Rubén Jaramillo Méndez (1900 – May 23, 1962) was a
Mexican military and political leader of ''
campesino'' origin who participated in the
Mexican Revolution. After the Revolution, he continued to fight for the
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultur ...
promised under the
Mexican Constitution.
Mexican Revolution
Jaramillo was born in
Tlaquiltenango,
Morelos
Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cu ...
, in 1900. When he was 15 years old, he joined the
Liberation Army of the South
The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas foug ...
under the direct command of
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the in ...
.
By age 17, Jaramillo had been promoted to the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and commanded 75 men.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Jaramillo advocated on behalf of ''
ejido
An ''ejido'' (, from Latin ''exitum'') is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. People awarded ejidos ...
s'', grants of communally owned land by the federal government to farmers. He supported the 1934 presidential campaign of
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...
, who created a
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
sugar mill in Zacatepec in 1938 at Jaramillo's urging. Jaramillo was elected by the workers to help run the mill, but his advocacy on behalf of the workers led to frequent clashes with administrators appointed by the government.
Jaramillista movement
When workers at the Zacatepec sugar mill went on strike in 1943, Jaramillo persuaded the ''campesinos'' to stop producing
cane
Cane or caning may refer to:
*Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking
*Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance
*White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are b ...
for the mill. The state government ordered his arrest, so Jaramillo fled to the mountains and took up arms against the government. He and his followers, known as ''Jaramillistas'', briefly took control of Tlaquiltenango. In 1944, President
Manuel Ávila Camacho
Manuel Ávila Camacho (; 24 April 1897 – 13 October 1955) was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in the Mexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he ca ...
invited Jaramillo to
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
to negotiate an end to the fighting. Ávila granted amnesty to the ''Jaramillistas'' and guaranteed their safety.
For the next nine years, Jaramillo fought for land reform within the electoral system. He founded the Agrarian Labor Party of Morelos (''Partido Agrario Obrero Morelense'', or PAOM), which quickly had 15,000 members. Jaramillo ran as its candidate for
governor of Morelos
The governor of Morelos, which was created with the state of Mexico in 1869. (Morelos was a Federal Territory from June 17, 1914, to February 5, 1917.)
See also
* List of Mexican state governors
* List of people from Morelos, Mexico
* List o ...
in 1946 and 1952. Jaramillo lost both times, although he and his followers disputed the official election results.
In 1953, Jaramillo again led an armed revolt against the government. For the next five years he and the ''Jaramillistas'' eluded the army. The army brought cavalry and artillery against the rebels, and it was assisted by the air force. Finally, amnesty was negotiated with President
Adolfo López Mateos
Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964.
Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Lóp ...
in 1958.
López Mateos had promised Jaramillo he would support the ''campesinos'' of Morelos, but Jaramillo was soon disappointed.
When cattle ranchers began to take the land previously granted as ''ejidos'', the federal government did nothing. Jaramillo led thousands of farmers in resistance. Jaramillo attempted to negotiate with the government on their behalf. While the government delayed, the ''campesinos'' occupied the land illegally. The government asked Jaramillo to help remove the squatters while the legal process continued; most of the farmers agreed. When the federal government ultimately turned down the farmers' request for assistance, Jaramillo appealed to López Mateos but the president refused to meet with him. In 1961, the ''campesinos'' again occupied the land. This time, the army removed them.
Death
On May 23, 1962, Jaramillo's home was raided by a group of
Federal Judicial Police and soldiers. He, his wife Epifanía, and his three stepsons were taken to
Xochicalco
Xochicalco () is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Miacatlán Municipality in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The name ''Xochicalco'' may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the house of Flowers". The site is located 38  ...
, Morelos, where they were killed. The only surviving member of the family was a stepdaughter, who had fled to ask the town's mayor for help.
A few days after the murders,
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are '' The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), ''Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...
went to Xochicalco and wrote an article that was published in ''
Siempre!
''Siempre!'' is a news and political magazine published in Mexico. The magazine is published on a weekly basis. By the end of the 1960s the magazine became a significant part of Mexican politics and an important publication for democratization ...
'', a popular magazine:
They pushed him down. Jaramillo could not hold himself back, he was a lion of the field, that man.... He threw himself at the party of murderers; he was defending his wife and his stepchildren,they brought him down with their rifle butts, they knocked out an eye. Epifanía flung herself on the murderers; they tore her '' rebozo'', they tore her dress, they threw her on the stones. ne soncursed at them; they opened fire and he doubled over and fell beside his mother, on the stones. While he was still alive, they opened his mouth, picked up fistfuls of earth, pulled open his mouth and laughing filled it with earth. After that it went fast; he other sonsfell riddled with bullets; the submachine guns spat on the five fallen bodies. The squad waited for them to stop breathing. But they went on living. They put their pistols to the foreheads of the woman and the four men. They fired the finishing shots.
Jaramillo's death was news around the world. He became a
folk hero
A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; ...
. Villages and schools were named after him. The article by Fuentes was widely reprinted. U.S. singer-songwriter
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...
wrote a song about Jaramillo.
Nobody was charged with the killings.
See also
*
Comando Jaramillista Morelense 23 de Mayo
The Comando Jaramillista Morelense of May 23 (shortened ''CJ23M'') is a rebel group in Mexico is a rebel and armed group in Mexico, attached to agrarian and leftist thoughts, taking the name of the agrarian leader and militar Rubén Jaramillo. Hi ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaramillo, Ruben
1900 births
1962 deaths
Assassinated Mexican politicians
Mexican rebels
Mexican revolutionaries
People from Morelos
People murdered in Mexico
Zapatistas
Federation of Parties of the Mexican People politicians
Mexican guerrillas