Richard Barnes

Darien Gap

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 Richard Barnes

This year (2022), between January and July, the Organization of American States (OAS) estimates that more than 45,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darien Gap. As opposed to immigrants from other countries (Haiti, Uzbekistan, Central American nations, and more) the US Department of State has imposed visa requirements on Venezuelans that are practically impossible for most to meet. We have also pressured other countries in Central America to do likewise, the latest one to fall in line being Costa Rica. In March, as reported by The Washington Examiner, Mexico “has successfully put a stop to the trend of Venezuelans flying into its airports and then [going] to the United States after more than 100,000 were stopped at the border since last summer.”

What this means is that Venezuelans who survive the jungles, seas, and rivers just to get to the Darien Gap where they then cross a trackless wall of jungle 70 miles wide, are under the added pressures of bureaucracies who are determined to keep them from arriving and entering the United States.

Over 6.8 MILLION Venezuelans have emigrated from the Socialist Paradise, most finding refuge in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. But hundreds of thousands have headed elsewhere, including the United States, despite the almost insurmountable odds. The number of Venezuelan refugees exceed their Syrian and Ukrainian counterparts who are fleeing the devastation of wars in their homelands.

Venezuelans are fleeing another type of war: a war against man in the image of God. That is a war that never ends ends well: over 150 million deaths by Stalin, Mao, Ho, Pol Pot, Castro, and more in the 20th Century alone [see The Black Book of Communism]. (And that is in addition to the millions of deaths in the two world wars and all the hot wars such as Korea, Vietnam, and more.)

And so they, and others, seek to shorten their crossing of the Darien Gap by getting to Necocli on the eastern Colombian shores of the Gulf of Uraba. There they seek and pay unknown coyotes to cross the gulf to Acandi, on the western shores of the gulf. And there they either acquire the services of “guides” or other coyotes to cross the Gap, or just strike out on their own into the forbidding jungles.

It is a most frightfully hazardous crossing whose fatalities can only be guessed at. Besides treacherous rapids and muddy mountain sides and cliffs the refugees are easy prey to criminal gangs and cartels as well as poisonous snakes and other beasts. It is estimated that nine Venezuelans per hour cross the Gap, with at least 15 Venezuelans reported to have died trying to cross, in 2022 alone. Despite widespread reports of women and children being victims of rape and murder, they keep trying. Many have not lived to tell the tale.

Following are some of the tales of horror:

In January of this year, “María” [true name withheld] and other women, including a 13-year-old girl, were raped by seven men who then yelled, “Run, go! Else we will shoot you in the back!”

“María” and her companions did make it to Panama. The following bullets tell of just a few who did not.

Marine Carolina Castellano Suárez, 26 years old, was with her husband and minor son when she was swept away by the currents of a swift river. She was killed when her head struck a rock.

In March, Andreína Chiquinquirá Acosta who journeyed with her young son, fell utterly exhausted and died despite the efforts of her fellow refugees to revive her.

Merimar Paola Gómez Díaz successfully crossed the Darien Gap after walking for thirteen days, but was felled by cardiac arrest upon arriving at Bajo Chiquito in Panama. She was with her husband, three children, and mother.

In April Giovanni Prado died of a heart attack in the Darien jungles. His body was at a three hour distance from the nearest village; his daughter begged for help to recover his remains.

In June, Wilmer Monterola died in the Darien jungle after languishing there for 15 days with a broken leg, unable to move.

Anhelo José Montilla Godoy, 26, died on June 9, having reached refuge in San Vicente, Panama, but suffering cardiac arrest shortly thereafter.

In July, Luz Asleidys Steile Arguelles and her minor daughter, Lusied Antonella Chirinos Steile drowned in rapids as they sought to cross. Their relatives confirmed the deaths upon viewing a video of the bodies.

Freddy Alejandro Lira died of exhaustion in the Darien Gap in July: a reporter shared a video of Mr. Lira seated on the jungle ground in critical condition shortly before his death.

