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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: April 21, 2020 at 11:04:47 AM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-LatAm]: Ortega Bayona on Henson, 'Agrarian Revolt > in the Sierra of Chihuahua, 1959-1965' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Elizabeth Henson. Agrarian Revolt in the Sierra of Chihuahua, > 1959-1965. Tucson University of Arizona Press, 2019. 269 pp. > $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8165-3873-7. > > Reviewed by Berenice Ortega Bayona (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de > México) > Published on H-LatAm (April, 2020) > Commissioned by Casey M. Lurtz > > Elizabeth Henson's historical study depicts what is widely considered > to be the beginning of left-wing guerrilla movements in > twentieth-century Mexico as part of a much more long-standing process > of political violence. The author goes beyond the specific event of > the infamous assault on the Madera military base in the state of > Chihuahua in 1965 and the individual actors involved to characterize > the underlying patterns and structures of inequality, > authoritarianism, and political organization. From the armed > rebellions and revolutions of the nineteenth and early twentieth > centuries through the so-called Dirty War period to the latest, > innovative form of a left-wing guerrilla found in the EZLN (Ejército > Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or Zapatista Army of National > Liberation), radical mobilized popular sectors have consistently made > themselves present in the shaping of politics in Mexico, regardless > of the adverse circumstances. This study seems timely and relevant in > the current national context of organized crime violence and the > spread of "self-defense" armed peasant groups that react to it, > particularly in the states of Michoacán, Jalisco and Guerrero. As > this book shows, these rural and communitarian armed self-defense > groups date back many years before the current context of organized > crime. This book can also be situated within the recent surge of > studies on 60s-70s guerrillas in Mexico that have emerged due to the > greater availability of archives of government ministries and > political organizations since 2000. Yet we cannot deny that concern > about widespread violence, its causes, and reactions to it motivate > much of the increased interest in this topic. > > In order to understand the motivations behind armed political > violence in Chihuahua and the formation of the Grupo Popular > Guerrillero (GPG), Henson's study reconstructs in detail the > struggles over the state's land and resources over the last century. > In the first chapter, she frames the political violence and the > development of the guerrilla in the national context of the Cold War, > the role of US intervention, the persecution of left-wing rural > movements, the influence of the Cuban revolution on the Mexican Left, > and the emergence of New Left urban and student communist movements. > In the second chapter, she describes the long history of land > disputes in the local terrain, including Chihuahua's remoteness in > the eighteenth century, its large _haciendas_ with little protection > against Native American raids from the north, the strengthening of a > sense of a _serrano_ identity and of autonomy in the nineteenth > century, and the growth of foreign investment in mining, lumber, and > large-scale agriculture and ranching towards the beginning of the > twentieth century. In chapter 3, the author then outlines the role of > the Bosques de Chihuahua company--which integrated the four largest > livestock investors in the state (the so-called Cuatro Amigos)--in > the intimidation and persecution of peasants and small ranchers with > claims to land. As is thoroughly documented by Henson, this company > operated, in practice, as a paramilitary group, with _cacique _thugs > stripping small ranchers and peasants of their lands, raping women > and killing opponents. These patterns of violence, Henson's research > also shows us, were backed up and protected by corrupt and > authoritarian state structures. As a result of all this, many of the > _serranos_ began to organize in the 1950s to resist the violence and > the dispossession of their lands. > > The center of the book, chapters 4 and 5, describe the further > organization and radicalization of groups of displaced peasants and > ranchers, in the context of the second half of the twentieth century, > where communist parties, left-wing students, and rural teachers > (_normalistas_), as well as independent labor and peasant unions all > shared and experienced spaces of politization and empowerment. Here, > we learn of the founders, actors, and main collaborators of the GPG, > such as Arturo Gámiz, Álvaro Ríos, Jacinto López, Pablo Gómez, > and Judith Reyes, most of whom lost their lives in the Madera > military base assault. Henson leads us through the story of their > political formation, ideals, strategies, and of significant events > beyond the Madera assault, such as the experiences of a progressive > municipal government (Partido Popular Socialista) in Mineral de > Dolores; land invasions; government office occupations; marches; and > the spreading of dissident newspapers, literature, and songs. > Additionally, Henson follows the different paths that socialist and > popular political organizations took in the region throughout the 60s > and 70s in a context shaped by government persecution and cooptation. > Finally, as she highlights, the memory of the short-lived GPG became > a reference and inspiration to many of the radical political > organizations that followed within the rest of the nation as well as > locally--most continued to demand an end to the climate of state > political violence, the redistribution of land, and the creation of > local industries to generate jobs. > > Henson's book is undoubtedly the result of thorough research into > historical local and national archives, comprehensive fieldwork in > Chihuahua, and the consultation of the main studies and published > testimonies on the subject. In this sense, her book provides an > updated compilation of studies, as well as intelligent interpretation > and analysis. Moreover, given that most of the literature produced on > this topic has been in Spanish, this book is an important > contribution in English to the field of studies on guerillas and > political violence in Mexico in the second half of the twentieth > century. If anything, although helpful lists and insightful > illustrations are included, a chronology and more detailed maps of > the region would have aided the reader even further. > > Finally, I would like to insist on the pertinence of this study in a > moment when discussions on the memory and significance of Mexico's > recent violent political history are increasingly important in light > of the persistent social demands for a long-overdue transitional > justice process. This was evident in the dozens of public conferences > and debates that took place during 2018, which commemorated the > fiftieth anniversary of the 1968 student protests and repression in > Mexico, as well as in the seminars that examined the impact of the > GPG and the Madera attack in its fiftieth anniversary, within which > links were constantly made to the demands of pending social > justice.[1] These forums demonstrate the contribution that historians > and social scientists can make in the reconstruction of recent > collective memory, a battlefield not yet settled in Mexico. Hence, > historical studies like Henson's play a crucial role not only in the > remembrance, but also in the debate on _how_ we interpret our history > and with what purpose. > > Citation: Berenice Ortega Bayona. Review of Henson, Elizabeth, > _Agrarian Revolt in the Sierra of Chihuahua, 1959-1965_. H-LatAm, > H-Net Reviews. April, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54479 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
