dictatorship of Mexican
President Porfirio Diaz and initially united supporters of the most
diverse views - from liberals to anarchists. In 1906, the PLM
Organizational Junta, headed by brothers Ricardo and Enrique Flores
Magon, proclaimed a program for establishing a democratic regime in the
country and implementing a number of social reforms in the interests of
the working classes, including the return of communal lands (ejidos) to
the peasants and the transfer of uncultivated lands to the peasants, the
establishment of an eight-hour work day and the prohibition of child
labor, the introduction of a minimum guaranteed wage, the right to a day
off, a system of pensions and compensation for industrial accidents,
etc. (2) The party operated both underground in Mexico itself and among
Mexican workers in the United States, where the Organizational Junta was
located in exile. Local groups of supporters of the newspaper
"Regeneración", published by R. Flores Magon and his comrades, were
created. Primitivo Gutierrez joined such a group, formed by Mexican farm
workers in Darkett, Texas, in May 1911, and now commanded a small
detachment of rebels (3). In the Texas border town of Del Rio, Gutierrez
was considered the undisputed leader of the radical "Red" (Colorado)
faction and managed to organize enthusiasts for an expedition across the
border (4).
A Regeneración correspondent reported on February 15 from San Antonio,
Texas, that forces under Gutiérrez's command have been operating in the
north of Coahuila since Friday, February 8. They have completely cut off
the rail link between Torreón and Piedras Negras and are not subordinate
to other opposition leaders (5).
Coahuila, according to historian Susan Pastor, "provides a unique
setting for examining the meaning of the Mexican Revolution. Mexico's
third-largest state, Coahuila was home to two of the revolution's most
prominent figures, Francisco I. Madero and Venustiano Carranza. In the
late nineteenth century, Coahuila underwent rapid modernization and
economic transformation that made the state a showcase for Porfirian
Mexico. At the same time, this northeastern state clung to its
federalist heritage through periodic assertions of local autonomy and
political independence in the face of Porfirist attempts at
centralization. When the revolution unfolded in Coahuila, it represented
two things: a popular reaction to economic modernization and the
upheavals it generated, and changes in Coahuila's political system in
response to both popular discontent and pressure from the central
government" (6).
Coahuila occupied a special place in the calculations and hopes of the
PLM. It was no coincidence that the region was considered one of the
strongholds of the Magonists: this was facilitated by both the favorable
social and spiritual soil and the border location with the United
States, where groups and cells of the party were active that were
capable of providing real assistance to the rebels. The regional
headquarters of the party was located in Del Rio, Texas, which was
located directly opposite the Mexican city of Las Vacas. The state was
part of the PLM's "third military zone", which also included Tamaulipas,
Zacatecas, Chihuahua and Texas. Magonist clubs emerged in northern
Coahuila, as well as in Torreón and Saltillo (7). The party enjoyed
support among both the "middle classes" and miners, factory and
agricultural workers. As early as 1906 and 1908, the PLM tried to
organize an insurgent movement in the state against the Diaz regime. The
town of Las Vacas, which was attacked by her detachment in June 1908, is
considered by many to be the "cradle of the Mexican Revolution" (8).
Even after these initial defeats, Magonist guerrillas continued to
operate in the mountains in the north of the state (9).
By 1910, the PLM had considerable influence in several areas of the
state. According to the teacher Jesús Alfonso Arreola Pérez, "before the
revolution, the northern part of Coahuila was a strong supporter of the
Liberal Party. The center, because of its ties with Nuevo León,
sympathized with its governor, Bernardo Reyes, the candidate of the
Northeast to replace General Díaz. The Laguna region, for its part,
declared itself opposed to[Díaz's]reelection, and Saltillo was under the
strictest surveillance of the Federal authorities (...) Everyone -
liberals, reyists, opponents of reelection - were united in one demand:
a change of regime in the Republic" (10).
With the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in Coahuila, where the
impact of the economic crisis and unemployment was acute, both the
Maderista and Magonista forces (especially in the Laguna region and in
the north of the state) revolted. In fact, they operated in cooperation
until the spring of 1911. But already in May, in Coahuila and
Tamaulipas, the troops of Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa, loyal to
Madero, attacked the Magonistas in Coahuila and Tamaulipas (11).
The PLM and the armed rebel groups it created played a major role in the
fall of the "old regime", despite ideological and political differences
with the Maderistas. "The military participation of the liberals in the
revolution between November 1910 and May 1911 is probably one of the
least studied aspects of the Mexican Revolution (...)," notes historian
Rubén Trejo. "Between November 1910 and February 1911, the Magonistas
(...) helped maintain the momentum of the revolution by supplying it
with weapons and men and by winning victories on the battlefield. From
February to May 1911, the Maderistas and Magonistas won important
victories" (12). Acting independently, armed PLM units, with the help of
worker volunteers from the United States and other countries (mainly
socialist, syndicalist and anarchist in orientation), controlled most of
the Mexican state of Baja California from January to the end of June
1911, where they proclaimed the implementation of social reforms in the
spirit of the 1906 program: the introduction of an 8-hour work day and a
guaranteed minimum wage, three free meals a day for workers at the
expense of entrepreneurs, a promise to transfer agricultural equipment
and land expropriated from estates to landless Indians for collective
cultivation and distribution of products according to family needs,
arming Indian communities, calling on peons to arm themselves and seize
the land they cultivate (13).
