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Register of the Armed Revolutionary Organizations in Mexico documents
MSS 0523
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Title: Armed Revolutionary Organizations in Mexico documents,
Date (inclusive): 1965-1998
Collection number: MSS 0523
Extent:
0.20 linear feet
(9 microfilm reels and 3 folders in one
document box)
Repository:
Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD
La Jolla, CA 92093-0175
Physical location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: A microfilm collection comprised of printed and manuscript materials created between 1965
and 1998 by twenty-two separate revolutionary groups in Mexico. The collection presents a
wealth of primary material documenting the organization and activities of these
twenty-two groups. It is particularly strong in ephemeral communiques and periodicals
dating from the 1970s and 1980s. The microfilm was generated from a privately owned collection. A small but significant
part of the collection is made up of preservation copies made by the Centro de
Investigaciones Historicas de los Movimientos Armadas (Mexico, D.F.) However, a great
portion of the printed materials are low quality photocopies, stencils, or mimeographs,
which may make some frames on the microfilm more difficult to read.
Language:
Spanish or Castilian.
Collection is open for research
Armed Revolutionary Organizations in Mexico documents, MSS 0523. Mandeville Special
Collections Library, UCSD.
Nine rolls of 35 mm microfilm containing documents and publications created between 1965
and 1998 by 22 armed revolutionary organizations in Mexico. All of the groups represented
in the collection espoused a militarized brand of Marxism and advocated clandestine and
guerrilla operations against the Mexican government and North American corporations.
Several of the groups aimed at uniting the urban working classes with student groups and
indigenous peoples.
The collection contains a copious amount of material relating to student groups,
specifically the Comite Comunista Estudiantil and Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario.
Several documents issued by the Liga Comunista Espartaco within days of the Tlatelolco
massacre of 1968 reflect Mexico's involvement in the radical student movement of the
period. The student periodical 13 de Junio issued in the 1980s by the CCE documents the
continuing efforts of radical student organizations in Mexico.
In addition to the student periodicals, the collection includes runs of several other
underground revolutionary newsletters. Among these is an extensive run of the Liga
Comunista 23 de Septiembre's magazine Madera (1970s-1980s). Other periodicals represented
include PROCUP's Proletario, EPR's Editorial del Pueblo and the LCE's Militar.
The few books in the collection tend to focus on military tactics, especially weapons and
explosive use, guerrilla warfare, and the like. There is also a manual on emergency
medical techniques for use in the field.
Series 1: Asociacion Civica Guerrerense (ACG)
Founded in 1959, the ACG marks the beginning of the modern guerrilla movement in Mexico.
Active through the mid-1960s, the ACG focused its activities in the Costa Chica, Costa
Grande and Tierra Caliente regions of the state. Much of the group's program was aimed
against the Abarca-Mirandista administration in the state and the PRI in general. Genaro
Vazquez Rojas was a leader of the ACG. The group carried out a number of political
kidnappings.
Series 2: Asociacion Civica Nacional Revolucionaria (ACNR)
The ACNR, founded in the 1960s by Genaro Vazquez Rojas, resulted from a fusion of several
earlier groups, including the ACG. The group set forth a plan for a national
revolutionary party to be led by a five-member Comando Central Nacional. Several of the
documents contained in the collection relate to the ACNR's efforts toward the release of
Vazquez during his imprisonment in the Carcel Municipal of Iguala Guerrero.
Series 3: Comandos Armados del Pueblo (CAP)
Founded in 1971 by two intellectuals, Jeronimo Martinez Diaz and Roque Reyes Garcia, who
believed the solutions to Mexico's social and economic problems lay with armed
revolution. The group probably developed as a direct consequence of the 1968 Tlatelolco
massacre.
Series 4: Comite Comunista Estudiantil (CCE)
A radical student group active through most of the 1980s. The material, mostly issues of
the newsletter "13 de Junio," focuses on clandestine operations and practical directions
relating to gun use and military tactics. Also included are reports on revolutionary
efforts throughout the world.
Series 5: Consejo de Autodefensa del Pueblo--Guerrero (CAPGR)
The CAPGR focused its efforts in Guerrero and was especially critical of the
Abarca-Mirandista administration in that state. The CAPGR collaborated with other groups
in Guerrero, such as the Central Campesina Independiente, in dealing with problems
affecting capesinos in the state. Active during the mid-to late 1960s.
Series 6: Ejercito Indigena Revolucionario Liberacion Nacional (EIRLN)
The collection contains a single item relating to the EIRLN, a copy of a fax issued from
"the mountains" of Oaxaca, dated April 1998.
Series 7: Ejercito Popular Revolucionario (EPR)
Active in the 1990s, the EPR, through its political arm, the Partido Democratico Popular
Revolutionario (PDPR), called for reorganization of government, including a new
constitution based on the needs of the Mexican people, and a better organized economy.