Luis Leonardo Cardozo Montilla, 34, was seeking to go to Utah where he had relatives. He did not make it across the Gap; he died in July.

José Gerardo Díaz died in July after being struck by a poisonous snake.

Daniel Rodríguez, after fruitlessly seeking to come legally to see his son, finally decided to come through the jungles. He was felled by a cardiac arrest in July as he sought to make it through the Darien jungles.

“Gabriel” [name withheld to protect friends and family still in Venezuela] who traversed the journey with his wife, two young children, and a cousin, did make it. He had gathered $8,000 over many months and by the time they arrived at the Rio Bravo, which they crossed illegally, they had used every penny. They turned themselves in and are now in Texas with legal status, working hard, and grateful to Americans. “I do not recommend crossing the Darien; it is a hell on earth. But I have no regrets. I am here and my wife and children are with me. I could never leave them behind. You leave with what is necessary and by the time you arrive, you have nothing. But you have your life.”

An educated guess for this state of affairs where the world’s migrants are incentivized to come in illegally, but not Venezuelans, is that Venezuelans know what Socialism — with or without a human face — actually does to a country and its people. We can’t have that, can we.

This state of affairs has discouraged my compratiotas, but it has not deterred them.

Fifteen migrants who did not make it through the gap are buried in Guayabilla Cemetery in Agua Fría, Panama. On the white body bags were handwritten clues: “Unknown in Bajo Grande”, “Unknown in Turquesa River”, “Unknown #3 Minor”, and more.

Venezuelan mother and daughter, reported missing for weeks. Later confirmed dead by drowning in the Darien Gap.

Haitian husband and pregnant wife. After a harrowing crossing, they seriously considered staying in Panama. I do not know their final decision.

The Mexican Revolution 1910 – 1920: Part 4 — US Interventions — Mike Ashe

September 6, 2022September 6, 2022 Richard Barnes

[This is the fourth of a 4-part post: Prologue and Beginning; Civil War and Ending; Scorecard; and US Interventions. This part, “US Interventions”, focuses on the major investments US companies and others made in Mexico, especially in the railroads — which are a true marvel — but also in oil. This was an era of remarkable men such as Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount and William F. Buckley, Sr., who, though long gone, have nevertheless left their mark — RMB]

The US Investments in Mexico that needed to be protected during the ten years of revolution

As mentioned earlier, during the Porfirio Diaz presidency there was a great influx of US and British investments in Mexico. US railroad companies had extended their lines to the border prior to Diaz presidency. When Diaz took office the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe extended their lines into Mexico which represented 66% of the system valued at about $650Million. Along the rail routes telegraph lines were erected.

[Porfirio Diaz was truly a visionary for his beloved Mexico. The development of Mexico’s railways owes much to this remarkable man. As Mike put it in earlier post, his body should eventually be returned to Mexico, where he belongs. In the 1870s Mexico was a land of horsemen, pack mules, and cargadores (human burden-bearers) for goods traffic. Diaz was quick to realize the possibilities of railways and he ensured they spread rapidly. Mexico had a stable government for the first time since her independence and disorder did not reappear until his exile. By then railway mileage had increased from 350 to more than 13,000 miles. Significant foreign investment had poured into Mexico — RMB]

US mining companies explored and began mining; one of the most famous Mines was in Cananea, Sonora. The Smelting and mining interest alone were worth more than $250 Million.

As an aside, my grandfather worked in Anaconda’s mine in Cananea for 20 years as the power plant superintendent. My visits to Cananea were very memorable, especially the drive from Naco/Bisbee Arizona to Cananea. At that time the roads were not paved and without bridges so the fun part was crossing the many arroyos in route — some dry, others full of water so we would have to wait until the water receded to pass. The desert was teeming with wildlife but very few people until you arrived in Cananea.

Tracks of land for timber/cattle/sugar/rubber were sold to American Investors; some of these tracks were as large as one million acres. Valued at $80 Million.