But already in April 1911 the situation began to change. The
organizational junta of the PLM reminded that, in its opinion, the
revolution in Mexico was not political, but social, anti-capitalist in
nature, and that in the country there was a struggle between two classes
- the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The organization declared that it
was striving for the liberation of the workers by their own efforts,
through direct action and with weapons in their hands, to deny the
"sacred" private property and the elimination of any domination over
people. "The Mexican Liberal Party is fighting for the overthrow of the
dictator Diaz not in order to put a new tyrant in his place. The Mexican
Liberal Party is taking part in the current uprising with the open and
firm goal of expropriating the land and the tools of labor in order to
give them to the people, that is, to each and every one of the
inhabitants of Mexico, regardless of sex." Madero's party, the PLM
manifesto continued, advocated a "bourgeois republic"; it was "purely
political and capitalist"; it is an enemy of the PLM (14). The
Magonistas refused to recognize Madero's authority, and forces loyal to
him began to try to disarm them; soon armed clashes broke out between
them. The situation worsened further after the fall of the Diaz regime:
the Organizational Junta and the PLM refused to recognize the transfer
of power and lay down their arms. In June 1911, Maderista troops
defeated the Magonistas in Baja California. During the first stage of
the revolution, according to historian John Hart, the PLM forces were
"relegated to the shadows and outmaneuvered by Madero" (15).
The Magonists tried to resist. In July 1911, their forces were active at
least in the states of Durango, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, Veracruz,
Tamaulipas and Baja California (16). But blows rained down from all
sides. Eventually, the Mexican Liberal Party itself split. Its moderate
wing and a number of leaders and field commanders began to collaborate
with the new regime. A parallel PLM was organized in Mexico. At the same
time, the revolutionary wing, led by R. and E. Flores Magon, now openly
proclaimed an anarchist program. On September 23, 1911, the
organizational junta published a new manifesto, which was to replace the
1906 program as outdated and no longer relevant.
In this document, the organization expressed its commitment to the "high
ideals of political, economic and social liberation," which would put an
end to the struggle of "man against man" that stems from the principle
of private property and wealth inequality. The abolition of this
principle means "the destruction of all political, economic, social and
moral institutions" that stifle "free initiative and free association"
and force people to enter into fierce competition with each other for
the sake of survival. The winners in this competition are not the most
capable, but the most cunning, selfish, cruel and ready to do anything
for their own good (17).
Along with property, the PLM also rejected the state. "Without the
principle of private property, there would be no point in the existence
of government," since it was only necessary to keep the dispossessed
from rebelling and rising up against those who had appropriated all the
blessings of life, the manifesto stated. There would also be no point in
the existence of the church, which also sought to stifle the free and
rebellious human spirit. The "dark trinity" of capital, power and clergy
had turned the Earth into a real hell. Humanity was divided into "two
social classes with diametrically opposed interests" - the class of
capitalists, the propertied class, and the class of workers, who
possessed only their hands and brains. Between these two classes "there
can be no bonds of friendship and brotherhood (...)" (18).
The PLM declared that all people, by the very fact of birth, have the
right to enjoy all the goods available and produced by society and must
work for the life of the individual and society as a whole, and that the
right of private property is unjust. "The Mexican Liberal Party
recognizes that Power and the Clergy serve as the support for the
injustice of Capital, and therefore the Organizational Junta of the
Mexican Liberal Party solemnly declared war on Power, war on Capital,
war on the Clergy," raising the red flag in opposition to the "army of
the bourgeoisie" - the supporters of Madero, Reyes, Vazquez Gomez and
other groups and currents. Convincing Mexicans not to submit to these
groups and not to listen to them, the anarchists from the PLM called on
the workers of the country to carry out massive seizures and
expropriations "from below" of land and all goods, without waiting for
any decrees or orders "from above" - "just as our brothers, the
inhabitants of Morelos, the south of Puebla, Michoacan, Guerrero,
Veracruz, the north of Tamaulipas, Durango, Sonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco,
Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Yucatan, Quintana Roo and other states have done and
are doing" (19).
However, the manifesto went on to say, it was not enough to confine
itself to the seizure of land - it was necessary that the workers should
take possession of all the industrial enterprises in which they worked.
It was necessary that "the lands, mines, factories, workshops,
foundries, wagons, railroads, ships, warehouses of all kinds and houses
should be placed at the disposal of each and every inhabitant of Mexico,
without distinction of sex."
The PLM called on the peasants not to divide the land, but to cultivate
it in common and to use its fruits in common, and to do the same in
industrial enterprises. Everyone will be free to choose the type of work
for which he has the ability and inclination, and the industry in which
he will be employed. The inhabitants of each region will have to agree
among themselves that everyone will have access to these objects and
goods, make an exact accounting of the production capabilities and needs
of each and everyone, and begin to regulate production accordingly "from
below", on the basis of a fraternal and solidary agreement. "Everything
that is produced will go to the common warehouse of the community, from
which everyone will have the right to TAKE EVERYTHING THAT HE NEEDS, IN
ACCORDANCE WITH HIS NEEDS", on condition that he presents a certificate
that he is engaged in socially useful work (20).
In other words, it was a question of establishing anarchist communism in
the form in which it was understood in anarchist theory and was
described, for example, by P. A. Kropotkin in his work "Bread and
Freedom". "Only a few people do not already know that the revolutionary
movement that was started by the Mexican Liberal Party in September 1906
and continues to this day is a movement of an economic nature and each
time more and more oriented toward a specific goal: communism," wrote
Ricardo Flores Magon in February 1912. (21)
Following the motto "The liberation of the workers is the work of the
workers themselves", the Magonists relied on the revolutionary
initiative of the masses "from below". Therefore, "Regeneración" from
issue to issue carried reports from various corners of Mexico about
facts, cases or episodes of insurrection, rebellion, attacks on estates
and expropriations of land and property, regardless of which rebels or
rebels were in question. Moreover, the newspaper repeatedly published an
appeal to "rebels fighting under any banner". They were asked to
immediately shoot any chief or commander who, in the areas where their
units were operating, prevented the poor from taking what they needed
from stores, warehouses and barns, and prevented the workers from taking
possession of land and production technicians. The text ended with the
slogan: "To expropriation!" (22)
Grassroots spontaneous rebellions and uprisings in late 1911 and early
1912 did indeed spread across most of Mexico. The PLM assured in its
newspaper that a social revolution was growing in the country (23), but
after defeats, splits, financial difficulties and persecution in the
United States, it was already too weak to exert any serious influence on
this spontaneous movement. The organization sent emissaries to places
that were trying to secretly deliver weapons from the United States to
Mexico across the border. There was a catastrophic shortage of them, and
recommendations were even given to infiltrate the ranks of other rebel
groups in order to obtain and carry off weapons (24). Nevertheless, the
Magonists continued to try to develop a guerrilla movement. In the
spring of 1912, small groups of PLM rebels were active in the states of
Coahuila, Sonora, Baja California, Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Nayarit,
Michoacan, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas, Guanajuato (25), and in the mountains of
Chihuahua (26).
