Jerry Langton Three-Book Bundle

by Jerry Langton

  Most of the American volunteers went back home. With great losses in manpower, supplies and ammunition, Villa's men were routed by forces loyal to Carranza—who had taken over as president after defeating Huerta—at the Battle of Agua Prieta. With just 500 followers left, mostly wandering the desert and foraging for food, Villa decided to launch a raid on the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico.

  At about 4:00 a.m., Villa launched a terror attack with his horsemen shooting and shouting. They began to loot and burn private homes. One of Villa's scouts had told him that there were only 30 soldiers garrisoned in Columbus, but there were actually 330 with machine guns. The residents of the town were also well-armed, and Villa sounded the retreat after about 90 minutes of bloodshed.

  Villa had lost about half of his men and gained nothing but the ire of the Americans. Pershing led a 10,000-man force into northern Mexico to find him, but had to cut the search short when it became obvious the Americans were going to enter World War I. Villa had some contact with the Germans, who may have been hoping to use him in an effort to open a North American front in their European War, but nothing substantial came of it. Friendless, Villa eventually retired.

  The fall of the PRI

  Another old ally of Carranza's who had turned foe was Zapata. A Mestizo who is said to have spoken Nahuatl fluently, Zapata split with the Constitutional cause and had his own army—officially the Liberationalist army, but popularly known as the Zapatistas—who rallied under his phrase: “It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.” Less disciplined even than Villa's men, in the early part of the revolution, Madero asked him to disarm, but he refused and split with his old ally. As he shot and looted his way through village after village, it has been argued that Zapata's men were more like a gang of bandits than revolutionaries.

  They were powerful, particularly in the south. While successive governments (and even Villa) tried to defeat Zapata's army, they had failed, so Carranza's Constitutionalists came up with a cunning plan. General Pablo González (Garza) and his second-in-command, Colonel Jesús Guajardo (Martinez), sent word that they wanted to join Zapata. He was suspicious of their motives, and asked them to prove their loyalty before he would meet face to face with them. González then sent Guajardo to ambush an unsuspecting Constitutionalist convoy. When Zapata saw that Guajardo's men had killed 57 government soldiers, he agreed to a meeting. When Zapata arrived in Chinameca on April 10, 1919, Guajardo's men shot him with dozens of bullets.

  Without their charismatic leader, the Zapatistas faded away, although many of his followers later became peacefully involved in Mexican governments.

  Back in 1917, Carranza had written a socialist-leaning constitution with the primary goal of decentralizing the power of the church and military, while easing out foreign land ownership. He didn't stay in power long enough to put his plans into action, however, as his minister of war, General Álvaro Obregón (Salido), conspiring with fellow officers Plutarco Elías Calles (Campuzano) and Adolfo de la Huerta (Marcor, no relation to the former president), staged a coup, and killed Carranza on May 21, 1920. Obregón's forces later assassinated Villa as well.

  With Zapata, Carranza and Villa all out of the picture, there was no obvious opponent for Obregón and his Partido Laborista Mexicano (Mexican Laborers Party or PLM). Unlike previous presidents with a military background, he worked hard for education, labor rights and land reform. In exchange for his agreement not to nationalize U.S. oil interests on Mexican soil, the Americans recognized his government as legitimate, and much of the world followed suit.

  After winning a second term as president in 1928, Obregón was assassinated in a Mexico City restaurant by a Cristero, a group of armed rebels who felt he had robbed the church of too much power. His old ally, Calles, who had been president representing the same PLM party from 1924–1928, formed a new party which would eventually be called the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI).

  A decidedly socialist party, the PRI were called communists by many Americans after squabbles over oil rights and the war in Nicaragua, but negotiations eventually softened relations. Throughout much of the 20th century, the PRI would anger the Americans on issues like Fidel Castro and the Sandinistas, but the two countries normally got along well.

  While the founders of the PRI may have once had high ideals, they became increasingly plutocratic and corrupt over the years, staying in power for 80 years and becoming typical of the single-party rulers throughout much of the developing world.

  • • •

  Other problems have emerged that affect the national economy and peace. Mexico is a very diverse place, both demographically and geographically. The southern states are distinctly different from the rest of the country. Originally covered in thick rain forests, they are now rich in specialized agriculture and hydroelectric power. Indigenous people, mainly Mayans, are the majority in much of the south with the balance of the population Mestizo. This has resulted in a cultural and psychological distance between the south and the federal government which often evolves into contempt. Despite its wealth of natural resources, the southern states are far poorer than the rest of Mexico, and many blame the federal government for this, considering racism to be the real issue.

  After the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which brought Mexico into the free-trade zone between Canada and the United States, became effective in 1994, the southern economy fell even farther behind the rest of Mexico, fueling even more unrest. By 2007, the GDP per capital in Chiapas was just $3,657, as compared to $23,130 in Mexico City. In the south, houses with running water and electricity were in the minority.