Oil discoveries by US and British engineers around Tampico and Tuxpan, Veracuz, followed with its development circa 1905. Valued at about $15 Million at that time the oil business was in its infancy when the Revolution started but managed to grow rapidly to the point that it furnished a large percentage of oil needed by the British Warships during WWI.

As an Aside: Weetman Dickerson Pearson a British Engineer 1^st Viscount Cowdray was a very interesting participant in the Mexican Oil business along with other business adventures in Mexico during that time. Note the size of his castle in Scotland.

[He was one of many remarkable men of that era. He went to Mexico in 1889. Per Encyclopedia Brittanica: “He drained swamps; built railways, power lines, waterworks, and harbors; and acquired much oil-rich land. He began drilling to obtain fuel for his locomotives and, in the first two decades of the 20th century, secured control of the Mexican oil industry. His firm built the Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames River, London, and several railroad tunnels under the East River, New York City; enlarged the Dover harbor; and in 1926 completed a large dam on the Blue Nile in Sudan.” — RMB]

The United States of America’s Interventions In Mexico

There were a lot of behind-the-scenes manipulations by the US government during the revolution with the main event being the invasion of Vera Cruz in 1914.

The primary reason for the intervention was to protect US financial interests in Mexico which were estimated at between $1.5 to $2 billion.

The other issue was Huerta’s assassination of Madero, the duly elected president in whom the US government was heavily vested. One must also understand that at the time, Huerta only controlled a small portion of the Mexican republic, mainly Mexico City. Wilson’s refusal to acknowledge his administration as legitimate created the atmosphere for conflict which Wilson acted upon as a pretext for intervention after some minor incidents in the port of Tampico.

The US lost the PR war first by indiscriminately shelling the port of Veracruz resulting in loss of civilian life, and, second, the battle of Chapultepec Castle. The battle was memorialized by both sides including:

Los Niños Héroes — Five military cadets refused to retreat, defending the castle to their deaths including one that jumped from the castle with the Mexican Flag wrapped around his body so that the Americans could not capture it.

Saint Patrick Battalion — Thirty US army deserters who fought on the Mexican side were executed at the exact time the US flag was raised over the castle.

US Marines Hymn — The famed line “From the halls of Montezuma” in honor of the 90% of the officers’ corps who were killed during the battle).

Marines Blood Stripe — Scarlet red stripe on Marines dress trousers worn by all US Marines remembering those who died at Chapultepec.

Huerta left the country after the taking Mexico City; US forces left Mexico after 6 months.

One of the highlights for the US intervention was the use of amphibious landing equipment on the Veracruz beaches. The exercise was a laughable failure but it led to perfecting the exercise during WWII.

The second intervention was a punitive action resulting from Pancho Villa’s raid on the border town of Columbus New Mexico in 1916. There was also an attack by Villa on a train Near Santa Isabel, Chihuahua, that killed several ASARCO employees (a US mining company) and fifteen from American Smelting and Refining company. A lone survivor was able to recount the incident. General Pershing led the expedition with 5,000 troops to capture or kill Pancho Villa.

The military failed in its objective to capture Villa and was another PR failure of the inept Woodrow Wilson. Wilson’s restriction on Pershing made it impossible to meet the initial objectives, the incursion only lasted 8 months. It was a humiliating defeat for great General Pershing who was embittered by Wilson’s duplicity.

The real story behind all this was that Villa was once friendly to the US even visiting Pershing in Fort Bliss, El Paso Texas. Wilson (once again the meddler) in late 1915 felt that supporting Venustiano Carranza was the best way to stabilize the Mexican military chaos and withdrew support for Villa. Villa felt betrayed by the US when the US stopped arms sales to his army.