After the fall of Díaz, the PLM forces in Coahuila continued to fight
from bases in the Sierra del Burro mountains in the north of the state.
They carried out periodic raids on ranches and haciendas, promising land
to the peons and peasants, often distributing part of the spoils to the
workers, explaining to them that the owners had no right to have more
than they did (27). The commander of a 280-man detachment operating in
the Sierra del Burro, Emilio P. Campa, engaged in combat with federal
troops in July 1911, but then made an agreement with the new authorities
and disbanded his fighters (28). As Regeneración later wrote, he
"betrayed our cause", and after him the guerrilla movement in the area
was led by miners José Álvarez and Miguel Ramos (29). They "preached in
the haciendas and ranches the doctrine of expropriation, by taking over
by the peons the goods accumulated by the bandits Madero, González
Treviño and Bortoni" (30). In addition, the Magonistas and other
radicals began to be listened to in other areas of the state where they
had previously had no influence, such as in Laguna, and the new
authorities, in the spirit of the former Diaz regime, began to persecute
agitators who were feared to pose a threat to the "socialist revolution"
(31).
From the end of May 1911, Coahuila was governed by Governor Venustiano
Carranza, the future leader of the Constitutionalists and President of
Mexico (32). His administration pursued a moderate policy. Carranza did
not take steps to implement agrarian reform and return communal land to
the peasants, but he did address some of the demands contained in the
popular petitions, such as ordering landowners to share water with the
peasants, seeking more favorable terms for Mexico in agreements with
foreign concessionaires, reducing tax privileges for entrepreneurs and
landowners, supporting demands for taxation of mining companies and the
elimination of the practice of forcing workers to buy goods from their
stores, promoting the resolution of labor disputes, taking measures to
improve the sanitary and hygienic situation, and providing support to
rural schools and teachers (33). At the same time, he did not hesitate
to suppress radical uprisings and was not inclined to support strikes
against Mexican entrepreneurs. It is significant that in December 1911
Carranza gave permission to the Sierra Mojada traders to form volunteer
units against the striking workers (34).
Calm never returned to the state. Against the backdrop of economic
hardship, popular unrest continued, strikes broke out, estates were
attacked, and factional fighting developed within the victors' camp.
In the autumn and winter of 1911, the press reported that the PLM
guerrillas had set up headquarters in the southwest of Coahuila, in the
Torreon area, and had temporarily taken over the settlements of Himulco
and Nasareno, attacked ranches and estates (Picardias, Juan Eugenio,
etc.), and seized warehouses and property (35). There were also
spontaneous uprisings of peasants, whom the authorities and the press
called "hordes of bandits"; to suppress these uprisings, the authorities
sent in rural police - "rurales". Thus, at the La Paz hacienda near
Torreon, a crowd of peons who had surrounded the estate was dispersed by
fire, but a new group of rebels appeared between Torreon and Trinidad
(36). Several ranches were attacked in Santa Teresa. A group of rebels
attacked the Himulco station and completely cleared out the warehouse.
Clashes occurred in the hacienda of Hornos (Viesca district) and in
Torreón itself (37). In Ramos Arizpe, near the state capital of
Saltillo, there was a rebel detachment of 800 men with two mountain
guns; another group of 200 rebels rebelled in the hacienda of Jaral and
then attacked the Hipolito railway station, where they were joined by
other guerrillas (38). About 50 men stormed the Mineral de los Azules
mine near Parras de la Fuentes and ransomed the owners (39).
In late 1911, a general strike broke out in Torreón, involving
carpenters and joiners, painters, masons, bakers and other trades. The
total number of strikers reached seven thousand, and they were joined by
three thousand workers from Gómez Palacio in the neighboring state of
Durango, as well as workers in Lerdo, and then by domestic workers. The
frightened bourgeoisie was reported to be fleeing the city and its
environs in panic. The central government sent troops to the striking
cities; in Gómez Palacios, a demonstration of strikers was dispersed
with machetes (40). In early 1912, a strike was reported among the
builders of the Banco de la Laguna building in Torreón: the strikers
armed themselves to prevent strikebreakers from entering the
construction site (41). Workers at the Madero family's businesses in
Parras abandoned their jobs, set fire to factories, and looted the
town's outskirts with dynamite; the owners fled to Texas. Protesters
threatened to set fire to Madero's former home; rioters from the town
marched toward Torreón. Five people were killed in a revolt at the Palao
mine near Sabinas; the mine was looted (42).
Riots and attacks on estates and businesses continued during the first
weeks of winter in 1912. About 30 rebels attacked the Santa Fe ranch and
expropriated weapons, horses, goods and some money. About 20 mounted
rebels, led by Cipriano Sanchez, stormed into San Carlos shouting "Long
live Zapata! Death to Madero!" The PLM was convinced that the Mexican
government was planning to seek military assistance from the United
States in the face of the uprisings that had spread to Coahuila (43).
Near Torreon, the rebels made an unsuccessful raid on the La Joya
hacienda. At the Sauceda hacienda near Músquiz, clashes occurred between
the rebels and the police; there were dead and wounded. Workers from
five nearby mines were believed to have joined the rebels. The Hornos
estate, the Coyote ranch near Sabinas, the haciendas of San José, La
Soledad, Cobián, and the haciendas in the vicinity of Allende were
captured and plundered. Revolts broke out in Cerro Prieto; the rebels
intended to join the rebels from Hornos in Himulco. "All the haciendas
in the vicinity of Torreón, Coahuila, are attacked by the numerous
guerrillas who are active in this region," reported Regeneracion,
adding, citing the American press, that the entire Laguna region in the
south of Coahuila, on the border with Durango, "is in the complete power
of the rebels," who are demanding the capitulation of Torreón. Fighting
also broke out in the city itself, costing dozens of lives (44).
