The Red Shirts ( es, Camisas Rojas) were a paramilitary organization, existing in the 1930s, founded by the
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and
anti-Catholic
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestantism, Protestant states, ...
anticlerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
Governor of Tabasco
List of governors of the Mexican state of Tabasco
See also
* List of Mexican state governors
390px,
The United Mexican States, commonly known as States._The_List_of_heads_of_government_of_Mexico_City.html" "title="Political_divis ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Tomás Garrido Canabal
Tomás Garrido Canabal (September 20, 1891 – April 8, 1943) was a Mexican politician, revolutionary and atheist activist. Garrido Canabal served governor of the state of Tabasco from 1920 to 1924 and from 1931 to 1934. He was noted for his ...
, during his second term.
[Mabry, Donald J. ''Tomas Garrido Canabal'' Historical Text Archive (2001)](_blank)
/ref> During the ongoing conflict over the anticlerical articles of the 1917 constitution, they systematically destroyed church buildings. The group, created to carry out the governor's orders, takes its name from its uniform of red shirts, black pants, and black and red military caps. It consisted of men and women aged 15 to 30.
History
Apart from religion, the Red Shirts also attacked other things they considered detrimental to progress, most notably alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
. They have been described as "fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
"; however, the anthem of the Red Shirts was the Internationale
"The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...
, widely considered to be the socialist anthem, and Garrido named one of his sons after Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
, a Marxist and also considered himself a Marxist Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
.
Some scholars have argued that Garrido's authoritarian policies were more akin to European right-wing dictatorships, though he wished to turn the traditionally conservative state of Tabasco into a socialist model and fought for socialist causes. Tabasco has been called a "socialist tyranny" by Martin C. Needler, Dean of the School of International Studies at the University of the Pacific in California. Garrido also invited the First Congress of Socialist Students to meet in the state of Tabasco and created a form of socialist education which he termed "Rationalist".
The Red Shirts have been described as "shock troops of indoctrination for the intense campaign against 'God and religion.'"[Krauze, Enriqu]
"The Troubling Roots of Mexico's Lopez Obrador: Tropical Messiah"
''The New Republic'', June 19, 2006. The Red Shirts were also used against the Cristeros
The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...
revolt, an uprising against the persecution of Catholics by the government of Plutarco Calles. The Red Shirts practiced socialist marriages, and two Red Shirt members, José Correa and Victoria Ley, pronounced their own vows:
And another two members sent out invitations:
In 1934 Garrido was named secretary of Agriculture by the new president 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 M ...
, hoping to contain the Red Shirts that way. However, Garrido took the Red Shirts with him to Mexico City at the National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
to intervene in student politics.
Attacks
On December 30, 1934, approximately sixty Red Shirts from Tabasco, who had been organizing anti-religious demonstrations including the questioning of God's existence, were involved in a confrontation outside of San Juan Bautista church in Mexico City that killed five Catholics who were shot, and one red shirt was beaten to death by the crowd. The Cardenas government later arrested 62 red shirts for involvement in the attack, along with three Catholics for the lynching of the red shirt.
In 1935, after he ordered his Red Shirts to kill Catholic activists in Mexico City who were seeking to return to Tabasco, Garrido was forced to step down and into exile in Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. His paramilitary groups, including the Camisas Rojas, were subsequently disbanded.
Media
The Red Shirts hunt for a priest from Concepción, Tabasco, in Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's 1940 novel ''The Power and the Glory
''The Power and the Glory'' is a 1940 novel by British author Graham Greene. The title is an allusion to the doxology often recited at the end of the Lord's Prayer: "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen." ...
''.
See also
* Camisas Doradas
* The Lawless Roads
General
* Gun politics in Mexico
Gun politics and laws in Mexico covers the role firearms play as part of society within the limits of the United Mexican States. Current legislation sets the legality by which members of the armed forces, law enforcement and private citizens ...
References
External links
{{Persecution of Christians
Left-wing militant groups in Mexico
Paramilitary organizations based in Mexico
Anti-clericalism in Mexico
Persecution by atheist states
Persecution of Catholics
Modern Mexico
Political organizations based in Mexico
Clothing in politics
Communism in Mexico
Religious persecution