[There are two fascinating accounts narrated by the late Reid Buckley, youngest of the William F. Buckley, Sr. clan, about his father’s encounters with Villa. The first was when Villa held up a train and, pointing his pistol at the hapless conductor’s skull, cocked the hammer, demanding he tell his men where the gold was hid. Buckley had hid the gold in cuspidors but the conductor had no knowledge of this. As the conductor begged Villa to believe him, that he knew nothing, Villa’s men burst from the men’s room, “We have found the gold!”. But Villa raised his pistol, again cocking the hammer, “I will kill you anyway.” At this Buckley called out in a loud voice, in Spanish, “Do not hurt that man. I hid the gold. He knew nothing about it.”

[It is a fascinating account, at the end of which, Villa said to Buckley, “And you, Guillermo Buckley, come see me at a better time. I respect courage.”

[The second was no less dramatic but space does not permit. Reid Buckley affirmed that the Mexican frontier shaped his father’s creed. A high compliment indeed. For more, see An American Family: The Buckleys by Reid Buckley — RMB]

Wilson’s meddling resulted in Mexico non-support of the US during WWI. They instead remained neutral during the war.

Obviously not a fan of Woodrow.

[Neither am I – RMB]

Cananea in Sonora, Mexico: one of the world’s largest open-pit copper mines opened in 1899

Railway Station, Nogales, Arizona, bordering Mexico, circa 1920

The Culiacan River Bridge, built by Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico (US subsidiary), on the west coast of Mexico. The railways were constructed chiefly by American and British enterprise, but are now owned mostly by Mexican companies.

Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray (1856 – 1927)

Dunecht House, a residence in Scotland of 1st Viscount Cowdray and the place of his death in 1927

William F. Buckley, Sr. (1881 – 1958), nicknamed “Blue Eyes” by Pancho Villa

The Mexican Revolution 1910 – 1920: Part 3 — Scorecard — Mike Ashe

August 31, 2022August 31, 2022 Richard Barnes

[This is the third of a 4-part post: Prologue and Beginning; Civil War and Ending; Scorecard; US Interventions. This part, “Scorecard”, focuses on names and I found it to be of much help in “matching” names to timeframes and events. Americans are well-advised to be more cognizant of the major events of our neighbor to the south — RMB]

Scorecard of the Revolution

It’s hard to follow the events and participants of the revolution without a scorecard. Hopefully this will help answer the questions raised in the prologue.

[Mike’s prologue asks whether the Mexican Revolution advanced the interests of the Mexican people. See Part 1 for more — RMB]

Presidents in Chronological Order After Porfirio Diaz beginning in 1910:

1) Francisco Madero — In office 1911-1913. From Mexico’s wealthiest families, from the State of Coahuila. Educated in UC Berkley. Assassinated by Victoriano Huerta in 1913. Resting place: Monument of the Revolution, Mexico City

2) Victoriano Huerta — In office by coup 1913-1914. From the state of Jalisco. Military Career. Presidency not recognized by US as legitimate. US President Woodrow Wilson ordered troops to Vera Cruz and into Mexico City. Huerta fled the country to Jamaica, UK, Spain, and the US, continuing to plan another coup until his death in El Paso Texas. Viewed with great disdain then and now.

[Huerta is indeed viewed very negatively. But, as usual, there is more to the story, especially the catastrophic effect of Woodrow Wilson’s supposedly moralistic approach to foreign policy and his responsibility behind Huerta’s actions. If interested, The United States and Huerta, by Kenneth Grieb is a good resource — RMB]

4) Venustiano Carranza — 1915-1920. Wealthy land owner from the state of Coahuila-Northern Mexico. A shrewd politician and Primer Jefe of the constitutionalists. A pragmatic governing style did not win him many friends at the time but history has been kind to him. His assassination in 1920 marks the ending of the Revolutionary Period in Mexico.

Noteworthy Combatants:

1) Alvaro Obregón — From the State of Sonora (Northern Mexico). Most successful of all the Constitutionalist Revolutionary Generals. A practitioner of Modern Warfare used in WW1, he was able to defeat all his enemies including Huerta, Villa, and Zapata. In his fight against Villa his right arm was blown off, which nearly killed him. His severed arm was recovered, embalmed, and put on display at the Parque de la Bombilla in Mexico City. Obregón was the first post revolution president from 1920-1924. In 1928 he was again elected president but assassinated shortly after his reelection.

