HUERTA, VICTORIANO | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Site HUERTA, VICTORIANO HUERTA, VICTORIANO (1854–1916). Victoriano Huerta, Mexican general and usurper of the Mexican presidency, was born on March 23, 1854, in Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico, the son of a mestizo father and a Huichol Indian mother. He was educated locally and in his early teens expressed interest in a military career. In May 1869, when Gen. Donato Guerra visited Colotlán and expressed his need for a personal secretary, the fifteen-year-old Huerta volunteered and was accepted. Guerra arranged Huerta's entry into the Colegio Militar de Chapultepec, with the assistance of Mexican president Benito Juárez, in 1872. Huerta distinguished himself during his five years as a cadet, despite his humble origins.

Upon his graduation in 1877 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and assigned to head a team of engineers building and repairing fortifications in Vera Cruz and Puebla. In 1879 Porfirio Díaz accepted Huerta's plan for the organization of a proposed general staff and promoted him to captain. For the next nine years Huerta supervised the general staff's cartographic activities in Puebla and in Jalapa, Vera Cruz, where he met and married Emilia Águila; they eventually had eleven children. In 1890, having achieved the rank of colonel, Huerta was recalled to Mexico City and received a permanent appointment to the general staff. In October 1893 he commanded an infantry battalion in the campaign to suppress a rebellion in Guerrero. In November 1895 he was appointed commander of the government forces in Chilpancingo, but two years later was again recalled to Mexico City, where he was placed in charge of the general staff's topographical and astronomical departments. In December 1900 he was sent back into the field to help suppress a rebellion of Yaqui Indians in Sonora.

In 1901 the state of Guerrero was again in rebellion, and in April Huerta's friend Bernardo Reyes, the minister of war, sent Huerta to treat with the rebels. Huerta had succeeded in quashing the revolt by July, and returned to Mexico City with a temporary brigadier generalship in September, but in less than a month was sent to the Yucatán to help put down an uprising among the Maya Indians. He was placed in full command in May 1902, after secretly communicating to Reyes his dismay at the conduct of the campaign. A few months later, having successfully concluded the campaign, Huerta returned to Mexico City and received a permanent appointment as a brigadier general, the Military Merit Decoration, and appointment to the Mexican Military Supreme Court. While in the Yucatán, however, he had developed cataracts, which continued to plague him for the rest of his life. After the old-line Díaz supporters forced Reyes, whose political ambitions they distrusted, out of office, Huerta reportedly suggested that a military coup might be in order. Reyes, however, chose to return to the governorship of Nuevo León.

In 1907 Huerta requested an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons and moved to Monterrey, Nuevo León. He worked as an engineer for the next 2½ years, during which Reyes steered several large street-paving contracts his way. In late 1909, after Díaz sent Reyes to Europe, Huerta returned to Mexico City, where he taught private classes in mathematics. On November 20, 1910, Francisco I. Madero issued his Plan de San Luis Potosí, which called for a general uprising against the Díaz government. Huerta applied for active duty and rejoined the army. In April 1911 he was named commander of the federal forces in Guerrero. After Díaz resigned on May 25, Huerta was chosen to command the convoy escorting the former dictator and his family to Vera Cruz. In August 1911 interim president Francisco León de la Barra ordered Huerta to Cuernavaca to enforce the demobilization of Emiliano Zapata's forces. The delicate situation threatened to escalate into full-scale war.

Zapata demanded that the federal troops be withdrawn, and a party of Zapatistas ambushed one of Huerta's columns north of Cuernavaca. Madero negotiated a tenuous settlement with Zapata, but Huerta, with some 3,000 men, marched on the Zapatista strongholds of Yautepec and Cuautla, and by the end of August war had broken out between the federals and the Zapatistas. In Mexico City, a furious Madero apparently believed that Huerta was acting under secret orders from Reyes, who had returned from Europe and set himself up as a rival to Madero for the presidency. After Madero took office on November 6, 1911, he directed secretary of war José González Salas to remove Huerta from his command, and the general entered a state of semiretirement. In March 1912, however, Pascual Orozco announced his opposition to the Madero government. After an overwhelming victory at the battle of Rellano on March 23, Orozco's next objective seemed likely to be Mexico City, where panic prevailed.

Under pressure from his cabinet, Madero agreed to bring Huerta back, and appointed him head of the federal forces on April 1. On May 22–23 Huerta crushed the rebels at the second battle of Rellano. This battle was the turning point in the campaign against Orozco, and made Huerta a national military hero. He continued pushing Orozco north, but the relationship between Huerta and Madero again grew tense. In June, Huerta ordered Francisco (Pancho) Villa to return a horse that his officers had stolen in Ciudad Jiménez; when Villa refused, Huerta had him arrested and ordered his execution. Madero's brothers intervened, however, and instead sent Villa to Mexico City, where he was imprisoned briefly. Huerta was furious at this interference in his control of the army; rumors flew that he was about to turn against Madero, and in late July the president recalled him to Mexico City for questioning. Huerta's answers apparently satisfied Madero, however, for a few weeks later the president authorized his promotion to division general. Huerta returned to the north, where the rumors persisted, but returned to Mexico City in mid-October for cataract surgery.

While the general was recuperating, Madero announced that Huerta had resigned. In the meantime Félix Díaz, the nephew of the old dictator, and Reyes, both imprisoned in Mexico City, had been planning a coup against Madero. Reyes suggested recruiting Huerta, but Huerta declined; though he certainly had no love for Madero, he apparently was concerned that the rebels might not give him a prominent position in the new government. When the coup began on February 9, 1913, the rebel officers freed Díaz and Reyes, but the latter was killed in the fighting. Huerta offered his services to Madero, who named him interim commander of the loyal troops. For the next week fighting raged in the capital; finally, probably on February 16, Huerta reached agreement with the Felicistas. On the following day the president's brother Gustavo Madero arrested Huerta and took him to the president for questioning. Once again, however, Huerta apparently succeeded in convincing Madero of his loyalty. Madero ordered Huerta's release and chastised his brother. On February 18 Madero himself was arrested, and flyers were distributed announcing that Huerta had assumed executive powers.

