Revolutionary Mexicanist Action
The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action, better known as the Gold Shirts, was a Mexican fascist, secular, anti-Semitic, anti-communist, ultra-nationalist paramilitary organization, originated on March 10, 1934, in Mexico City and operated until disbanded in 1936. With ultra-nationalist, strikebreaking roots and Nazi German support, the organization sought to expel Chinese, Jews, and communists from Mexico. The organization often violently engaged with labor movements associated with the Mexican Communist Party and with labor strikers.
Its members were known as the Golden Shirts because most of them were veteran soldiers of Pancho Villa, who referred to his soldiers this way because of the uniform they wore. The term 'Golden Shirts' was never used by the organization, as it was a nickname used by both supporters and detractors of the ARM. However, they did use the term 'Los Dorados' in propaganda and official documents.
Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, a brigadier general under Pancho Villa in the 1910s during the Mexican Revolution, led the group during its most active period. Many founding members of the paramilitary had also been veterans of the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920. Members were known as "the Gold Shirts", a name reminiscent of Villa's elite soldiers whom he referred to as "los dorados".
Operating under the motto of "Mexico for Mexicans", the organization called for the expulsion of Jews and Chinese from Mexico. The Gold Shirts advocated the seizure of Chinese- and Jewish-owned businesses. They also fiercely opposed labor movements and often clashed with members of the Mexican Communist Party. The group was very active in union busting, with the Gold Shirts instigating violent clashes with strikers.
The organization received financial support from the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany, as well as from the National Fascist Party of Italy, and from Mexican industrialists such as Eugenio Garza Sada. The Gold Shirts also received political protection from ex-president Plutarco Elías Calles, who vehemently opposed the Cárdenas government.
Description of Clothing and Salute
Members of the ARM wear bright golden ranch-style shirts, tied at the waist, with black pants and a palm hat. They wear a red bandana around the neck. On the yellow shirt, there is an embroidered shield of Aztec inspiration called Yaoyotl. Its deeper meaning consists of four half-moons and cotton representing agriculture. The Chimalli is made of tiger skin, and the half-moons are gold. The fringes are made of quetzal feather beards, twisted with gold thread. A central band with the letters A.R.M., in the colors of our flag, represents the Dorados' program.The shield of Moctecuhzoma II, the most notable and powerful lord of Pre-Columbian America, from Tenochtitlan to Nicaragua, was the Chimalli with gold half-moons, all decorated with symbols of the god of war.
Their organization is divided into branches like infantry and cavalry, and they are supported by a female nursing corps. Many people wonder if this is a brotherhood, a kind of club, or just a ridiculous eccentricity, but there is no doubt that we are dealing with a fascist organization, like those that have recently appeared in Italy and Germany. The very name "camisas doradas" is akin to the blackshirts and brownshirts of those countries. Furthermore, like their counterparts, they employ the tactic of inspiring fear and respect by their mere presence, exhibit an aggressive, crude nationalism, and openly confess anti-communism, constantly resorting to the use of force. Let's hope the authorities closely monitor the activities of this organization, which mimics the attitudes of Mussolini's fasci di combattimento or Hitler's stormtroopers.
"The salute with the right arm, raised with a clenched fist, is the ancient Aztec victory salute." Unlike other fascist organizations in the world, the ARM found a salute that characterizes the organization and differentiates it from other parties. This salute was found in ancient culture, which at the time was looked down upon by many Mexicans. The Dorados gave it their own meaning, infused it with mysticism, and it became the "Call to victory, the call to action to save Mexico, the war salute par excellence."
This battle pose can be found in various contemporary representations as well as in ancient codices. Even the [Huitzilopochtli is depicted raising his arm with his Xiuhcoatl. On some occasions, the uniformed members used a type of club, resembling a macahuitl/mace. This Dorados salute consisted of two steps: first, the hand was placed on the "Yaoyotl" shield, and then the right hand was raised with a clenched fist.
History
Background (1920s–1933)
Anti-Chinese and Anti-Semitic sentiment
At the start of the 1920s, racism in Mexico and xenophobic sentiments begun to intensify. Organizations such as the Pro-Race Committee and the Anti-Chinese and Anti-Jewish Nationalist League were created in response to a large influx of immigrants to Mexico. This was a result of growing economic concerns among the Mexican working and middle class. As Chinese-Mexicans, and Jews to a lesser extent, had come to constitute a considerable portion of the merchant class, many protests and boycotts against Chinese businesses were held. Mexican labor unions had put political pressure to restrict Chinese and Jewish immigration to Mexico.The Mexican government, both state and federal, actively enacted and enforced discriminatory laws targeting people of Chinese descent. Following the Great Depression, Jews had become subject to the same type of persecution. Notably in May 1931 where 250 Jewish merchants were expelled from the La Lagunilla Market in Mexico City.