The political situation in the state also remained extremely unstable.
In December 1911, General Bernardo Reyes, former secretary of the army
and navy of the Diaz regime, who had gone over to the opposition but now
did not recognize Madero's election as president, attempted to invade
Coahuila; and his supporters continued their insurrectionary actions in
the northern part of the state. In the spring of 1912, supporters of
Pascual Orozco rebelled, also raising the red flag, with some former
Magonists (José Inés Salazar, Emilio P. Campa, and others) joining them
(45). In the Laguna region, Benjamín Argumedo rebelled, also supporting
Orozco...
The Magonistas, dissatisfied with the Madero regime, decided to take
advantage of the situation. Already in January 1912, Texas Rangers
reported that armed groups of PLM supporters were crossing the Rio
Grande River and taking away cattle and horses (46). And in early
February, the epic of Gutierrez's detachment began.
On February 9, 1912, while camped in Mexican territory near Las Vacas
(now Ciudad Acuña) on the Rio Grande, the rebels issued the following
declaration:
" To the people of Koaiula
Primitivo Gutierrez, in the name of the Mexican Liberal Party and as the
representative of the liberal revolutionary forces in the state of
Coahuila, informs:
1. The government authority of the traitor Francisco I. Madero, the
courts and legislative chambers are not recognized.
2. The Constitution and all laws issued up to the present moment are
repealed.
3. The right of private property, the basis of capitalism and any
tyranny, is abolished.
4. The large estates of Coahuila, such as San Carlos, Maravillas, La
Babia, Hornos, etc., etc., will be worked in common, with the land and
tools socialized for joint production and consumption.
5. Factories, workshops, mills and factory buildings pass into the
possession of the workers, as well as mines and all branches of industry.
6. Railways, trams, carriages, cars and other means of transport are
declared the property of the entire community.
7. The right to collect rent in villages and cities for the lease of
urban real estate is abolished. It remains at the disposal of those who
occupy it.
8. Temples of any cult remain closed until the community has made a
decision on how to use them.
9. The banner of the revolution is a red flag on which are written in
white letters the words that contain the ideals of the Mexican
proletariat: Land and Freedom.
10. Communism is proclaimed in Coaiula and we support in all its parts
the Manifesto issued by the Organizational Junta of the Mexican Liberal
Party in Los Angeles, Cal[ifornia], United States of America, September
23, 1911.
LAND AND FREEDOM
Operational camp at Las Vacas, Coahuila, February 9, 1912.
Primitivo Gutierrez Substitutes: Marcos Vela, Luz Mendoza, Eulogio M.
Garcia, Ines Olivares " (47).
At the same time, Gutierrez's detachment called the population of
Coahuila to arms. He declared that "the Madero government has shown
itself to be an obstacle to the happiness of people and nations," just
like the governments of "the tyrannical Porfirio Diaz and the temporary
cleric Francisco L. de la Barra." The reason for this, according to the
rebels, was that any rulers are "mere instruments of the capitalists,"
called upon "to keep the masses of workers in poverty, darkness, and
slavery." The Coahuila guerrillas distanced themselves from other
opposition movements (supporters of B. Reyes, E. Vásquez Gómez, P.
Orozco, and others) and promised to fight under the red banner for the
sake of realizing the ideals of "Land and Freedom" and the manifesto of
September 23, without claiming to occupy any government posts, since
they are convinced of "the failure of government institutions in the
lives of peoples." González and his comrades called on the workers and
peasants to quit their jobs, rise up and join their ranks, where there
are no leaders but all are equal. The appeal ended with the slogans:
"Forward, comrades! The liberal forces will hand over to you the
haciendas on which you toil, the houses you rent, the mines in which you
work, in a word, everything. Enough of private property! Down with the
capitalist system! Death to the rich! Death to the dwarf Madero! Long
live the Mexican Liberal Party! Long live the Land and Freedom!" (48)
The PLM greeted with enthusiasm the beginning of a new stage of the
guerrilla movement in the state, pinning on it hopes for a general turn
in the revolutionary struggle. "Our people have finally caught their
breath," commented the newspaper "Regeneracion" on the news from
Coahuila. "With the movement spreading everywhere, they can now fight
with a greater advantage, since they are not the only ones who must
resist the frantic attacks of Madero's henchmen, and today in Michoacan,
Guanajuato, Colima, Durango, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, in
all places, our people are rebuilding their positions (...) Better days
await our cause! Perseverance, comrades!" (49)
The next few issues of the newspaper were filled with reports of
uprisings and rebellions throughout the country, although the editors
complained about poor communications with Mexico due to disrupted
communications and cut telephone lines. "The reports we have received
this week about the activity of purely libertarian groups operating in
northern Coahuila, in central Chihuahua, in the Laguna region, in
Durango and Zacatecas are very vague. We only know what the bourgeois
press of Ciudad de Mexico says. From the state of Tlaxcala, where purely
libertarian groups are operating, very vague reports are coming in,
which are published by bourgeois newspapers," admitted "Regeneracion" on
March 2, 1912 (50). Nevertheless, even this fragmentary and disparate
information, unfortunately not systematized in any way in the printed
organ of the PLM, made it possible to obtain a rather impressive
picture. As for Coahuila, the Magonist publication listed the names of
dozens of estates stormed and burned by the rebels. It was noted that
the rebels, whose detachments numbered tens or even hundreds of people,
moved swiftly on horseback, seized horses and weapons, emptied
warehouses of goods and supplies, and distributed them to the poor in
the area, who often joined them. In the same way, the guerrillas stopped
trains and plundered them, stormed and burned railway stations, and
destroyed the tracks, interrupting transportation and preventing the
transfer of troops and rurales. In a variety of places, battles took
place between the rebels and government forces, even near Torreon and
the state capital of Saltillo. In a number of cases, the rebels managed
to temporarily capture larger settlements, such as Viesca and Matamoros,
in the storming of which former strikers from Torreon also participated.