This announcement caught Díaz by surprise, but eventually he and Huerta agreed that the general would serve as provisional president until elections could be held, at which time Díaz would assume office. Huerta, whose conduct had embroiled him in a storm of controversy, did little to help his own cause. He announced that he would place Madero on trial for political crimes, but on the night of February 22, while being transferred from the National Palace to the Federal District Penitentiary, Madero was assassinated. The official version of his death, that he had been killed accidentally during a gunfight with a group of Maderistas who had attempted to free him, found few believers. Though the evidence is circumstantial, Huerta's complicity in the murder is commonly accepted; at any rate, the Huertistas expressed little regret over Madero's death. The assassination ended any hope of early recognition of the Huerta government by the United States, and merely confirmed the opposition of those in Mexico who had not already sworn allegiance to Huerta. Among the latter was Venustiano Carranza, the governor of Coahuila, who on March 6 formally withdrew recognition of the Huerta government.

Huerta's bloody tactics (at least thirty-five political opponents were murdered during his seventeen months in office) soon led others to rally around Carranza, including Alvaro Obregón and Pancho Villa, who reportedly spurned an offer of 100,000 pesos to ally himself with the government. On March 26 Carranza issued the Plan de Guadalupe, charging Huerta with treason. With his opponents multiplying, Huerta tried to secure the support of Orozco and Zapata. Orozco announced his support of Huerta in late February, after Huerta agreed to certain demands for reform. Zapata, however, proved intractable. Huerta sent Pascual Orozco, Sr., to negotiate with Zapata, but Zapata arrested and later executed him. In the spring and summer of 1913 the rebels enjoyed a series of military successes against the federals, and Huerta became increasingly desperate. The long-promised election, finally held on October 26, was a farce. Huerta announced that the election was null and void since it had failed to meet constitutional requirements, but added that he had won anyway.

He tried desperately to bolster the military, but the federal army was undisciplined, corrupt, and ineffective. Villa scored a series of successes in October and November, culminating in the capture of Juárez. Thoroughly demoralized, the federals evacuated Chihuahua on November 29 and retreated to Ojinaga. Even then, Huerta might have succeeded with the backing of the United States, but President Woodrow Wilson, who had taken office in March 1913, declared that "Mexico has no government." When Huerta sent a representative to Washington to negotiate a settlement to the Chamizal dispute , Wilson refused to recognize him as a diplomatic agent of the Mexican government. Huerta, in turn, withdrew recognition of the American ambassador to Mexico and broke off the Chamizal negotiations. Rebel forces attacked the port city of Tampico on April 5. They were repulsed twice by the federal defenders, but on April 9 a group of American sailors was detained temporarily by the federals. The commander of the American naval forces at Tampico demanded a formal apology, which Huerta refused to issue.

The locus of the tensions between the two nations shifted south when the United States learned that a ship loaded with weapons for the federals was about to dock at Veracruz. The United States invaded the city on April 21. As Huerta had expected, the invasion of Veracruz led to an outpouring of patriotic sentiment in Mexico, and he hoped for a reconciliation with the revolutionaries to fight the common Yankee enemy. While decrying the invasion as an affront to Mexican sovereignty, however, Carranza accused Huerta of having provoked the American attack. The two nations agreed to a conference in late May, but the United States insisted that any solution must necessarily include Huerta's resignation. Huerta understandably disagreed, as did Carranza, again in objection to American intervention. Though the conference accomplished little, events in Mexico soon rendered such mediation superfluous. After the invasion of Veracruz, Huerta, fearing that the Americans would attack Mexico City next, had called troops back from around the country to defend the capital. The rebels immediately stepped up their campaign against the government, and on June 23 Villa took the city of Zacatecas, a catastrophic loss for the government forces.

Huerta formally submitted his letter of resignation to the Mexican Congress on July 15, 1914, and five days later left Puerto México for Jamaica on a German cruiser. From Kingston he sailed to Bristol on a chartered United Fruit Company steamer, and eventually went on to Barcelona, Spain, where he and his family moved into a small hotel. By October 1914 Villa had broken with Carranza, and the two were fighting for control of Mexico. Some attributed the Plan of San Diego and subsequent raids to Huerta supporters. However, many historians later believed that the acts were carried out by Carranza supporters. With the continuing instability in Mexico, Huerta entertained hopes of making a comeback. He received offers of assistance from Germany, which was seeking an ally in the Western Hemisphere and hoping to keep the United States out of World War I . He was also approached by Mexican exiles planning a revolutionary movement to be led militarily by Orozco from the United States.

Huerta arrived in New York City on the Spanish steamer López on April 12 and met with German diplomatic and secret-service personnel, who arranged the deposit of $895,000 in various bank accounts and promised to supply 10,000 rifles and ammunition to the rebels. He chose June 28, 1915, as the beginning of the new campaign, and left New York on June 24, telling reporters that he planned to visit San Francisco. On June 27, however, Huerta got off the train in Newman, New Mexico, where Orozco met him. The two had planned to cross back into Mexico at Bosque Bonito, near Sierra Blanca, Texas, but they were arrested by Justice Department officials and federal troops before they left the railroad station. They were charged in El Paso with conspiracy to violate United States neutrality laws. A huge crowd of supporters gathered outside the federal building in El Paso, and Mayor Thomas C. Lea, Jr. , who had agreed to serve as Huerta's attorney, asked federal authorities to hold the prisoners at Fort Bliss.

Huerta and Orozco were soon freed on bonds of $15,000 and $7,500 respectively, but were placed under house arrest in El Paso due to the proximity of the Mexican border. As a result of Orozco's escape on July 3, the authorities canceled Huerta's bond and rearrested him. After six days in the El Paso jail his bond was again set at $15,000, but he declined to meet it and agreed to remain a prisoner if he were transferred back to Fort Bliss. His trial was set for January 1916 in the federal district court in San Antonio. But Huerta became despondent after Orozco died on August 30. His drinking, always heavy, increased, and his health deteriorated. He was allowed to return home to El Paso on November 5 and remained with his family for about a month. Rumors of the impending revolt picked up again, however, and the federal marshal decided to move him back to Fort Bliss. Huerta's request to be allowed to die at home was granted a couple of weeks later.