Included in the collection is a manifesto of the EPR in an issue of El Insurgente,
reflecting the group's status as an armed insurgent organization. A manual of basic
military tactics issued for EPR use is also in the collection.
Series 8: Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN)
The EZLN is the most recent of the groups represented in this collection. Its charismatic
spokesperson Subcommander Marcos was greatly influenced by earlier organizations such as
the LC23S (particularly through Arturo Gamez), and the guerrilla leader Lucio Cabanas. In
spite of world attention and a national agenda, the EZLN's primary focus has been on the
issues affecting the poor of Chiapas, e.g. land reform, education, and true political
representation. Unlike some of the early revolutionary groups based in Mexico City, the
EZLN downplays ideological links to Marxist-Leninism, preferring to emphasize its
historical roots in the Chiapas region. The group changed its name to Frente Zapatista de
Liberacion Nacional (FZLN).
Series 9: Federacion de Estudiantes Universitarios de Sinaloa (FEUS)
This student group was important as a vehicle for the activities of the "enfermos de
Sinaloa," a student based movement with origins in the transformation of the Sinaloan
economy from a largely rural based community of small farmers to one dominated by new
industries and agribusiness. This change occured in the mid-1960s through the 1970s,
within an atmosphere of student strikes and general unrest at the University Autonoma
Sinaloa (UAS).
Series 10: Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario (FER)
The efforts of this group seem to have been focused in Guadalajara. Hostilities between
government and FER forces on 24 December 1973 inGuadalajara resulted in the death of
leader Pedro Orozco Guzman. The FER was allied with the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre.
Series 11: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR)
The FAR was founded on a straightforward Marxist platform and was active in the mid
1970s.
Series 12:Fuerzas de Liberacion Nacional (FLN)
The collection contains two minor items for this armed guerrilla group. One is a special
extract of General A. Bayo's work on military tactics compiled especially for the FLN.
Series 13: Fuerzas Revolucionarias Armadas del Pueblo (FRAP)
This organization was active through the 1970s. The FRAP conducted several armed bank
robberies in the state of Chihuahua in January 1972. In 1973 FRAP members kidnapped the
American consul at Guadalajara, Terrance Leon Hardy, in order to secure the release of
thirty political prisoners.
Series 14: Guerra Popular (GPG)
The GPG was active in the 1960s. It was greatly influenced by the writings and actions of
Arturo Gamiz, a revolutionary leader killed in 1965 during an attack on a military
barracks in Chihuahua.
Series 15: Liga Comunista Espartaco (LCE)
Active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the LCE was vocal in the wake of the Tlatelolco
massacre of student protesters. The LCE issued a periodical titled Militante which
identifies the group's roots in student protests of the early 1960s and earlier Marxist
workers organizations.
Series 16: Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre (LC23S)
Founded by Ignacio Arturo Salas Obregon, this Marxist-Lenist group is named for the
September 1965 attack on the Madera barracks in Chihuahua led by revolutionary leader and
ex-school teacher Arturo Gamiz. The LC23S was primarily an urban movement. The group
produced a periodical, Madera, throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The collection
includes extensive holdings of LC23S publications.
Series 17: Movimiento de Accion Revolucionaria (MAR)
This group was founded by a veteran of the LC23S, Manuel Gomez Garcia. The MAR (along
with other groups such as FRAP, FAR and LC23S), had its origins in the response to the
government repression of the student movement of 1968. Active during the late 1970s and
early 1980s.
Series 18: Movimiento Popular Revolucionario (MPR)
The MPR set forth a five-point plan for a "Revolucion de Nueva Democracia" in Mexico,
including confiscation of "imperialist" property, land redistribution, equality and
independence for native peoples, and equality for women. Represented by a single item in
the collection issued after 1992.
Series 19: Partido de los Pobres (PDLP)
The PDLP was primarily a rural movement based in the state of Guerrero. This group
maintained a policy of respect for all religious traditions. Founded by Profesor Lucio
Cabanas Barrientos in 1967 and active through the 1970s.
Series 20: Partido Proletario Unido de America (PPUA)
Though based in Mexico, the PPUA represents an effort at a pan American revolutionary
movement. The collection includes a single document from the PPUA, issued after 1976.
Series 21: Partido Revolucionario Obrero Clandestino Union del Pueblo (PROCUP)
The PROCUP, active through the 1980s and 1990s, was closely allied with the PDLP. The
collection includes extensive holdings of PROCUP publications, including many issues of
the newsletter Proletario.
Series 22: PROCESOS
Various articles on the revolutionary process in Mexico.
Series 23: Vanguardia Armada del Pueblo (VAP)
The collection includes a single item from the VAP, a book dated 1976 on the origins of
socialism and capitalism, the strategy of the armed revolutionary movement in Mexico,
etc.