[Obregón chose Plutarco Calles (see below) as his successor. He is rarely held accountable for this nefarious decision, but ought to be — RMB]

2) Emiliano Zapata — From the state of Morelos (south of Mexico City). A champion of the peasants and agrarian reform, Zapata was a fierce fighter and feared by many which resulted in his assassination in 1919, ordered by Carranza.

3) Jose Doroteo Arrango Arambula, aka Pancho Villa — Northerngeneral allied with Zapata against Carranza in a full-fledged civil war. Lost to Obregón. In 1916 invaded Columbus New Mexico to goad the US into war with Mexico. Was assassinated in 2023. In 1976 his remains were reburied in the Monument to the Revolution.

4) Pascual Orozco Vázquez, Jr. — Army General who led forces that ended Diaz’s presidency by first raiding government garrisons. In 1911 after ambushing federal troops, he ordered their uniforms to be removed and sent to the President with a note which read, “Ahí te van las hojas, mándeme mas tamales” (Here are the wrappers; send me more tamales). He later joined Huerta in planning a coup to overthrow Carranza supported by the Germans circa WWI years. He exiled himself to the US from whence he, with Huerta, sought financial assistance to take power in Mexico. He was arrested along with Huerta in Texas, but escaped. He and three of his men were ambushed and killed in 1915. In 1925 his remains were returned to Chihuahua.

5) Plutarco Elias Calles — Northern General under Obregón; later became president in 1924-28. Responsible for the Cristeros War.

[Plutarco Calles was born in poverty; his mother and alcoholic father were not married, at a time when such was keenly disapproved of. After his mother’s death, he was reared by his uncle, an ardent atheist and fanatical anti-Christian. Unsurprisingly, Calles was vehemently anti-church and worked tirelessly to eliminate her. No public religious services were held for three years, until 1929, after he left office, although his influence persisted for over half a decade more. Upon the election of Lázaro Cárdenas — even more leftist than Calles — in 1934, he was exiled and lived in California until 1941, when he was allowed to return to Mexico where he died in 1945 — RMB]

6) Enrique Gorostieta — Huerta’s youngest general who fled to Cuba after Huerta was defeated. Later, he returned as General of the Cristeros even though he was a Mason and anti-cleric.

[Andy Garcia played the role of Gorostieta in the film, For Greater Glory, in which Ruben Blades played a credible Plutarco Calles — RMB]

The 1917 Mexican Constitution

There were four constitutions before 1917. The 1917 constitution created a minimum wage, the right to strike, and an eight-hour workday. It also implemented a strict separation of church and state, land reforms, and term limits for the president and the legislature. It also contained a statute limiting the amount of land that a person could own and legalized the federal government’s expropriation and redistribution of land.

Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, and 130 were anticlerical and restricted the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico.

Article 3 — According to the religious definitions established under article 24, educational services shall be secular and free of any religious orientation.

Article 27 Places of worship are owned by the state, not the church

Article 130 Gave the right of the federal government to regulate church services. President Plutarco Elias Calles issued an executive decree to strictly enforce this article that led to the Cristeros war.

Like Mexican slavery, most Mexicans do not know much about the Cristeros war; it was shamefully covered up.

[Calles’ power continued for over half a decade beyond his presidency. He named his ally, Tomás Garrido Canabal, to serve in Lázaro Cárdenas’ cabinet. Garrido, like Callas, was a virulent atheist. He named his son, Lenin, because he (Lenin) was an enemy of God. He had a farm with a bull named God, a cow named Mary, and a donkey named Christ. He zealously pursued the anti-church policies of Callas, even years after the official end of the Cristeros War. After he ordered the murders of Christians in Mexico City, in 1935, Cárdenas sent him to Costa Rica. He died in Los Angeles in 1943 — RMB]

[Unsurprisingly, both Calles and Garrido ceased to be atheists upon their respective deaths — RMB]

The constitution was amended 62 times from 1917-1979 and 137 times from 1980-2016.