In late December he developed jaundice, and an operation to remove gallstones on January 1 revealed cirrhosis of the liver. He underwent a second operation on January 3, but nothing was done about the cirrhosis. Huerta finally died on January 13, 1916, and was buried in Evergreen Alameda Cemetery, El Paso, next to the grave of Pascual Orozco. With his death, the hopes of Mexican exiles for another revolt against the Constitutionalists all but collapsed. See also MEXICAN REVOLUTION . BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kenneth J. Grieb, The United States and Huerta (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969). John M. Hart, Revolutionary Mexico (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987). Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 1986). Michael C. Meyer, Huerta: A Political Portrait (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972).

Martin Donell Kohout The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910 | EDSITEment The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910 Even the land keeps a respectful silence before those men who don’t smile. … They have nothing, they are not even the owners of the dust. —From Zapata, a novel by Pedro Ángel Palou The Mexican Revolution, which began on November 20, 1910, and continued for a decade, is recognized as the first major political, social, and cultural revolution of the 20th century. The United States, Mexico’s northern neighbor, was significantly affected by the human dislocation that resulted: if someone did not want to fight, the only alternative was to leave the country—and over 890,000 Mexicans did just that by legally emigrating during the second decade of the 20th century. In order to better understand this decade-long civil war, we are including links to Chronicling America , a free digital database of historic newspapers that covers this period in great detail. Background The Mexican Revolution was not the first violent war in Mexico.

After Mexico’s conquest in 1521, the most powerful citizens were European, Spanish-born citizens or the peninsulares living in the New World. Three centuries later, in 1821, the war for Independence (starting in 1810) ended, freeing Mexico from New Spain. This was a war that, however, benefited mainly the criollo (Spanish-blooded upper class) minority. A century later, in 1910, the majority of the population of Mexico were mestizos , half-indigenous and half-Spanish-blooded Mexicans, and these indigenous peoples again rose up in a violent armed struggle, the Mexican Revolution. The main ideals of the Mexican Revolution grew out of the basic belief that a few wealthy landowners could no longer continue the old ways of Spanish colonial rule, a feudal-like system called la encomienda . That system needed to be replaced by a modern one in which those who actually worked the land should extract its wealth through their labor. Two great figures, Francisco “Pancho” Villa from the north of Mexico and Emiliano Zapata from the south, led the revolution and remain key cultural and historical symbols in this fight for social reform.

The agrarista (supporter of land reform) ideals of Zapata and his followers, the Zapatistas, are summarized in their mottos: “Tierra y Libertad” (“Land and Freedom”) and “La tierra es para el que la trabaja” (“The land is for those who work it”). These slogans have not ceased to resonate in Mexican society. The Mexican Revolution started in 1910 , when liberals and intellectuals began to challenge the regime of dictator Porfirio Díaz , who had been in power since 1877, a term of 34 years called El Porfiriato , violating the principles and ideals of the Mexican Constitution of 1857 . In late 1910, Francisco I. Madero, in exile for his political activism, drafted the Plan de San Luis Potosí (Plan of San Luis Potosí), which was widely distributed and embraced by rebel movements across the nation. In this plan, Madero called for an uprising starting on November 20, 1910, to restore the Constitution of 1857 and replace dictator Díaz with a provisional government.

Its main purpose was to establish a democratic republic and to abolish unlimited presidential terms. By early 1911, a large armed struggle was underway in the northern state of Chihuahua led by local merchant Pascual Orozco and Francisco “Pancho” Villa. The success of the northern troops, or La División del Norte, sparked uprisings against terratenientes across the country. (For this and other key terms see glossary ). In the southern state of Morelos , as early as 1909, Emiliano Zapata had started recruiting thousands of peasants to fight for land reform in support of El Plan de Ayala , approved by Zapata’s supporters in 1911. Under this plan land reform to help campesinos (landless peasants) by re-distributing the land back to the peasants and away from powerful landowners was paramount. On May 25, 1911, Mexican President Porfirio Díaz resigned and left the country. Former exile, Francisco I. Madero, author of the Plan of San Luis Potosí (mentioned above) became president after the elections in 1911.

He was assassinated in early 1913 by a commander of the federal forces, Victoriano Huerta , who joined the counterrevolutionaries led by Porfirio Díaz’s nephew in order to seize power. Huerta dissolved the congress after the assassination of Madero and assumed power, but faced heavy opposition. In 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent American Marines to Vera Cruz, Mexico, to support the revolutionaries. Students can examine this intervention via the EDSITEment lesson “To Elect Good Men”: Woodrow Wilson and Latin America.” Loosing key battles to revolutionary troops, Huerta resigned in the same year and left the country. After the end of the Huerta’s presidency, Venustiano Carranza , a wealthy landowner and chief of the Northern Coalition, gathered revolutionary and military leaders to a conference to determine the future of Mexico. Villa, Zapata, and their followers supported the Plan de Ayala for land reform (see above), in opposition to Carranza and his supporters, all of whom supported the Plan de San Luis Potosí .

Eventually, Carranza (now supported by the United States) and his followers, called for a constitutional convention to draft a supreme law of Mexico, which was later presented to congress. The final version was approved in 1917 , enshrining agrarian reform and unprecedented economic rights for the Mexican people. After approval of this constitution , in 1917, Carranza as the president of Mexico proceeded to ignore its promises. As a consequence, the revolution continued until 1920. Carranza was assassinated and General Álvaro Obregón rose to power. — Back to Top — Art, Culture, and the Revolution The Mexican Revolution gave birth to a variety of new artistic currents in literature, the visual arts, and music. The literature of the Mexican Revolution is a rich field and includes works recognized as masterpieces of Latin American literature such as Los de abajo (The Underdogs) by Mariano Azuela, which was published in 1915 and remains a literary classic. Born in 1873, Azuela was a field physician with the revolutionary troops of the north.

His own experiences and the circumstances that drove people to fight in the revolution, as well as the often brutal conditions of war, are depicted in his novel with sometimes crude realism. The novel narrates the story of campesino Demetrio Macías, who is considered an enemy to the local terrateniente and has to escape persecution. He leaves his family and escapes to the mountains, gathering a group of people to fight in the Mexican Revolution against the troops of General Huerta. The different kinds of people who are part of the Demetrio Macías group represent the diverse factions that fought in the revolution: the educated and idealistic men; the desperate and poor campesinos; and the different types of women who joined the struggle. Towards the end of the book, the revolutionaries appear to have lost sight of their initial goals and ideals and morale disappears. A more recent novel, Pam Muñoz’s Esperanza Rising, tells the story of the migrants who fled to United States from a teenage girl’s point of view. The EDSITEment lesson Esperanza Rising: Learning Not to Be Afraid to Start Again (also available in a Spanish version ) will be useful for teachers who want to reflect on the human costs of the Mexican Revolution.