  Demonstrations, sometimes violent, broke out all over the south in the late part of the 20th century. In 1968, just 10 days before Mexico was to host the Summer Olympics, a demonstration of 10,000 students and others at Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Square of the Three Cultures) in the Tlatelolco neighborhood of Mexico City erupted in violence. The Mexican military claimed they were returning fire from snipers and opened fire on the crowd. In what is now usually referred to as the Tlatelolco Massacre, estimates of as many as 1,000 died (44 have been confirmed).

  One man—Mexican authorities say he is Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, the son of Spanish immigrants to Tampico, but his identity is uncertain—was so shocked by the Tlatelolco Massacre that he dedicated his life to bringing down the Mexican government. Despite growing up wealthy—he described his childhood as being from “a family without financial difficulties”—he became a Maoist militant. He took the name Marcos after a friend of that name who was killed by the Mexican military.

  Marcos went to the southern state of Chiapas with the intent of starting a proletarian revolution, but the locals didn't take to his traditional communist rhetoric. He believed the problem was that he was a white, university educated, Spanish-speaking child of privilege and in order to succeed, he would have to become more like the Mayans. He immersed himself in their culture and studied the works of Italian communist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who maintained that cultural hegemony was the only way to maintain a capitalist society. Marcos became more popular and his enemy list expanded from the Mexican government to the concepts of capitalism and, especially, neoliberalism—the philosophy that encourages private enterprise, free markets and unfettered trade between nations.

  His group, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista Army of National Liberation or EZLN, but commonly known as the Zapatistas), declared war on the Mexican government on January 1, 1994, the day NAFTA—the most obvious sign of neoliberalism—became law. That day, about 3,000 armed Zapatistas stormed and took control of four county seats in Chiapas, freeing prisoners and setting fire to police and military buildings.

  The Mexican military responded the next day and the Zapatistas suffered huge losses and were forced to retreat to the rain forests. On January 12, a ceasefire agreement mediated by influential Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia put an end to
the armed conflict and the Zapatistas switched to non-violent means of spreading their word.

  Not everyone chose to abide by the ceasefire, however. On December 22, 1997, a paramilitary group called the Mascara Roja (Red Mask) loyal to the PRI opened fire on a church in the Chiapas town of Acteal. The worshippers were members of Las Abejas (the Bees), a pacifist religious commune of indigenous people who had openly sided with the Zapatistas, and 45 of them (21 of them women and 15 children) were killed and another 25 injured. No arrests were made.

  The south and all of Mexico, found hope for an end to official corruption in a presidential candidate named Vicente Fox Queseda. His father's family were of German origin (Fox was originally Fuchs) who emigrated from France to Cincinnati and eventually Mexico; and his mother was a Basque, born in Spain. A Harvard graduate, Fox started working for Coca-Cola in Mexico, eventually becoming its president. Under his leadership, Coke sales increased by 50 percent in Mexico and became the nation's favorite beverage.

  He ran twice for governor of the state of Guanajuato for the Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party or PAN), losing the first time but getting twice as many votes as his PRI opponent in the second election. Fox immediately delivered on promises of financial transparency and developed innovative micro-credit initiatives.

  In 2000, he ran for president under a coalition called Alianza por el Cambio (Alliance for Change), which combined the conservative-religious PAN with the Greens. After a vigorous campaign, Fox won the election, which was watched by observers from a number of countries and organizations. When outgoing PRI president Ernesto Zedillo signed the documents ratifying Fox as the new president, it was the first time in Mexican history a government had changed hands without bloodshed.

  When Fox's election put the PRI out of power, the Zapatistas met with him. He implemented many reforms and projects in the area, but the Zapatistas continue to work outside the government with autonomous communities and education systems.

  The six-foot-five Fox was a charismatic and popular president who typically wore jeans and cowboy boots. After serving six years, his popularity helped lead to the election of another PAN president, Felipe Calderón.

  And it was his policies that started the Mexican Drug War.

  Chapter 4

  The Rise of the Drug Cartels

  Mexico's history has hard-wired its people to be cynical about government. With single-party rule for 80 of the last 90 years and corruption so rampant that it has amounted to a kleptocracy, many Mexicans are prepared to live and work somewhere outside official channels. The fact that Mexico has a legal system based on civil or Napoleonic law, which allows for trials to be conducted in secret and forces the accused to prove his or her innocence rather than benefiting from a presumption of innocence as exists in common-law jurisdictions, added to the enmity and sometimes outright fear many Mexicans had for their own government.

  Years of government instability, incompetence and corruption have led to a terribly underdeveloped economy. In 2009, the GDP per capita in Mexico was $9,100, compared to the United States at $46,442 and Canada at $41,016. Mexicans are very aware of this disparity in wealth, and in recent years, the number of Mexicans legally migrating to the United States has ranged from 165,000 to 180,000 with far more crossing the border illegally, often at risk to their lives. According to the Pew Hispanic Center think tank, there are about 7 million Mexicans living illegally in the United States, with numbers much lower in Canada, but growing rapidly. Interestingly, Mexico has its own illegal immigration problem as people from other Central American countries often pass through Mexico on their way north, straining its resources.

