Happy birthday, Pancho Villa! (June 5, 1878)
Born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula in the Mexican state of Durango, Pancho Villa was a celebrated and adored freedom fighter in the era of the Mexican Revolution. Beginning his career as the leader of an outlaw band, Villa joined the revolutionary movement against longtime Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, quickly rising through the ranks of the revolutionary forces. After the initial success of the revolution, Villa was among the voices calling for land reform, which was resisted by the new government. When General Victoriano Huerta seized power in a military coup, Villa returned to rebellion, gaining international recognition and acclaim for his exploits and building a popular and romantic image for himself. Villa clashed with conservative and constitutionalist forces while allying himself with the more radical faction of Emiliano Zapata. Beset on many sides, including by an increasingly-irate United States government, Villa’s followers shrunk to a small guerilla force before he finally sued for peace and retired to a hacienda granted by the Mexican government in 1920. Villa publicly considered entering Mexican electoral politics, a prospect which so alarmed his enemies that they arranged for his assassination in 1923.
“My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and give the people a chance to know what real liberty means. And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly.”