Alvaro Obregón (1880-1928) after the Battle of Celaya in 1915. A brave and colorful soldier and man.

Venustiano Carranza is seated on the left; Francisco Madero is seated, third from the left; Pascual Orozco is seated on the right. Pancho Villa is standing on the left.

Pascual Orozco, third from left; Francisco Madero, second from right (circa 1911)

Plutarco Calles (1877-1945) at his house in Mexico City (circa 1931) where he continued to hold strategic meetings after his presidency.

Andy Garcia in the role of Enrique Gorostieta in the film, *For Greater Glory,* one of the very few dramatizations of a truly terrible product of the Mexican Revolution.

Graham Greene’s novel, later made into a John Ford film starring Henry Fonda and Pedro Armendariz. The Mexican official who pursues the Christians is believed to be modeled after Tomás Garrido Canabal.

Tomás Garrido Canabal (1890 – 1943), virulent anti-Christian, still considered a revolutionary hero by the usual suspects

The Mexican Revolution 1910 – 1920

August 26, 2022August 26, 2022 Richard Barnes

[This is the second of a 4-part post: Prologue and Beginning; Civil War and Ending; Scorecard; US Interventions. The reader will recognize several names from movies, novels, or other sources, but Mike manages to put them in at least a general context which enhances our understanding and, if interested, encourages further study. Regardless of the level of interest, Americans are well-advised to be more cognizant of the major events of our neighbor to the south — RMB]

Civil War and Ending — Mike Ashe

The Civil War Breaks Out

Francisco Madero was assassinated by the commander of Los Federales (federal troops) Victoriano Huerta in 1913. Huerta assumed power and dissolved the congress. At the same time, Jose Venustiano Carranza (a shrewd Politician) issued the Plan de Guadalupe to oust Huerta. His plan called for agrarian reform (unlike Zapata’s Plan de Ayala which was specific to the state of Morelos) and created communally held village lands called “ejidos” for all of Mexico. At the same time, he became the leader of the Northern Coalition (Alvaro Obregón and Pancho Villa).

[One of the effects of the violent civil war that broke out in Mexico was the thousands of refugees fleeing north across the border. This was a major issue when Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913 — RMB]

In 1914 Woodrow Wilson sent Marines to Vera Cruz and before entering the port city bombarded it — resulting in great numbers of civilian deaths, as well as that of young naval academy cadets, to support the revolutionaries. This tipped the scale and led to victories by revolutionary troops and Huerta resigned and left the country. The US exited Mexico City leaving behind valuable military hardware for Carranza whom Wilson supported.

[Madero’s “liberal” philosophy was to upend the social order in Mexico by destroying the landed aristocracy and the Roman Catholic church, thereby sowing the seeds which eventuated in the terrible Cristeros War a decade after his death. His politics bore constitutional fruit in 1916 (see below). After his assassination, Wilson refused to recognize Huerta’s government and relations deteriorated between Mexico and the United States, especially after Veracruz — RMB]

Political infighting and shifting alliances/coalitions between Obregon, Villa, Zapata, and Carranza led to the Convention of the revolutionary generals in Aguascalientes (north of Mexico City). The convention was a failure resulting in more civil war.

Villa and Zapata appealed to the peasant population but not to the urban workers. Carranza used this and his strong stance against the US occupation of Vera Cruz and Mexico City to political advantage.

His armies also held strategic positions such as the Ports of Vera Cruz, Port of Tampico, Mexico City, and the oil fields. Carranza defeated the northern armies and the Zapatistas in 1915.