According to reports, most of the rebels acted completely independently,
although in the south of the state, in the area of Torreón and Laguna,
there were also groups of vasquistas, and sometimes the cry of "Long
live Zapata!" was heard. In the north, there were various groups of
revolutionaries (in Allende, Sabinos and the town of Coahuila) and the
PLM guerrilla movement was developing. As reported by Regeneracion, in
the Rio Grande district, the estates of landowners Fuentes García,
Guillermo Purcell and Graciano Bertoni were looted and burned by
"comrades operating in the area." A wool warehouse worth 50,000 pesos
was also burned. At one point, the city of Piedras Negras was
besieged... (51)
The Primitivo Guerrilla was not the only anarchist group operating in
northern Coahuila. On March 9, 1912, the rebels led by Alvarez and
Ramos, who were camped in Paso del Moro, addressed the Mexican people.
The guerrillas also declared that they were fighting against capital,
authority and the clergy, following the principle of direct action and
fighting to win bread, land and freedom for all producers - men, women,
old people and children. "We are not fighting to make someone president,
we are fighting to be free," proclaimed Panfilo Vazquez, J. E. Alvarez
and their deputies Miguel Ramos and Baudelino Garza Gutierrez.
Expressing their commitment to the manifesto of September 23, they
called on the workers to revolt under the slogans: "No more bosses! No
more exploiters! No more political functionaries!" (52)
On March 28, 1912, a group led by Calixto Guerra-Chico issued an appeal
to the Mexicans from the camp near Las Vasas. They explained that the
struggle was ultimately for the "right to live" and that attempts to
obtain anything from the "rich class and the government" peacefully and
without violence were of no avail, because no one wanted to hear the
demands of the poor. "We are here in the field to fight the bourgeoisie,
and as soldiers of equality, we are going to destroy all privileges and
reject all authority. We are going to destroy slavery, both economic and
political (...) We are going to expropriate, and we call on all our
brothers in need and suffering to do the same. "We are going to tell the
workers to seize everything that exists, to work and consume together as
brothers, without recognizing any authority...", declared Calixto
Guerra-Chico, Hilario de Hoyos and Julio Barrera. They specifically
called for no support for any of the political parties and groups that
were fighting for power (53).
In early April 1912, Regeneracion noted that from the moment the PLM
forces entered the Rio Grande District in early February, "the federals
did not dare to confront them, despite the fact that the number of
libertarians was very limited. With complete freedom of action, ours
were able to propagate our ideals among the peasants of the region, whom
they called upon to take possession of the haciendas and ranches, whose
books and other papers were reduced to ashes and the supplies placed at
the disposal of the workers" (54).
Even military forces led by former PLM members Ildefonso Vásquez and
Calixto Guerra (not to be confused with Calixto Guerra-Chico!) were
called in to suppress the anarchist guerrillas in the Las Vacas-del Río
area (55). But dealing with them proved to be no easy task. According to
Regeneracion, in early March, Guerra's punitive detachment of 25 men
attacked "part of the column operating in the Rio Grande district,
Coahuila, under the leadership of Comrade Primitivo Gutierrez," but was
met with bullets and dynamite sticks, after which, having lost three
men, they retreated to Piedras Negras (56). The fight against the
anarchists was further complicated by the fact that the government was
simultaneously forced to deploy army units to suppress the rebellion of
Orozco and Vásquez Gómez, whose supporters were also operating in the
south of the state. Thanks to the deployment of federal troops, the
authorities managed to somewhat stabilize the situation in the Torreon
area. However, in the Laguna area, approximately 4,000 rebels continued
to operate, attacking ranches and estates (57).
On March 31, the first truly major battle took place between the
anarchist guerrillas and government forces. It ended in a complete
victory for the rebels. The battle, which took place in the area between
the ranches of San Gregorio and La Parida, involved about 200 federal
fighters under the command of Ciriaco Guerra and 65 guerrillas. It
lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon until nightfall. After an
intense exchange of fire, the government forces fled in disarray to Las
Vacas, abandoning their weapons, ammunition, food, horses, and even
their sombreros on the battlefield. The rebels lost four men, including
Teodoro Chavez and Pedro N. Ortega. After this, Primitivo Gutierrez
demanded the capitulation of the town of Las Vacas, from where the
authorities and the local bourgeoisie fled to the American city of Del
Rio (58). Upon entering Las Vacas, the guerrillas captured several
American entrepreneurs, from whom they "stripped everything down to
their pants" (59).
The anarchists were unable to hold the city given the existing balance
of forces. In April, Las Vacas became a stronghold for military
operations against the guerrillas. On May 11, 1912, Regeneracion
reported, citing correspondence from the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial
in Langtry, Texas, on April 24, about a battle that took place between
federal forces sent from Las Vacas and PLM rebels in the San Agustin
Canyon in the Sierra del Burro Mountains. The guerrillas, who were
operating in the Rio Grande region, once again forced the troops to
retreat to the reinforcements that had arrived (60). In addition, 15
miles from Las Vacas, in the Garza Galan region, the rebels attacked the
ranch of N. Sombrano and carried off everything they could from there.
Later, between Las Vacas and the Sierra del Burro, a group of foreign
businessmen was attacked, which led to a note from the United States to
the Mexican Foreign Ministry. Forces under Calixto Guerra and then
Ildefonso Vásquez were sent from Las Vacas to pursue the rebels, but
they managed to escape. El Imparcial claimed that the guerrilla group
initially consisted of 14-15 people, but later grew to 60. Citing its
reporters, the newspaper reported that "socialism sui generis has
appeared in some parts of the state of Coahuila" (61).