Other forms of cultural expression dealing with the Mexican Revolution include the muralist movement in painting and corridos music. It is worth to also note that some of the most popular foods in Mexico (and outside of Mexico) come from the days of the Mexican Revolution, including famous “foods-on-the-run,” such as “ burritos ” or “ tacos de discada norteña .” — Back to Top — Mexican Muralist Movement: Art for the People, Telling the People’s Story Once the armed struggle ended, it was necessary to rebuild a shattered nation. Newly elected president, General Álvaro Obregón named José Vasconcelos secretary of public education. Vasconcelos had a serious challenge: How to succeed in educating the people of a country in which the overwhelming majority were illiterate? Public art was to be part of the answer, and a solution to start educating the nation was attempted through the Muralist Painting movement. Among the most important muralists are “Los tres grandes” (“The Three Great Ones”): Diego Rivera , José Clemente Orozco , and David Alfaro Siqueiros .

The Muralists viewed art not primarily as an aesthetic or expressive product but as an educative one, an art of the people. The Muralist Movement lasted approximately half a century, from the early 1920s to the 1970s. Through it, both the art and culture of Mexico were put at the service of society and the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. Muralist painters, many of whom were no strangers to political activism, used the walls of public buildings, palaces, universities, and libraries to tell both the story of the revolution and of the daily life of the people. The mural paintings defined the nation’s identity and recognized Mexico’s indigenous ancestry. They documented the suffering of the indigenous at the hands of the Spanish conquistadores, while also recognizing Mexico’s shared history and culture. The Mexican muralists influenced artists throughout the Americas, and some murals were painted in the United States, including the Epic of American Civilization by José Clemente Orozco at Dartmouth College . — Back to Top — The Corridos: A Musical Legacy of the Mexican Revolution The tradition of the corridos of the Mexican Revolution can be traced to medieval Europe’s mester de juglaría (ministry of troubadours).

The corridos —the recording of events in song—are stories told in poetic form and sung to simple music, much like English ballads, that use colloquial language. The corridos grew in popularity in Mexico during the 1800s, but the Mexican Revolution, which took place in a predominantly illiterate nation with a dismantled infrastructure, gave birth to a large number of them that narrated a variety of events, such as important battles, or celebrated great leaders and fighters of the revolution. Therefore, the corridos became a way to record, celebrate, or mourn events, places, or people during the revolution: very much like a newspaper put to music. The corrido tradition documents aspects of Mexico’s culture and identity on a wide variety of subjects. For instance, each state of Mexico has its own corrido documenting important characteristics, products, regions, and people. There are also corridos dedicated to the soldaderas , the storied, iconic female soldiers of the revolution—and even to famous horses. In a corrido, the singer, or corridista , generally prefaces the performance by supplying the place, date, and lead character of the corrido to the audience, and then develops a story about him/her told in song.

The corrido usually ends with a friendly farewell. Corridos do not hesitate to praise and romanticize great leaders as heroes, and label as “traitors” those who opposed the revolution. General Victoriano Huerta, who was president of Mexico for less than one year, is referred to in the corrido “The Taking over of Zacatecas,” as a “drunkard” with “twisted feet.” Listen to corridos, and see the lyrics (bilingual), while singer Antonio Aguilar performs, accompanied by mariachis . “ La toma de Zacatecas ” (“The Taking over of Zacatecas”) commemorates, celebrates and documents an important battle during the Mexican Revolution. “ El centauro de oro ” (“The Gold Centaur”) is dedicated to Francisco “Pancho” Villa, calling him by his nickname. His soldiers were called “Los dorados” (“The Golden Ones”). This corrido celebrates Francisco Villa and his immortality in the history of Mexico. “ Corrido del general Zapata ,” (“Corrido of General Zapata”) is a corrido to honor Emiliano Zapata, also called “El Atila del Sur” (“Atila of the South”).

This corrido celebrates the great revolutionary leader of the south. MEXonline.com History of Emiliano Zapata - The Mexican Revolution - Mexico EMILIANO ZAPATA Hero of the Mexican Revolution Emiliano Zapata The Mexican Revolutionary war hero Emiliano Zapata was born in 1879 in the Mexican state of Morelos . The son of a farmer and a natural born leader, Zapata's destiny soon revealed itself. His father died when he was 17 and shortly thereafter, Emiliano assumed the responsibility of providing for his family. The village where he lived, San Miguel Anencuilco, was a close-knit group of peasants whose lives depended upon the small tracts of land they farmed. All the villager's lands were threatened, however, by the corrupt government of dictator Porfirio Diaz. Mexico had a long established hierarchy in which rich landowners owned enormous tracts of land (haciendas). Peasants (campesinos) also owned land, so to speak, but these small plots of land were subject to seizure from the government. Due to the governmental practice of "land reform", instituted by Porfirio Diaz, entire villages disappeared.

Peasants who previously owned their own farms now were forced to work for large plantation owners who had usurped their land and held the farmers in servitude. As the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz continued unabated, abuses against peasant farmers escalated and the seeds of revolution were born. Emiliano Zapata was of Mestizo blood and he spoke Nahuatl, the indigenous language of central Mexico. Widely respected by his community, the village elected Zapata to be their leader in 1909. He quickly recruited an insurgent army of farmers from his village to protect the farms in their immediate community. As 1910 came into focus, Francisco Madero, the son of a wealthy hacienda owner, sought the presidency of Mexico. Educated in both France and the United States, Madero's platform included the restoration of land to the campesinos (peasant farmers). Due to the many abuses they had long suffered, these words by this well spoken man were just what the people of Mexico longed to hear. Madero's proclaimed stance also inspired Zapata, who promptly expanded his recruitment activities, traveling beyond his home village into the surrounding countryside for new recruits.

