Magonistas Take Mexicali (1911)
Sun Jan 29, 1911
Image: Magonista rebel soldiers who took the city of Tijuana in 1911, from the San Diego Historical Society's "Title Insurance and Trust Collection" [Wikipedia]
On this day in 1911, Magonistas, Mexican anarchists drawing from the ideas of Ricardo Flores Magón, took the city of Mexicali in the first of battle of the Magonista Rebellion of 1911.
The Magonista uprising was an early incident of the more broad period of unrest known as the Mexican Revolution. It was organized by the Liberal Party of Mexico ("Partido Liberal Mexicano", PLM), and was successful in northern Mexico; the Magonistas controlled Tijuana and Mexicali for about six months.
The capture of Mexicali began in a pre-dawn raid on January 29th, 1911, when 30 rebels, guided by José María Leyva and Simón Berthold, seized the town of Mexicali without resistance. They opened the jail, killed the jailor, occupied the barracks, and confiscated government office funds.
Other settlers joined the rebels as well as many foreign socialists and anarchists, mainly militant members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), including Frank Little and Joe Hill. The U.S. government in Calexico and Yuma offered military support to aid the Mexican government's efforts to suppress the rebellion in order to protect hydraulic works of American engineers.
Although the rebellion was launched against the rule of Porfirio Díaz, it was was put down by forces loyal to Francisco Madero, a wealthy landowner who supported reforms and became the Mexican President in 1911. The PLM split into factions, with one faction still supporting the incarcerated Magón brothers while the other faction supported Madero, the new president of Mexico.
- Date: 1911-01-29
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
- Tags: #IWW, #Anarchism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org