In April, the head of the department in Músquiza reported that he had
succeeded in defeating a detachment of Magonistas on the Encino Solo
ranch. Near the town of Piedras Negras, a clash between a detachment of
"rurales" and 30 guerrillas took place, with the former losing 12 men,
while among the rebels four were killed and four wounded. In the Sierra
Mojada, a detachment of 40 PLM supporters attacked ten gendarmes, but
they managed to break out; according to the authorities, the guerrillas
lost four men. On May 1, the military command reported that the
Magonistas were still operating in the northeast of the Sierra del
Burro, but government forces were "pursuing them." The Mexican consul in
Del Rio reported that members of the PLM were delivering military
equipment through Dryden for those fighting in the Sierra del Burro... (62)
"Regeneracion" responded with delight to the new reports of the actions
of its supporters, which it called a "triumph". "(...) Let us convey our
applause to the worthy comrades who risk their lives for the benefit of
the working class," commented Ricardo Flores Magon. "These comrades from
the Rio Grande district deserve admiration because they have fought
almost continuously, but so far with good results, despite the
overwhelming number of troops that are attacking them" (63). The
comrades inflicted on Calixto Guerra, Ildefonso Vásquez and other
"henchmen" of Madero "one defeat after another in almost daily battles",
almost always forcing them to retreat to Las Vacas "without looking
where they were going, with clothes torn in the dense bushes where they
ran blindly, without weapons, horses, and sometimes even without their
sombreros," exulted Enrique Flores Magon (64).
However, these successes were obviously the last for the Magonista
guerrillas. The state was flooded with troops who were engaged in fierce
battles with units loyal to Pascual Orozco. At the same time, the
Orozcos managed to seize the initiative from the PLM supporters and
accumulate the protest mood of the masses in their favor. They operated,
among other things, in the same areas as the anarchist guerrillas,
pushing them to the sidelines. There was a catastrophic shortage of
weapons and forces. The PLM and Regeneracion suffered from a
catastrophic lack of funds; they had to conduct collections of donations
to cover the deficit of the newspaper. The situation was further
aggravated by the need to concentrate efforts on conducting a campaign
against the prosecution of members of the Organizational Junta in the
United States, where they were accused of "violating neutrality," that
is, interfering in the affairs of Mexico from US territory. On June 25,
1912, R. Flores Magon, E. Flores Magon, Librado Rivera and the editor of
Regeneracion, Anselmo L. Figueroa, were sentenced in Los Angeles to 1
year and 4 months in prison, and a movement began for their release (65).
With the U.S. tightening its control over the border, Mexican
revolutionaries found it increasingly difficult to deliver aid to their
fighting comrades. One example of such difficulties was reported in
Regeneracion in the fall of 1912: PLM member Amado E. Garza of Del Rio
was arrested by U.S. Marshals on suspicion of carrying "weapons for the
social revolution"; the weapons and vehicle were confiscated (66).
The pressure on the anarchist guerrillas increased. On July 26, 1912,
superior government forces attacked a group of eight rebels in the
mountains under cover of night. It included miners José Álvarez, Miguel
Ramos, Refugio Ortiz and five peons. The guerrillas were asleep,
preparing to move towards Músquiz the next day; taken by surprise, they
did not have time to resist and were killed (67). In October and
November, it was the turn of other detachments. Primitivo Gutierrez's
group was routed and he himself was killed. The arrested members of his
guerrilla force, Pánfilo Vásquez, Anacleto Vásquez, Víctor Cárdenas and
Juan Guerrero, were held in Saltillo, where they were interrogated to
testify against Calixto Guerra Chico as one of the leaders (68). This
was the end of the anarchist guerrilla movement in Coahuila...
The last attempt to organize an anarchist insurrection in Mexico during
the revolution was the story of the so-called "Texas martyrs." The
course of events in the country took another sharp turn in February 1913
with the overthrow of Madero and the establishment of the reactionary
regime of General Victoriano Huerta, who in 1912 commanded government
troops fighting the Orosquistas in Coahuila and other areas of northern
Mexico. The PLM, sympathetic to the struggle of the southern rebels led
by Emiliano Zapata, sought to negotiate cooperation with them. In March
and April 1913, negotiations were conducted at the Zapatista
headquarters by PLM representatives José Guerra and Jesús María Rangel.
After returning to the United States, Rangel formed a group in Texas
that intended to go fight in Mexico (69). On September 11, while en
route to the Mexican border near Carrizo Springs, the detachment was
attacked by Texas Rangers, who killed sentry Silvestre Lomas but were
themselves captured. Rebel commander José Guerra shot and killed spy
Candelario Ortiz but released the other prisoners in exchange for a
promise to leave the guerrillas alone. However, the following day, the
detachment was attacked by superior forces of Rangers. During the
shootout, Regeneracion editorial board member José Rincón was killed.
The rest of the detachment were captured, tried, and sentenced to
lengthy prison terms of up to 99 years (70). The only woman in the
detachment was Luz Mendoza, an old PLM activist who in 1906 was elected
vice-president of the Mexican Liberal Club in Smithville, Texas,
organized the party-affiliated group Redención in Harlingen, Texas, and
in June 1911 participated in the defense of Cañon de la Espada in
Coahuila under the leadership of Emilio Campa. On February 9, 1912,
together with Primitivo Gutiérrez, she signed the famous declaration of
communism in the state of Coahuila (71). Her participation in the 1913
detachment can be considered a kind of afterword to the history of the
anarchist guerrilla war in Coahuila in 1912...
The proclamation of anarchist communism by the Magonists in Coahuila in
1912 is most often considered a secondary and insignificant episode - at
best, a curiosity (72) or a kind of program of future measures that the
anarchists intended to implement after establishing their control over a
region (73). In historical studies devoted to the Mexican Revolution or
Magonism, this event is mentioned only in passing, if we do not count
the work of Luis Olvera, published in 2021, whose second chapter on the
"unknown revolution" ("¡El intento de liberar a un pueblo! La revolución
desconocida: Las Vacas, Coahuila, 1912"), written mainly on the
materials of "Regeneracion", is specifically devoted to the events in
Las Vacas (74).
It seems, however, that the significance of the actions of the Coaihuila
guerrillas goes beyond a curiosity or a simple declaration of intent.
