Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside

273 Pages·2014·15.68 MB·English

by  Alexander Avina

Specters of Revolution

Specters of Revolution
Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War
Mexican Countryside
ALEXANDER AVIÑA
1
1
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Excerpts reprinted from Alexander Aviña, “‘We Have Returned to Porfirian Times’: Neopopulism,
Counterinsurgency, and the Dirty War in Guerrero, Mexico, 1969–1976” from Populism in Twentieth
Century Mexico: The Presidencies of Lázaro Cárdenas and Luis Echeverría edited by Amelia Kiddle and
Maria L.O. Muñoz. © 2010 The Arizona Board of Regents. Reprinted by permission of the
University of Arizona Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aviña, Alexander.
Specters of revolution : peasant guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican countryside / Alexander Aviña.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–993657–1 (hardback : acid-free paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–993659–5 (paperback :
acid-free paper) 1. Mexico—Politics and government—1946–1970. 2. Teachers—Political
activity—Mexico—History—20th century. 3. Peasants—Political activity—Mexico—History—20th
century. 4. Guerrillas—Mexico—History—20th century. 5. Insurgency—Mexico—History—20th
century. 6. Asociación Cívica Nacional Revolucionaria (Mexico)—History. 7. Partido de los Pobres
(Mexico)—History. 8. Mexico—Rural conditions. 9. State-sponsored terrorism—Mexico—
History—20th century. 10. Mexico—Rural conditions. I. Title.
F1235.A84 2014
972.08’2—dc23
2013047265
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my parents
Ana Bertha Godinez Sandoval
Gilberto Aviña Guízar
and, in memoriam,
Pablo Godinez Sandoval
José Inés Torres Sandoval
Here, by the downslope of hills, facing the sunset
and time's muzzle,
near gardens with severed shadows
we do what the prisoners do,
and what the unemployed do:
we nurture hope
Mahmoud Darwish, “State of Siege”
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Guerrilla Ghosts in the Mexican Countryside 1
1. Traditions and Legacies of Rebellion 17
2. A Lesson in Civic Insurgency 40
3. A Moment of True Democracy 68
4. Retreading Old Paths, Forging New Routes 90
5. “There Was No Other Way” 111
6. A Poor People’s Revolution 137
Conclusion: A Poor People’s Utopia 162
Epilogue: “The Bones Will Tell Us What Happened” 176
Notes 181
References 215
Index 239
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book contains nearly a decade’s worth of invaluable contributions from
friends, colleagues, mentors, individuals willing to open their homes and share
their stories with a stranger, and family. My first thanks are to those whose stories
drive this book. In Guerrero: Fernando Pineda, Tita Radilla, Dr. Andrea Radilla
Martínez, Dr. Alejandra Cárdenas, Dr. Arturo Miranda Ramírez, José Bracho,
Santos Méndez, Ascensión Rosas Mesino, and Hilario Mesino generously shared
their experiences, memories, and hospitality. In Mexico City: José Luis Moreno
Borbolla, José Luis Alonzo Vargas, Benjamin Pérez Aragón, Alejandra Avila Sosa,
Concepción Solís Morales, and Mario Rechy provided interviews, friendship,
and hospitality. Consuelo Solís Morales opened her home to a stranger and gen-
erously shared her time and remembrances. An amazing weeklong bus historical
“tour” that took us from Mexico City to the Chihuahuan highlands in the spring
of 2007 permitted interviews, and lasting friendships, with Miguel Topete, Celia
Sánchez, Maricela Balderas Silva, Bertha Lilia Gutiérrez, and Salvador Gaytán
Aguirre.
I am deeply grateful to Marjorie Becker for her intellectual and emotional
generosity, her unwavering support, and her patience. I was trained as a historian
by a talented poet whose preoccupations with language, power, and the com-
plexity of human experience taught me how to think critically about the form
and content of academic history. Marjorie’s democratic mentorship, based on
subtlety and empowerment, gave me the necessary space and time to develop as
a historian. I also want to thank other scholars who provided vital support and
encouragement. María Elena Martínez encouraged me to think critically beyond
the confines of my research topic in order to engage bigger theoretical and his-
torical questions. George Sánchez helped me think about methodological issues
while also giving essential career advice for a novice academic historian. Priya
Jaikumar challenged me to engage the methodological and epistemological pre-
suppositions of academic history. At different moments, Gladys McCormick,
ix