Gunshots, chaos and violence: how the last minutes of Pancho Villa went

During his revolutionary life, Doroteo Arango Arámbula, known as Francisco Villa, generated enmities, intrigues and resentments, which worked against him on July 20, 1923.

In the town of Parral, Chihuahua, the caudillo was on his way to a christening celebration aboard a Dodge vehicle.

He was accompanied by his private secretary, Colonel Miguel Trillo, as well as an escort of Dorados, when, at the turn of the Av, Juárez, nine men shot at his car, but his guards were unable to repel the attack.

This is how the Centaur of the North died at the age of 45. His body was buried the next day in the civilian pantheon of Hidalgo del Parral.

Originally from the state of Durango, Pancho Villa was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution, whose military action He was decisive for the defeat of the regime of then President Victoriano Huerta. He joined the movement led by Francisco I. Madero in 1910.

He demonstrated his loyalty to the “apostle of democracy” by He rejected Pascual Orozco’s invitation to reveal himself. He fought in the states of Chihuahua and Durango, however, he joined the ranks of the Northern Federal Division commanded by Victoriano Huerta.

Given the doubts generated in Madero by the loyalty of Villa Francisco, the president left him under the orders of Huerta. Although the decision did not seem appropriate to him, later sought to flatter Villa’s ego; On his suggestion, he asked President Madero to do so “General of Honor”However, this decision was counterproductive, as the Federal Army treated Villa with contempt.

When the military campaign against Orozco ended, Villa felt that his presence was no longer necessary and that he could return home to continue his daily life. This was used by Huerta to eliminate him, for he accused his conduct of being an act of rebellion.

“He ordered Colonel Guillermo Rubio Navarrete to sweep the barracks of the Villa with machine guns, since he had received information according to which he was trying to rebel, ”said an expert from the National Institute for Historical Studies of the Revolutions of Mexico (INEHRM). The shooting attempt failed, for which he was arrested in Mexico City and subsequently escaped from prison.

Al in front of the famous North Division, the caudillo played in the Battle of Zacatecas, a key feat of arms to achieve the defeat of the federal army which supported the regime of Victoriano Huerta.

However, Celaya’s battles, which took place in April 1915, were a severe defeat for him and his troops. Since, His strength waned and he decided to enter the Chihuahua Mountains., where he continues his fight against the government of Venustiano Carranza.

Thus, in March 1916, he led an attack on the city of Columbus, in the United States, which led to the entry into the national territory of a punitive expedition under the command of General John J. Pershing, whose aim was to capture it. This mission not having succeeded, the American troops left the national territory a year later.

Finally, in 1923, under the government of Adolfo de la Huerta, The Sabinas treaties have been signed, with which he definitively parted ways. His last days he lived in his Canutillo Ranch, located between the boundaries of Chihuahua and Durango, dedicated to business and agriculture.

Historical sources point out that the plot for his assassination was carried out by Jesús Salas Barraza and Melitón Lozoya. As a tribute to his achievements during this historic period, his name was affixed with gold letters on the premises of the Chamber of Deputies H.

In 1976, his remains were exhumed by presidential decree and transferred to the capital of the Republic to be deposited at the Monument to the Revolution.

According to an article by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), “Villa represented the aspirations of a social agricultural sector in the states of Durango and Chihuahua which were reflected during the revolutionary process”.

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