Indeed, they did not have a territory in which they could exercise
long-term and permanent control, organize the work of organs of popular
self-government and fully implement their program, transferring
enterprises to the management of workers. They only managed to carry out
acts of expropriation and equal distribution of land and food,
considered as a first step towards organizing life on new foundations
(as envisaged, for example, in the famous book by P. A. Kropotkin, Bread
and Freedom, which was known not only to Mexican anarchists but also to
Emiliano Zapata). Nevertheless, it was no coincidence that the Las Vacas
Declaration of February 9, 1912 attracted attention at that time in the
world anarchist movement (75). The Ciudad Acuña tourist guide states
that in this city, "Primitivo Gutiérrez, an anarchist, proclaimed
communism for the first time in the Mexican Republic" (76). In reality,
however, this was the first proclamation of libertarian communism not
only in Mexico but in the world. Twenty years later, in 1932, this
example was followed for the first time by the Spanish
anarcho-syndicalists of Spain, who briefly took over the Catalan mining
region of Upper Llobregat, and then this model of action spread
throughout Spain, culminating in the Spanish Revolution of 1936.
Notes:
(1) See: Flores Magón R. Obras completas. Vol. IX. Regeneración (1912).
Mexico DF, 2014. P. 376.
(2) For the text of the program, see: Idem . Programa del Partido
Liberal y Manifiesto a la nación. Mexico DF, 1992.
(3) Idem. Obras completas. Vol. IX. Regeneración (1912). P. 376.
(4) Pasztor SB The Spirit of Hidalgo: The Mexican Revolution in
Coahuila. Calgary; East Lansing, 2002. P. 82.
(5) La Bandera Roja // Regeneración. 17 February 1912. No. 77. P. 3.
(6) Pasztor SB Op. cit. P. XIII.
(7) Ibid. P. 46.
(8) Medina Zapata JJ Acuña: historia y progreso. Saltillo, 2016. P. 23.
(9) Pasztor SB Op. cit. P. 48. Read more about the activities of PLM in
Coahuila before the revolution of 1910-1917. see: El magonismo en
Coahuila / Introducción y selección de J. Miguel Flores. Saltillo, 2006.
(10) Quote. by: Martínez Sánchez L. El centro de Coahuila, Monclova
durante la Revolución 1910-1920. Saltillo, 2011. P. 22.
(11) Bartra A., Barrera J. La revolución magonista (Cronología
narrative). Mexico, 2018. P. 212.
(12) Trejo R. Magonismus: Utopie und Praxis in der Mexikanischen
Revolution 1910-1913 / Übersetzt von M. Schwarzbach. Lich, 2006. S. 49.
(13) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 191, 213-215.
(14) Manifiesto A los Trabajadores del Mundo // Regeneración. 8 de abril
de 1911. No. 32. P. 1.
(15) Hart JM Anarchism & The Mexican Working Class, 1860-1931. Austin,
1987. P. 101.
(16) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 248.
(17) Manifiesto: La Junta Organizadora del Partido Liberal Mexicano al
Pueblo de Mexico // Regeneración. 23 de septiembre de 1911. No. 56. P. 1.
(18) Ibid.
(19) Ibid.
(20) Ibid.
(21) Flores Magon R. La Cuestion Social en México // Regeneración. 10
February 1912. No. 76. P. 1.
(22) See, for example: A los Rebeldes // Regeneración. 24 de febrero de
1912. No. 78. P. 1.
(23) See: Flores Magon E. Notas de la Revolucion Social Mexicana //
Regeneración. 27 de enero de 1912. No. 74. P. 2; Idem. La Revolucion
Social Ha Cundido por Toda la Republica // Regeneración. 17 February
1912. No. 77. P. 2; etc.
(24) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 263-264, 266-268.
(25) Trejo R. Magonismus. S. 177-179.
(26) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 296. For more information on the
PLM guerrilla war in these states in 1912, see: Trejo R. Magonismo:
utopia y revolution. 1910-1913. Barcelona, 2010. P. 214-217.
(27) Pasztor SB Op. cit. P. 82.
(28) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 249.
(29) Araujo A. de P. ¡Mueran los leaders! //Regeneration. 12 de octubre
de 1912. No. 111. P. 1.
(30) The Carniceria of 26 July // Regeneration. October 5, 1912. No.
110. P. 2. Alvarez worked for more than 10 years in coal mines in the
American state of Oklahoma.
(31) Knight A. The Mexican Revolution. Vol. 1. Porfirians, Liberals and
Peasants. Cambridge, 1986. P. 281.
(32) Carranza, who had served as Minister of War in Madero's rebel
government, headed the administration of the state of Coahuila from May
to August 1911, then formally handed over power to the provisional
governor R. Zepeda, and in September of that year was elected governor.
He officially assumed his duties in November 1911, and remained in that
position until March 1913.
(33) For the reforms carried out by Carranza in Coahuila, see: Pasztor
SB Op. cit. P. 73-75.
(34) See: Katz F. The Life and Times of Pancho Vila. Broadway, 1998. P. 200.
(35) See: Flores Magon E. ¡Paso a los Pobres! Abajo los Ricos!
//Regeneration. 30 de septiembre de 1911. No. 57. P. 1-2; Idem. ¿Ois? Es
la Revolucion que Avanza // Regeneración. 11 de noviembre de 1911.
No.63. P.2.
(36) Idem. Madero, escoge entre "Ipiranga" y horca // Regeneración. 2 de
diciembre de 1911. No. 66. P. 2.
(37) Idem. Animo, Camaradas; La Revolucion Avanza // Regeneración. 23 de
diciembre de 1911. No. 69. P. 2.
(38) Idem. La Rebelion se extiendepor toda la Republica // Regeneración.
25 de noviembre 1911. No. 65. P. 2; Idem. ¡Muera el asesino Fransisco I.
Madero! //Regeneration. 9 de diciembre de 1911. No. 67. P. 2.
(39) Idem. Reyes se "raja"; Pero la Revolucion sigue su curso //
Regeneración. 6 de enero de 1912. No. 71. P. 2.
(40) Idem. La Rebelion se extiendepor toda la Republica. P. 2; Idem.