Once an ally of the unions, he feared their continued strength worrying about the survival of capitalism with the number of labor strikes increasing. He first tried to negotiate with the workers but a series of general strikes forced him to use his troops to suppress their movement. In 1916 the Constitutional army along with foreign investors forcibly disbanded the Casa de Obrero Mundial and defeated the working-class revolution.

Obregon became Carranza’s minister of war.

During the presidency of Porfirio Diaz, foreign mining companies received generous concessions; however, Carranza issued a decree to return the wealth of oil and coal to the Mexican people, raised taxes, and removed the diplomatic recourse for mining companies. These policies were opposed by the US, but she did recognize Carranza as president.

[The stated purpose of Carranza’s nationalizations was indeed to bequeath Mexico’s natural wealth to her people. However, the fruits of these policies are still evanescent to this day, when wealth is unevenly distributed, much as it was at the end of Porfirio Diaz’s rule — RMB]

In 1916 a constitutional convention was held in Queretaro with 85 conservatives and 132 radicals. The radicals promoted widespread labor reform and Articles 3 and 130 were strongly anticlerical; the Roman Catholic Church was denied recognition as a legal entity, priests were denied rights and subject to public registration; religious education was forbidden, public religious ritual outside the church were forbidden, and all churches were property of the nation. The position of Vice President was eliminated, and Carranza became president in 1917.

[In March 1916, Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, killing 20 Americans. Despite the demands of outraged senators, Wilson did not declare war on Mexico, although he did order Brigadier General John J. Pershing deep into Mexico in a fruitless mission to capture Villa. Wilson ran for reelection in 1916 on the slogan, “He kept us out of war”, meaning war with Mexico, and, by implication, the then raging Great War, which we nevertheless entered in 1917 — RMB]

Fighting continued against Carranza including Emiliano Zapata in the Morelos mountains, Porfirio Diaz supporters active in Vera Cruz, and Pancho Villa active in Chihuahua. Obregon retired to his ranch in Sonora and Carranza ordered the assassination of Zapata in 1919.

Carranza remained neutral during World War I mainly due to anti-American sentiment resulting from interventions and invasions. This was a smart move by Carranza keeping German Companies operating and selling oil to the British to fuel their warships against the Germans.

In 1920 Carranza decided against running for president again but failed to promote Alvaro Obregon as his successor. Obregon and his allies, Sonora generals (Plutarco Calles and Adolfo de la Huerta), issued the Plan de Agua Prieta. It repudiated the Carranza government and renewed the Revolution.

Ending of the Revolution

A Carranza assassination attempt failed which prompted Obregon to bring his army to Mexico City. Carranza fled to Vera Cruz where he was assassinated on May 21, 1920. The telegram ordering his death was from Colonel Lazaro Cardenas, a future president of Mexico.

There were 30,000 mourners at his funeral cortege. He was buried among ordinary Mexicans in a third-class section of the cemetery. His heart was kept by the family and later reunited with his body in 1942 at the Monument to the Revolution.

Carranza’s death marked the end of the Mexican Revolution.

Cartoon published in the United States in 1920 when Carranza was ousted. Unfortunately many Americans, reflecting Woodrow Wilson’s antagonisms (to put it charitably), viewed the unfortunate revolutionary fervors in Mexico as simply that of a people who did not know how to govern themselves, thereby obviating centuries of self-rule under Spain and obscuring the philosophical realities, which were actually French Revolutionary dogmas. The very same dogmas which today threaten the United States.

The reality of the Mexican Revolution was not cartoonish at all

Victoriano Huerta (1854-1916, died in jail in El Paso, Texas)

General Pancho Villa (1878-1923 — assassinated). Northern Alliance, or the Army of the North

Pancho Villa and General John J. Pershing, Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, 1914

The charismatic Emiliano Zapata, General of the Southern Army in Morelos (1879-1919, assassinated)

President Jose Venustiano Carranza (1859-1920, assassinated)

Alvaro Obregon, General of the North and President of Mexico (1880-1928, assassinated)

The Mexican Revolution 1910 – 1920 — Mike Ashe

August 23, 2022August 23, 2022 Richard Barnes

[Mike’s summary of the Mexican Revolution is a needful overview of this history which continues to reverberate not only in Mexico, but here in the United States as well. Madero’s as well as Wilson’s perfidy are with us still. Our neighbors to the south have suffered much and it is important that we be at least somewhat conversant with their story.]

