The murderous betrayal of the most dangerous and beloved man of the Mexican revolution: Emiliano Zapata

Emiliano Zapata died at the age of 39, but it didn’t take long for him to create his legend. Unlike the other figures of the Revolution, the general, as he was called It was he who inspired the greatest confidence and empathy in hosts across the country., who focused on her figure the one that best represents the struggle for land, justice, freedom and dignity of peasants, as well as the oppressed classes in general.

And it is that the Caudillo del Sur, either through photographic reproductions or plastic allegories, He is the national hero who has transcended borders the most. The origins of this “idolatry” and its validity were discussed from a distance in the editorial presentation, organized by the representation of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Morelos, through the Historical Museum of the East, in Cuautla, where five Historians have explored Zapata as a myth, on the 141st anniversary of his birth in 2020.

“I am convinced that, without the intransigence, resistance and heroism of Zapata and the movement he led, the Mexican Revolution would have been very different, perhaps only political, limited to the replacement of a dictatorial government. for an elected democratically, but devoid of the social content and the deep and radical transformation of the economic, social, political and cultural structures ”, declared Felipe Ávila Espinoza, director of the National Institute of Historical Studies of the Revolutions of Mexico (INEHRM ).

“For this reason, the imprint of Zapatism was of such magnitude that even the ‘victors’ could not escape the legitimacy of their demands.. And I also believe that the persistence in the collective memory and in the struggle of the popular Mexican sectors, until our days, is explained by the identification with the historical Zapatista experience ”, he declared in the program, which was produced by the INAH TV channel on YouTube, as part of the campaign “With you in the distance”, of the Secretary of Culture of the Government of Mexico.

In his speech, the historian Salvador Rueda Smithers, director of the National History Museum, Castillo de Chapultepec, recalled that in the 70s, when he was part of a group of young historians dedicated to recovering the testimonies of the last Zapatistas, it was common to find in the humble homes of veterans and female veterans, photomontages of them (in the portraits of their youth) with the figure of the general, whose symbolism of the national hero they perpetuated.

Difference in methods with Madero

After the triumph with the Revolution and Madeira, Zapata does not conceive of discharging his troops without granting each one the security of the land to be sown in exchange for their guns.. For him, the war did not end with the overthrow of the Porfirismo, but with the crystallization of the objective of the peasant people: the restitution of land stolen by the millionaire owners, with decades of taxation of landowners by owners.

Madero believed that deep political reform had to be carried out first., while for Zapata, the return of land stolen by haciendas was a priority. According to Zapata, Madero had betrayed the revolution.

With Madero as President of the Republic, the differences do not diminishRon. Zapata meets Madero at the National Palace, where they have a heated discussion. Madero offers Zapata a farm in the state of Morelos “In payment for his services to the Revolution”, which infuriates Zapata, who replies:

“No, Mr. Madero. I did not take up arms to conquer lands and farms. I took up arms so that the inhabitants of Morelos could return what was stolen. So, Mr. Madero, either you fulfill what you promised us and the state of Morelos, or you and I take the chichicuilota, ”Zapata replied.

Weave the deadly betrayal, 50 killed by a sham

After the assassination of Francisco I. Madero and the rise to power of Victoriano Huerta, the armed struggle was exacerbated and Zapata was one of the most important revolutionary leaders, at the same time as he introduced important reforms to Morelos, his hometown.

The Zapatista movement thus acquired national fame as the other side of the coin among the peasants of the south and the north. During their stay in the capital, the troops had a more than peaceful attitude: they obtained resources through alms and prevented the thefts and assaults of certain bandits who soiled their names by calling themselves Zapatistas.

The government’s war has taken ruthless profiles in the north. The Gonzalist Jesus Guajardo made Zapata believe he was unhappy with Carranza and would be ready to join him. Zapata asked him for proof and Guajardo gave it to him when he shot about 50 Federal soldiers., with the consent of Carranza and Pablo González, and offer Zapata weapons and ammunition to continue the fight.

Yes indeed, agreed to meet at the Hacienda de Chinameca, Morelos, on April 10, 1919. Zapata camped with his forces on the outskirts of the hacienda and approached it accompanied only by an escort of ten men.

As they crossed the lintel, a nurse stationed at the entrance sounded the call for honors with his bugle. It was the signal from the shooters, hidden on the rooftops, to open fire on Zapata, who managed to draw his pistol, but a bullet threw it at him.; then the caudillo fell dead.

Few of them condemned the procedure. In addition, this resulted in, when killed by more than twenty rifle shots to the body, Zapata became the propagator of the revolution and the symbol of the dispossessed peasants. The movement continued, although with less intensity, and the Zapatistas agreed to appoint Gildardo Magaña Cerda as head of the Southern Liberation Army. He would be the last, as almost a year later Zapata’s former colleagues would join the Aguaprietista government, even though some of them would be assassinated by the same government.

However, no one could end what Zapata meant to the Mexican people and the struggle for the ideals of freedom and justice.

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