  That wealth disparity and a long shared history have led to some cultural friction between Mexico and its North American neighbors. When rank-and-file Mexicans see Americans and Canadians in person, they are almost always tourists. While the retired tourists in Acapulco, the spring breakers partying at Cancun and the high school kids in Tijuana looking to take advantage of more relaxed drinking laws may all mean well, their obvious shows of wealth and frivolity often appear offensive, or at least condescending to the Mexicans living there.

  And history is of great importance. Mexicans are very proud of their ability to fight off invaders, including two attempts by the United States. Commodore Manuel Azueta is regarded as one of the nation's most important heroes by the Mexican military for leading the Naval Academy cadets against the American invasion at Veracruz in 1914. The irony is that he was defending the dictatorship of Victoriano Huerta, a man so despised still that some older Mexicans feel a need to spit every time his name is mentioned. While the last overt American military action in Mexico was almost 100 years ago, many believe that American meddling helped keep the PRI in power for so long. Some point to how President Bill Clinton issued a $50-billion bailout package to the Ernesto Zedillo government after it had devalued the peso, resulting in an unprecedented economic collapse. Canada also got involved, sending about $1 billion in a currency swap.

  The “Corupting Menace”

  Rebellious Chiapas is representative of the southern states—which also include Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, Guerrero, Michoacán, Veracruz, Tabasco, Morelos, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche. These states are generally more agricultural, more populated by indigenous people and poorer than the rest of the country, although Yucatán, Campeche and especially Quintana Roo benefit economically from tourism.

  The arable land there is derived from cleared rain forest and is some of the best in the world. In drier areas, corn is grown, but in the more moist regions melons, avocados, citrus fruits and coffee are all harvested. As the 20th century progressed, many people in the southern states realized they could make more money growing another crop—marijuana.

  Smoking many different substances, especially tobacco, has been an important social custom among indigenous Americans well into prehistory and its association with religious leaders indicates that it probably originated from the burning of incense. The conquistadores reported back to Spain that the Mayan priests they encountered often became highly intoxicated from their smoking.

  Marijuana is native to south and central Asia and made its way to North America—along with opium—with the migrant workers from China starting in 1849. Hired to work on the railroads to connect the developing west with the prosperous east, the Chinese tended to live together and retain their culture, leading to the establishment of “Chinatowns” in many western American cities.

  Many Americans, and even more Mexicans, traveled to Chinatowns for opium and discovered marijuana. At about the same time, pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Canada were manufacturing home remedies with marijuana, while Spanish and Portuguese traders had introduced it to South and Central America for recreational use. And there was plenty to be had. Cannabis sativa, known as hemp, was introduced to the United States as a crop for its fiber, which has a variety of uses and is especially good for making rope. It became extremely important to the economy of the United States for making textiles during the Civil War because cotton was in very short supply.

  Marijuana did not take off with English-speaking Americans at first. Those who took drugs at the time preferred faster acting options like alcohol and opium. It did, however, become very popular with indigenous people and, even more so, Mexicans. Because of a widespread belief that marijuana made workers lazy, a few laws were passed in counties around the western United States and Canada banning its use or at least its use on the job. But where marijuana smoking was popular—especially among miners and railway workers—the laws were mostly ignored. Opium was outlawed in San Francisco in 1875 as many politicians blamed Chinese immigrants there for corrupting the local youth. Many also called for the banning of marijuana.

  Throughout the late 19th century and into the 20th century, marijuana use increased dramatically among non-white and non-English-speaking Americans, and as the Mexican Revolution increased immigration from the south with Mexicans fleeing violence, more marijuana smok
ers arrived.

  Marijuana smoking usually fell under the radar of most Americans—who generally considered it one of many habits particular to minorities—until politicians realized they could make hay of it. In 1914, a violent bar fight broke out in El Paso between a Mexican and a Texan. After police determined that the Mexican, who had started the fight, was under the influence of marijuana, politicians banned it from the city. Other southern cities and towns followed suit, calling marijuana a “corrupting menace.” The drug received further bad publicity when it was associated with Pancho Villa and his raiders at Columbus, New Mexico. The popular song “La Cucuracha” was written about his men and their habit of smoking marijuana.

  The war on drugs begins

  The prohibition of alcohol in North America began in the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island in 1901 and by 1920 every other province and American state had followed suit. For a brief period, the entire North America north of the Rio Grande—except Quebec, which overturned prohibition almost immediately after passing the legislation—was dry. A few former drinkers turned to marijuana (mainly jazz musicians and other bohemian sorts), but in the national consciousness of the day, marijuana was inexorably associated with Mexicans and Chinese, and believed to have terrifying effects. As late as 1927, The New York Times ran an article headlined “Mexican Family Goes Insane” blaming marijuana smoking for one family's eccentric and criminal behavior.