Fences installed by hacienda owners were torn down as Zapata and his army combed the countryside. Emiliano Zapata on horseback Diaz sought to quell the insurgents by imprisoning the followers of Madero. His expectation was to regain total control shortly. This was not to be. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 had begun and the history of Mexico would forever be changed. Zapata and his men fought the government troops in the south of Mexico while Pancho Villa fought in the north. After Diaz was removed from office, an interim president took over until elections could be held. Francisco Madero became the new president of Mexico. Many, including Zapata, quickly became disillusioned with Madero, however. Not following through on his promises to the people of Mexico, the revolutionaries, already organized and bearing arms, sought to overthrow the newly installed government. In 1911, Zapata published his Plan de Ayala, a 2,000 word treatise outlining the steps needed for social reform, including the restoration of land to the citizens of Mexico and the ousting of Madero who Zapata believed was incapable of fulfilling the goals of the revolution.

A core component of Zapata's Plan de Ayala was first and foremost to have 1/3 of all land owned by the wealthy hacienda owners confiscated and returned to the peasantry. Compensation would apply to those owners who agreed to this mandate while those who did not, would still have their lands redistributed with no compensation forthcoming. The Mexican Revolution continued and Zapata's famous slogan of "Tierra y Libertad" (land and liberty) became the rallying cry of the revolution. Emiliano Zapata Madero eventually was murdered in 1913 by General Victoriano Huerta and the revolution raged on. Huerta installed himself as the new president with a rigged election and then was forced to flee the country by a new seeker for the presidential office, Venustiano Carranza. Carranza did become president and his government and policies were rejected by many, including the revolutionaries Zapata and Villa. Threatened by Zapata's enormous popularity, Carranza arranged for Zapata's murder in a carefully planned ambush that was carried out on April 10, 1919. Today, the name of Emiliano Zapata lives on.

A true hero of the Mexican Revolution, his commitment to social justice is remembered by all Mexicans. Emiliano Zapata born - Aug 08, 1879 - HISTORY.com Emiliano Zapata born Publisher A+E Networks Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican revolution, is born in Anenecuilco, Mexico. Born a peasant, Zapata was forced into the Mexican army in 1908 following his attempt to recover village lands taken over by a rancher. After the revolution began in 1910, he raised an army of peasants in the southern state of Morelos under the slogan “Land and Liberty.” Demanding simple agrarian reforms, Zapata and his guerrilla farmers opposed the central Mexican government under Francisco Madero, later under Victoriano Huerta, and finally under Venustiano Carranza. Zapata and his followers never gained control of the central Mexican government, but they redistributed land and aided poor farmers within the territory under their control. On April 10, 1919, Zapata was ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces.

Zapata’s influence has endured long after his death, and his agrarian reform movement, known as zapatismo, remains important to many Mexicans today. In 1994, a guerrilla group calling itself the Zapata Army of National Liberation launched a peasant uprising in the southern state of Chiapas. More on This Topic Emiliano Zapata | Mexican revolutionary | Britannica.com Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, (born August 8, 1879, Anenecuilco, Mexico —died April 10, 1919, Morelos ), Mexican revolutionary, champion of agrarianism, who fought in guerrilla actions during and after the Mexican Revolution (1910–20). Emiliano Zapata. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Early career Zapata was the son of a mestizo peasant who trained and sold horses. He was orphaned at the age of 17 and had to look after his brothers and sisters. In 1897 he was arrested because he took part in a protest by the peasants of his village against the hacienda that had appropriated their lands.

After obtaining a pardon, he continued agitation among the peasants, and so he was drafted into the army. He served for six months, at which point he was discharged to a landowner to train his horses. In 1909 his neighbours elected him president of the board of defense for their village. After useless negotiations with the landowners, Zapata and a group of peasants occupied by force the land that had been appropriated by the haciendas and distributed it among themselves. Francisco Madero , a landowner of the north, had lost the elections in 1910 to the dictator Porfirio Díaz and had fled to the United States , where he proclaimed himself president and then reentered Mexico, aided by many peasant guerrillas. Zapata and his friends decided to support Madero. In March 1911 Zapata’s tiny force took the city of Cuautla and closed the road to the capital, Mexico City . A week later Díaz resigned and left for Europe, appointing a provisional president. Zapata, with 5,000 men, entered Cuernavaca , capital of the state of Morelos. Madero entered Mexico City in triumph.

Zapata met Madero there and asked him to exert pressure on the provisional president to return the land to the ejidos (the former Indian communal system of landownership). Madero insisted on the disarmament of the guerrillas and offered Zapata a recompense so that he could buy land, an offer that Zapata rejected. Zapata began to disarm his forces but stopped when the provisional president sent the army against the guerrillas. The Plan of Ayala Madero was elected president in November 1911, and Zapata met with him again but without success. With the help of a teacher, Otilio Montaño, Zapata prepared the Plan of Ayala, which declared Madero incapable of fulfilling the goals of the revolution. The signers renewed the revolution and promised to appoint a provisional president until there could be elections. They also vowed to return the stolen land to the ejidos by expropriating, with payment, a third of the area of the haciendas; those haciendas that refused to accept this plan would have their lands expropriated without compensation. Zapata adopted the slogan “Tierra y Libertad” (“Land and Liberty”).

Emiliano Zapata (seated, centre) with staff, c. 1912. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-73425) Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent In the course of his campaigns, Zapata distributed lands taken from the haciendas, which he frequently burned without compensation. He often ordered executions and expropriations, and his forces did not always abide by the laws of war . But underneath his picturesque appearance—drooping moustache, cold eyes, big sombrero—was a passionate man with simple ideals that he tried to put into practice. The Zapatistas avoided battle by adopting guerrilla tactics. They farmed their land with rifles on their shoulders, went when called to fight, and returned to their plows at the end of a battle or skirmish. Sometimes Zapata assembled thousands of men; he paid them by imposing taxes on the provincial cities and extorting from the rich. Their arms were captured from federal troops.

When General Victoriano Huerta deposed and assassinated Madero in February 1913, Zapata and his men arrived at the outskirts of Mexico City and rejected Huerta’s offer to unite with him. This prevented Huerta from sending all his troops against the guerrillas of the north, who, under the direction of a moderate politician, Venustiano Carranza , had organized the Constitutionalist Army to defeat the new dictator. Huerta was forced to abandon the country in July 1914. History of Warfare Zapata knew that Carranza’s Constitutionalists feared him. He attracted some intellectuals from Mexico City, among them Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, who became his theorist and later established an agrarian party. When Huerta fell, Zapata invited the Constitutionalists to accept his Plan of Ayala and warned them that he would continue fighting independently until the plan was put to practical use. In October 1914 Carranza called an assembly of all the revolutionary forces. Pancho Villa , who commanded the most important part of the army of the north, refused to attend the meeting because he considered Mexico City as enemy ground.