1930s Labor Strikes
The government of President Pascual Ortiz Rubio faced intense political instability, exacerbated by the Great Depression. Droughts and floods heavily impeded agricultural production. By 1932, mass labor strikes in multiple industries were erupting throughout the country.Plutarco Elías Calles wished to "keep workers under control" in response to the support Vicente Lombardo Toledano had been garnering among laborers. Ortiz Rubio would resign from the presidency in September 1932 as a result of Calles's influence and power in the government.
Green Shirts (1932)
As the result of labor strikes and the support Toledano had garnered, Calles wished to protect the business interests of industrialists from strikers. Under the protection of a Callista official, if not Calles himself, Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco founded the Green Shirts in 1932. Rodríguez Carrasco had joined the Pro-Race Committee a year prior. The Green Shirts were a paramilitary group which was characterized as anti-communist, anti-union, ultranationalist. Calles politically protected and financially supported the group. The Green Shirts's campaigned under the mantra of "Mexico for Mexicans". As Calles began to lose power under Abelardo Rodríguez, the group was shortly dissolved by Rodríguez after taking power in September of that year.Foundation and early activities (1933–1935)
The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action was founded on March 10, 1934, within the Pro-Race Committee of the Federal District. The organization declared its fundamental objective was the moral and aggrandizement of Mexico, stating that their struggle "was not an offensive against foreigners but rather a defense of national interests."The founders and early members were generals and other ex-military men. Prominent members included Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, Roque González Garza, Julio Madero González, Silvestre Terrazas, and Eduardo Dávila Garza. Other key members included Ovidio Pedrero Valenzuela and Andrés Morán.
Roque González Garza led the group for a few months from its foundation until Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco assumed the position of supreme leader.
1935 Revolution Day Riot
Tensions between Calles and president Lázaro Cárdenas rose with the latter increasing the suppression efforts of the Gold Shirts. On November 20, 1935, a violent clash between communists and the Gold Shirts during the Revolution Day parade at the Zócalo resulted in 3 deaths and more than 40 injuries of which included Rodríguez Carrasco. Rodríguez Carrasco was stabbed twice in the abdomen and left critically injured.Political pushback and Ban (1935–1936)
The incident sparked nation-wide public outrage against the Revolutionary Mexicanist Actiontion, mainly from labor organizations. The Mexican senate sought to ban the organization a day after the riot. On November 22, senators Ernesto Soto Reyes and Guillermo Flores Muñoz condemned the Gold Shirts for the incident and called for a commission to ban the group. In his speech, Soto Reyes state the organization was composed of "irresponsible straw-men" and called into question the legitimacy of the group. He asserted the organization did not represent any union or worker's interests and therefore did not contravene any legal statue by requesting its prohibition.Disbandment (1936)
In February 1936, the group participated in anti-communist rallies in Monterrey and in Puebla. The Monterrey rally was filmed by fascist film director and Gold Shirts supporter Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia. Members of the ARM engaged in gunfire with the police, leaving 10 members dead. Following this incident, on February 27, 1936, Cárdenas ordered the dissolution of the group.On February 27, 1936, Cárdenas ordered the dissolution of the group. On August 11, Rodríguez Carrasco was arrested for promoting "inter-labor conflicts" and was set to be expelled from the country. He was detained in Pachuca where was driven to an airport and flown to Ciudad Juárez then to El Paso, Texas. Following his exile, Rodríguez Carrasco was classified as a non-threat by the Mexican government.
Organization in Exile (1936–1940)
Rodríguez Carrasco moved to Laredo, Texas, with his wife, Leonor Gutiérrez. Rodríguez Carrasco established a Revolutionary Mexicanist Action headquarters in Mission, Texas. Rodríguez Carrasco approached wealthy Texan oilmen whose assets in Mexico were negatively affected by worker strikes and government policies for funds. Other donors he personally received funds from included Reverend P.L. Delgado, William H. Wood, and a wealthy farmer only known as Smithers. Throughout this time, Rodríguez Carrasco drafted numerous manifestos against the Mexican government, Jews, communists, and President Cárdenas in The McAllen Monitor.Rodríguez Carrasco also met with Henry Allen in 1937. Allen was a prominent figure of an American anti-Semitic fascist group known as the Silver Legion. Allen offered Rodríguez Carrasco protection and both directly received funds from the Nazi Party.
By March 1937, Rodríguez Carrasco was receiving $2000 to $3000 a month in donations from American and Mexican nationals alike for the Revolutionary Mexicanist Action. The money was given to contacts that would regularly travel between Brownsville and Nogales.
Approximately just under a year after moving to Texas, Rodríguez Carrasco met young woman named Emilia Herron. Herron belonged to a very wealthy family El Paso. Herron and Rodríguez Carrasco developed an affair and then divorced his wife Leonor Gutiérrez. Rodríguez Carrasco contacted immigration services to have Gutiérrez deported back to Mexico. A distraught Gutiérrez brought with her a great volume of documents containing sensitive information regarding the Revolutionary Mexicanist Action. She notified the police of Mexico City of Rodríguez Carrasco's activities. She made many public declarations regarding the organization's activities against the government and named many public figures who supported the paramilitary group. This caused serious internal conflicts within the organization with some prominent members no longer supporting Rodríguez Carrasco.