Madero, escoge entre "Ipiranga" y horca. P. 3/
(41) Idem. La Angustia de Madero no tiene limites // Regeneración. 10
February 1912. No. 76. P. 2.
(42) Idem. La Revolucion Social Ha Cundido por Toda la Republica. P.2.
(43) Idem. La Angustia de Madero no tiene limites. P.2.
(44) Idem. La Revolucion Social Ha Cundido por Toda la Republica. P. 2-3.
(45) Salmerón Sanginés P. Los rebeldes contra la revolución: Los
disidentes agrarios de 1912 // Disidentia y disidentes en la historia de
México / Ed. F. Castro, M. Terrazas. México, 2003. P. 337, 341.
Supporters of the PLM Organizational Junta distanced themselves from
their former comrades. Thus, they called Inés Salazar "a traitor to his
class"; see: Flores Magon E. Notas de la Revolucion // Regeneración. 20
de April de 1912. No. 86. P. 2.
(46) Raat WD Revoltosos: Mexico`s Rebels in the United States,
1903-1923. College Station, 1981, p. 240.
(47) Al Pueblo de Coahuila // Regeneración. 17 February 1912. No. 77. P. 1.
(48) ¡A las Armas! //Regeneration. 17 February 1912. No. 77. P. 3.
(49) La Bandera Roja // Regeneración. 17 February 1912. No. 77. P. 3.
(50) La Bandera Roja en Acción // Regeneracion. 2 de marzo de 1912. No.
79. P. 1.
(51) See: Flores Magon E. Notas de la Revolucion // Regeneracion. 24 de
febrero de 1912. No. 78. P. 2-3; Idem . Revolucionarios // Regeneracion.
2 de marzo 1912. No. 79. P. 2-3; Idem. Proletarios // Regeneracion. 9 de
marzo de 1912. No.80. P. 2-3.
(52) Proclama // Regeneración. 16 de marzo de 1912. No. 81. P. 1.
(53) Proclama: Mexicanos // Regeneración. 6 de abril de 1912. No. 84. P. 3.
(54) Flores Magon R. La Bandera Roja Triunfadora // Regeneración. 6 de
abril de 1912. No. 84. P. 1.
(55) Pasztor SB Op. cit. P. 83.
(56) Flores Magon E. Notas Rojas // Regeneración. 16 de marzo de 1912.
No. 81. P. 2.
(57) Idem. ¡Viva la Violencia! //Regeneration. 23 de marzo de 1912. No.
82. P. 1-3.
(58) Flores Magon R. La Bandera Roja Triunfadora. P. 1; Idem. La Bandera
Roja // Regeneración. 13 de abril de 1912. No. 85. P. 1.
(59) Flores Magon E. Acción Proletaria // Regeneración. 13 de abril de
1912. No. 85. P. 2.
(60) Flores Magon R. La Bandera Roja // Regeneración. 11 de mayo de
1912. No. 89.P.1.
(61) Quote. by: Flores Magon E. Notas de la Rebelion // Regeneración. 11
de mayo de 1912. No. 89.P.1.
(62) Trejo R. Magonismo. P. 213-214.
(63) Flores Magon R. La Bandera Roja // Regeneración. 11 de mayo de
1912. No. 89.P.1.
(64) Flores Magon E. Notas de la Rebelion // Regeneración. 11 de mayo de
1912. No. 89.P.1.
(65) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 285.
(66) See: Araujo A. de P. Atentados // Regeneración. 23 de noviembre de
1912. No. 117. P. 3.
(67) La carniceria del 26 de Julio...
(68) See: Ulloa B. Revolución Mexicana. 1910-1920. Mexico, 1963. P. 167,
173.
(69) Bartra A., Barrera J. Op. cit. P. 297-301.
(70) Abad de Santillan D. Ricardo Flores Magón: The Apology of the
Revolution. Buenos Aires; La Plata, 2011. P. 115-116. The guerrilla
group also included member of the Industrial Workers of the World
Charles Kline, Eugenio Alzalde, Abraham Cisneros, Lino González, Domingo
R. Rosas, José Ángel Serrano, Miguel P. Martínez, José González,
Leonardo I. Vásquez, Pedro Perales, Lucio R. Ortiz, Bernardino Mendoza
and Luz Mendoza.
(71) See: Flores Magón R. Obras completas. Vol. XI. Regeneración (1915).
Mexico DF, 2015. P. 196; Hernández S. For a Just & Better World:
Engendering Anarchism in the Mexican Borderlands, 1900-1938. Champaign,
2021, pp. 162-163.
(72) "A romantic experiment that has remained only a memory for the
residents of Acuña" is what the proclamation of anarchist communism in
Mexican tourist material is called; see: Ciudad Acuña,
Coahuila[Electronic resource]. URL:
https://www.turimexico.com/estados-de-la-republica-mexicana/coahuila-mex...
(Accessed: 06/27/2024)
(73) See, for example: Amador Turcios C. El anarquismo mexicano visto a
través de Regeneración, 1910-1918. Tesis que para optar por el grado de
Maestra en Filosofía / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Programa
de Maestría y Doctorado en Filosofía. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras.
Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas. Mexico DF, 2014. P. 237.
(74) See: Olvera L. La revolición social en el norte de México y las
comunas anarquistas del Partido Liberal Mexicano 1911-1915. Mexico, 2021.
(75) The information was published in various libertarian publications.
See, for example: Une proclamation communiste // Le Libertaire. Paris,
16 March 1912. No. 21. P. 2; Proclamation of Communism in the State of
Coaguila // Molot. Organ of the Group of Free Socialists. Paris, 1912.
Unnumbered; etc.
(76) See: Medina Zapata JJ Acuña: libro-guía de turismo. Mexico, 2020.
PUBLISHED:
Damier V.V. "Communism is proclaimed in Coahuila." Episode from the
history of the Mexican Revolution (1912) // Latin American Historical
Almanac. 2024. No. 42. P. 30-59.
https://aitrus.info/node/6242
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