The assembly was moved to Aguascalientes, where both the Villistas and the Zapatistas attended. These two groups constituted a majority, and the convention agreed to appoint General Eulalio Gutiérrez as provisional president. Carranza rejected this decision and marched with his government to Veracruz. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies War broke out between the moderates (Carrancistas) and the revolutionaries (Conventionists). On November 24 Zapata ordered his army (now called the Liberation Army of the South and numbering 25,000 men) to occupy Mexico City. The people of the capital watched in astonishment as the peasants went from door to door humbly asking for food and drink, instead of assaulting palaces and violating women. Two weeks later Zapata and Villa met on the outskirts of the capital and then visited the National Palace. The two leaders promised to fight together until they put a civilian president in the palace, and Villa accepted the Plan of Ayala.

Agrarian reforms Zapata created agrarian commissions to distribute the land; he spent much time supervising their work to be sure they showed no favouritism and that the landowners did not corrupt its members. He established a Rural Loan Bank, the country’s first agricultural credit organization; he also tried to reorganize the sugar industry of Morelos into cooperatives. In April 1915 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ’s personal representative in Mexico met with Zapata; Zapata asked that Wilson receive his delegation, but Wilson had recognized the Carranza government (the convention’s government under Gutiérrez had dispersed). Emiliano Zapata, the Agrarian Leader, lithograph by Diego Rivera, 1932. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZC4-3908) Meanwhile, the war continued. Zapata occupied the city of Puebla and won various battles, advised by some professional soldiers who had joined his side. In 1917 Carranza’s generals defeated Villa and isolated Zapata.

Carranza then called together a constitutional convention but did not invite Zapata; the convention approved and passed a constitution and elected Carranza as president of the republic. A new U.S. envoy, William Gates, visited Zapata and then published a series of articles in the United States; he contrasted the order of the Zapata-controlled zone with the chaos of the constitutional zone and said that “the true social revolution can be found among the Zapatistas.” When these articles were read to Zapata, he said, “Now I can die in peace. Finally they have done us justice.” Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Soon afterward General Pablo González, who directed the government operations against Zapata, had Colonel Jesús Guajardo pretend to want to join the agrarians and contrive a secret meeting with Zapata at the hacienda of Chinameca in Morelos. There Zapata was ambushed and shot to death by Carrancista soldiers. His body was carried to Cuautla and buried there. Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata was born on Aug.

8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Mexico and died on April 10, 1919, in the state of Morelos, Mexico. He was a Mexican revolutionary, champion of agrarianism, and fought in guerrilla actions during and after the Mexican Revolution (1911-17). Early career. Zapata was the son of a mestizo peasant who trained and sold horses. He was orphaned at the age of 17 and had to look after his brothers and sisters. In 1897 he was arrested because he took part in a protest by the peasants of his village against the hacienda that had appropriated their lands. After obtaining a pardon, he continued agitation among the peasants, and so he was drafted into the army. He served for six months, at which point he was discharged to a landowner to train his horses. In 1909 his neighbors elected him president of the board of defense for their village. After useless negotiations with the landowners, Zapata and a group of peasants occupied by force the land that had been appropriated by the haciendas and distributed it among themselves.

Francisco Madero, a landowner of the north, had lost the elections in 1910 to the dictator Porfirio D�az and had fled to the United States, where he proclaimed himself president and then reentered Mexico, aided by many peasant guerrillas. Zapata and his friends decided to support Madero. In March 1911 Zapata's tiny force took the city of Cuautla and closed the road to the capital, Mexico City. A week later, D�az resigned and left for Europe, appointing a provisional president. Zapata, with 5,000 men, entered Cuernavaca, capital of the state of Morelos. Madero entered Mexico City in triumph. Zapata met Madero there and asked him to exert pressure on the provisional president to return the land to the ejidos (the former Indian communal system of landownership). Madero insisted on the disarmament of the guerrillas and offered Zapata a recompense so that he could buy land, an offer that Zapata rejected. Zapata began to disarm his forces but stopped when the provisional president sent the army against the guerrillas. The Plan of Ayala.

Madero was elected president in August 1911, and Zapata met with him again but without success. With the help of a teacher, Otilio Montano, Zapata prepared the Plan of Ayala, which declared Madero incapable of fulfilling the goals of the revolution. The signers renewed the revolution and promised to appoint a provisional president until there could be elections. They also vowed to return the stolen land to the ejidos by expropriating, with payment, a third of the area of the haciendas; those haciendas that refused to accept this plan would have their lands expropriated without compensation. Zapata adopted the slogan "Tierra y Libertad" ("Land and Liberty"). In the course of his campaigns, Zapata distributed lands taken from the haciendas, which he frequently burned without compensation. He often ordered executions and expropriations, and his forces did not always abide by the laws of war. But underneath his picturesque appearance--drooping moustache, cold eyes, big sombrero--was a passionate man with simple ideals that he tried to put into practice. The Zapatistas avoided battle by adopting guerrilla tactics.

They farmed their land with rifles on their shoulders, went when called to fight, and returned to their plows at the end of a battle or skirmish. Sometimes Zapata assembled thousands of men; he paid them by imposing taxes on the provincial cities and extorting from the rich. Their arms were captured from federal troops. When General Victoriano Huerta deposed and assassinated Madero in February 1913, Zapata and his men arrived at the outskirts of Mexico City and rejected Huerta's offer to unite with him. This prevented Huerta from sending all his troops against the guerrillas of the north, who, under the direction of a moderate politician, Venustiano Carranza, had organized the Constitutionalist Army to defeat the new dictator. Huerta was forced to abandon the country in July 1914. Zapata knew that Carranza's Constitutionalists feared him. He attracted some intellectuals from Mexico City, among them Antonio D�az Soto y Gama, who became his theorist and later established an agrarian party. When Huerta fell, Zapata invited the Constitutionalists to accept his Plan of Ayala and warned them that he would continue fighting independently until the plan was put to practical use.