[This will be a 4-part post: Prologue and Beginning; Civil War and Ending; Scorecard; US Interventions. Each is worth your time — RMB]

The Mexican Revolution 1910-1920 – Part 1 — Mike Ashe

Prologue

Historians write that the defining event of modern Mexican history was the Revolution. Was it?

I think to answer that question one has to examine its cost in human lives, and how did it truly advance the interests of the Mexican people. The stated motives for waging an internal conflict were to fight for social reform: “La tierra es para el que trabaja” (the land is for those who work it) or “Tierra y Libertad” (Land and Freedom).

The mottos sounded honorable, but were they achieved?

Cost in human lives of 2-3 Million, includes combatants and civilians. The suffering was horrendous. Women and girls were hidden away from the advancing armies that raped and pillaged the population. No one was safe from the scourges of war, which lived on even after the war ended; fighting continued for decades.

With all its social faults, the Porfirio Diaz economy was robust and stable, the envy of the world. That ended abruptly in 1911 and 10 years of war left the country’s economy in shambles just ahead of a world-wide depression in the late twenties. Recovery was slowed even more with unbelievable cruelty and bloodshed during the Cristeros war (300,000-600,000 casualties).

Diaz’s vision was to build an infrastructure realizing that without it the country would not prosper. Sadly, the Mexican infrastructure has never been built out to a degree that would support a country blessed with such enormous resources. I place blame on the self-serving Generals who waged and promoted endless conflicts and assassinations throughout this unfortunate period in history.

Also, in the post-revolution period conditions did not get much better with its corrupt ruling class that did little to promote the social justice which was supposedly the primary reason for ending the Porfiriato.

The one-party system (Partido Revolucionario Institucional-PRI) established by President Calles (1924-28) did little to serve the nation’s interest but rather to consolidate power in the central government. With the one-party system the president simply picked his successor (NO DRAMA). It was not until 2006 that Vicente Fox from Partido Acción Nacional-PAN) that a president was elected from another party.

As an aside — my Mexican wife (Maria Cristina de Ashe, a US Citizen since 1980) worked as a Secretary – Admin for Minera Autlan in Mexico City when I met her. The firm was a mining company (manganese ore) owned by Don Enrique Madero and his Son Enrique Jr.

The Madero’s were direct descendants of Francisco Moderno and Enrique Jr. was active in Mexican politics in the PAN. I’ve seen him on tele-mundo several times after Vicente Fox’s election.

There were several popular heroes of the revolution including Madero, Zapata, and in my opinion the unpopular Carranza would be another. Carranza was a skilled, experienced political leader; in other words, “A Statesman”. Madero and Zapata did not enrich themselves but rather died for the cause of freedom.

The other heroes are the Mexican people which I love dearly: they are hardworking, funny, committed to their savior Jesus Christ, to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and to their beloved Mexico.

I’ll leave it up to the reader to answer to the questions above.

Beginning

The Revolution was triggered by liberal intellectuals who began to challenge the Porfiriato and in late 1910 Francisco Madero (a UC Berkley – Educated intellectual) issued his Plan de San Luis Potosi from his exile in the US that called for the uprising. His plan was to establish a democratic republic and to abolish unlimited presidential terms. At the same time Emiliano Zapata (from the state of Morelos) started recruiting thousands in the south (beginning in 1909) to fight for land reform in support of El Plan de Ayala.

In May 1911 Mexican President Porfirio Diaz resigned and left the country and Francisco Madero was elected president in that same year.

[His parting words were that “Madero has unleashed the tiger; let’s see if he can tame it.” He could not, as subsequent posts will document — RMB]