In October 1914 Carranza called an assembly of all the revolutionary forces. Pancho Villa, who commanded the most important part of the army of the north, refused to attend the meeting because he considered Mexico City as enemy ground. The assembly was moved to Aguascalientes, where both the Villistas and the Zapatistas attended. These two groups constituted a majority, and the convention agreed to appoint General Eulalio Gutierrez as provisional president. Carranza rejected this decision and marched with his government to Veracruz. War broke out between the moderates (Carrancistas) and the revolutionaries (Conventionists). On August 24, Zapata ordered his army (now called the Liberation Army of the South and numbering 25,000 men) to occupy Mexico City. The people of the capital watched in astonishment as the peasants went from door to door humbly asking for food and drink, instead of assaulting palaces and violating women. Two weeks later, Zapata and Villa met on the outskirts of the capital and then visited the National Palace. The two leaders promised to fight together until they put a civilian president in the palace, and Villa accepted the Plan of Ayala. Agrarian reforms.

Zapata created agrarian commissions to distribute the land; he spent much time supervising their work to be sure they showed no favoritism and that the landowners did not corrupt its members. He established a Rural Loan Bank, the country's first agricultural credit organization; he also tried to reorganize the sugar industry of Morelos into cooperatives. In April 1915 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's personal representative in Mexico met with Zapata; Zapata asked that Wilson receive his delegation, but Wilson had recognized the Carranza government (the convention's government under Guti�rrez had dispersed). Meanwhile, the war continued. Zapata occupied the city of Puebla and won various battles, advised by some professional soldiers who had joined his side. In 1917 Carranza's generals defeated Villa and isolated Zapata. Carranza then called together a constitutional convention but did not invite Zapata; the convention approved and passed a constitution and elected Carranza as president of the republic. A new U.S.

envoy, William Gates, visited Zapata and then published a series of articles in the United States; he contrasted the order of the Zapata-controlled zone with the chaos of the constitutional zone and said that "the true social revolution can be found among the Zapatistas." When these articles were read to Zapata, he said, "Now I can die in peace. Finally they have done us justice." Soon afterward General Pablo Gonzalez, who directed the government operations against Zapata, had Colonel Jesus Guajardo pretend to want to join the agrarians and contrive a secret meeting with Zapata at the hacienda of Chinameca in Morelos. There, Zapata was ambushed and shot to death by Carrancista soldiers. His body was carried to Cuautla and buried there.(V.Al.) Recuerdo what did that carnation say to you? It says our chief didn't die. that Zapata's on his way to you. -corrido mexicano Thunder Over Mexico (The Legacy of Emiliano Zapata) In 1909 there came a humble man from Morelos, in the south of Mexico, to declare the grievances of his fellow peasants. This man was named Emiliano Zapata.

His powerful, direct, yet dreamy gaze affected all who saw him. (The following occurred over 80 years ago, but it says exactly what is happening today in Mexico.) "The old bureaucracy remained, the haciendas were untouched, the peasants did not recover their lands, and the army was there, ready to repress them if they tried. Peasant groups began to invade rural townships. Street battles between trade unions and police occurred. As instability grew, so did anxiety in the United States. Business was fearful, and finally, the streets of Mexico City became a battleground. The tiger was out of control." The movement started by Zapata was a locally based revolt. Its purpose was to restore village rights to lands, forests, and waters. It favored a decentralized, self-ruling, communitarian democracy, inspired by shared traditions, a continuation of the oldest peasant values. Although Zapata occupied Mexico City, along with Pancho Villa, he was not impressed with the big city. He once said: "The city is full of sidewalks and I keep falling off of them". His roots were not there, but deep in the countryside. Back there he distributed lands, established schools, and proposed an alternative model for development.

From 1914-1915 Emiliano Zapata and the people of Morelos ruled themselves without central intervention, creating one of the most viable societies ever seen in Latin America. Lands were distributed as communal or individual property, according to the choice of each village. Agriculture was restored and even increased. Based on this, a politics of confidence arose. Zapata never organized a state police; law enforcement, such as it was, remained the province of the village councils. The campesinos of Morelos achieved the modest, profound dream for which they had fought so hard. They had shown that a rural culture could escape its presumed fate and achieve a humane and functional economic organization on a local basis. They had proven that Mexicans 'could' rule themselves democratically. Unfortunately this vision cut across the grain of national design. This epic story had suddenly become a tragedy. Only Zapata remained, elected by his people to fight on under the banner "Tierra y Libertad", land and liberty. The uncompromising Zapata, who never lowered his flag or his guard, had insisted on strict compliance with the demand for land and freedom.

The man who assasinated Zapata, Colonel Guajardo, was promoted to General and given a reward of 52,000 pesos for his act, instead of being tried and convicted. After being shot, Zapata was loaded onto a mule and taken to Cuautla, where he was dumped on the street. To prove that he was really dead, flashlights were shown on his face and photographs taken. This didn't destroy the myth of his death, because Zapata could not and would not die! Like Commandante Marcos, he was too smart to be killed in an ambush. Hadn't Zapata's white horse been seen on top of the mountain? Every single person in the valley of Morelos still believes to this day that Zapata is still alive. Perhaps they are right. "Zapata will continue to live as long as people believe that they have a right to their land and a right to govern themselves according to their deeply held beliefs and cultural values." THE STORY OF THE QUESTIONS The real story of Zapata "Many stories ago, in the time of the first gods, the ones who made the world there were two gods who were Ik'al and Votan. Two were one single one.

When one turns the other could be seen, when the other turns the one could be seen. They were opposites. One was like the light, like a May morning in the river. The other was dark, like a night of cold in a cave. They were the same. One was two, because one made the other. But they didn't walk they were always stationary these two gods who were one. 'So what do we do?'. 'Life is sad like this', they lamented the two who were one. 'The night won't go' said Ik'al. 'The day won't go' said Votan. 'Let's walk' said the one who were two. 'How?' said the other. 'Where?' said the one. When they did this they saw they moved a little bit. First by asking why, and then by asking where. Happy was the one who was two. Then both of them decided to move and they couldn't. 'How do we do it then?' One would move from the other and then the other would move. So they agreed that in order to move they had to do so separately.

And no one could remember who moved first, they were just happy that they moved and said 'What does it matter who is first as long as we move?'. The two gods who were the same one said and they laughed and agreed to have a dance, and they danced, one little step behind the other. Then they tired of all the dancing and asked what else they could do and saw that the first question was "how to move" and brought the response of "together but separately and in agreement." They didn't care much that it was so. They were so happy they were moving until they came to two roads: one was very short and one could see the end of it. They were so happy they could move that they decided to choose the long road which then brought them to another question. 'Where did the road go?". It took them a long time, but the two who were one finally decided that they would never know where that long road took them unless they moved. So they said to one another 'Let's walk it then" And they began to walk first one and then the other.

They found it was taking them a long time and asked "how will we walk for such a long time?' Ik'al declared he did not know how to walk by day and Votan declared that by night he was afraid. So they cried for a long time, then finally agreed that Ik'al would walk by night and Votan by day. Since then the gods walk with questions and they never stop, they never arrive and they never leave. So that is how the true men and women learned that questions serve to learn how to walk, and not to stand still. Since then true men and women walk by asking, to arrive they say good-bye and to leave they say hello. They are never still." "That Zapata appeared here in the mountains. He wasn't born, they say. He just appeared just like that. They say he is Ik'al and Votan who came all the way over here in their long journey, and so as not to frighten good people, they became one. Because after being together for so long Ik'al and Votan learned they were the same and could become Zapata.

And Zapata said he had finally learned where the long road went and that at times it would be light and and times darkness but that it was the same, Votan Zapata, and Ik'al Zapata, the black Zapata and the white Zapata. They were both the same road for the true men and women." Vota'n Zapata lives in our dead To the people of Mexico: To the people and governments of the world: To the national and international press: Brothers and Sisters: The Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command of the Zapatista National Liberation Army addresses you to speak its word. In these moments, tens of thousands of men, women, children and old people, Indigenous Mexicans all of them, are meeting on hundreds of ejidos, ranches, and communities of the Mexican countryside. Our hands also reach the heart of asphalt. Together with these people, we are united in front of a tri-color flag, in whose center there is the image of an eagle devouring a serpent.

We are united by our shared misery, by the collective oblivion into which we were relocated 501 years ago, by the useless death that we suffer from, by our lack of faces, by having our names stripped from us, by wagering our life and death on an unknown future. Together with all these people, we are brought together by a collective desire in front of this flag: to change, once and for all, this sky and soil, which is now oppressed. To do this, we, the nameless and the faceless, the self-called "professionals in hope," the most mortal of all "transgressors of injustice," those of us who are mountains, those who walk in the night, those who are without voice in the palaces, who are the foreigners in their own land, who are eternally dying, who are the dispossessed of history, who are without a country and without a tomorrow, those of the tender fury, those of the unmasked truth, those of the long night of disdain, those men and women of truth... The smallest... The best... We must open again the door of your filial heart that you can receive our words.

We must speak truth from our mouths; we must put our heart in our hands. Brothers and sisters, we want you to know who is behind us, who directs us, who walks in our feet, who dominates our heart, who rides in our words, who lives in our dead. We want you to know the truth, brothers and sisters, and it is like this: From the very beginning of that long night in which we died, according to our most ancient grandparents, there was someone who collected our pain and our oblivion. There was a man who, his words coming from far away, came to our mountain and spoke with the language of the true men and women. His walk was, and was not, of these lands. In the mouths of our dead, in the voice of the wise elders, his words walked towards our heart. There were, and still are, brothers and sisters, those who are and are not the seed of this soil, who came to the mountain, dying, to live again, brother and sisters. Those who lived lived by his heart dying from this walk, his own but foreign, when he made his house in the mountain of the nighttime roof. His name was and is of many things appointed.

His tender word waits and walks in our pain. He is, and is not, of these lands: Vota'n Zapata, guardian and heart of the people. Vota'n Zapata, light from afar, came and was born here in our land. Vota'n Zapata, the appointed name again, always among our people. Vota'n Zapata, timid fire who lived 501 years in our death. Vota'n Zapata, name that changes, faceless man, tender light that gives us shelter. Coming, Vota'n Zapata came. Death was always with us. Dying, hope died. Coming, came Vota'n Zapata. Name without name, Vota'n Zapata watched in Miguel, walked in Jose' Mari'a, was Vincente, was named in Benito, flew in a bird, mounted in Emiliano, shouted in Francisco, visited Pedro. Dying, he lived, named without name, in our land. Name without name, living, came Vota'n Zapata to our land. Speaking, his word fell into our mouths. Coming, he is. Vota'n Zapata, guardian and heart of the people. He is and is not all in us... He is underway...

Vota'n Zapata, guardian and heart of the mountain... Us... Vota'n, guardian and heart of the people. He is one and many. None and all. Living, he comes. Vota'n Zapata, guardian and heart of the people. This is the truth, brothers and sisters. You should know it. He will never die again in our life, and in our death he lives now and forever. Vota'n, guardian and heart of the people. Without name he is named, face without face, all and none, one and many, living dead. Vota'n, guardian and heart of the people. Tapacamino bird, always in front of us. Nothing walks behind us. Vota'n, guardian and heart of the people. He took a name in our existence without name. He took the face of those without faces. He is the sky in the mountains. Vota'n Guardian and heart of the people. And in our unnameable, faceless path, he took a name in us: Zapatista National Liberation Army. With this new name, the nameless are named. With this flag gagging our faces, all of us have faces again.

With this name, the unnameable is named: Vota'n Zapata, guardian and heart of the people. The Zapatista National Liberation Army. Tender Fury that is armed. An unnameable name. Unjust peace is transformed into war. Death that is born. Anguish made into hope. Pain cries. Quiet shout. Our own present for an unknown future. Everything for everyone, nothing for us. The unnamed, us, the always dead. Us, foolish dignity, forgotten corner of our country. Us, Zapatista National Liberation Army. Us, black and red flag beneath the tri-color eagle. Us, the red star finally in our sky, never the only star, but one more, the smallest. Us, only a look and a voice. Us, Zapatista National Liberation Army. Us, Vota'n, guardian and heart of the people. This is the truth brothers and sisters. This is where we come from. This is where we are going. Living, he comes. Dying, death lives. Vota'n Zapata, father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter, large and small, us, we are coming... Receive our truth with a dancing heart.

Zapata lives, for now and forever, in these lands. Greetings, fellow Mexicans!

Question: General Victoriano Huerta, Emiliano Zapata and "Pancho" Villa feature in the history of which country?
Answer: Mexico