Information: The Brown Berets

<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2003winter/brownberets.htm

The Brown Berets: Young Chicano Revolutionaries

Winter 2003: Fight Back! interviewed Carlos Montes, one of the founders and former Minister of Information of the Brown Berets National Office in East Los Angeles from 1967 to 1970. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Brown Berets emerged as one of the most powerful and militant organizations in the Chicano liberation movement. Like the Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets were hit hard by government repression. This interview brings out a part of our history that is rarely taught in schools and some lessons for today’s activists from our movement’s past.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fight Back!: Who were the Brown Berets?
Carlos Montes was a co-founder of the Brown Berets in 1967.

Carlos Montes: We were a group of young Chicano revolutionaries from the barrios of the Southwest fighting for the self-determination of our people. We organized in our barrios, published the newspaper La Causa, ran a free clinic and fought against police brutality as well as against the U.S. war in Vietnam.

We evolved from a youth group - from Young Citizens for Community Action, to Young Chicanos for Community Action to the Brown Berets. We evolved from civic participation and assimilation to revolutionary nationalism. The brown beret was a symbol of the pride in our culture, race and history. It also symbolized our anger and militancy and fight against the long history of injustice against the Chican@ people in the U.S., especially the Southwest. We claimed the Southwest as Aztlan, the original homeland of the indigenous Aztec ancestors and founders of Mexico City, Tenochtitlan. We were from poor working class families growing up with the racism and police abuse.

Fight Back!: Why did you join?

Carlos Montes: My family came to L.A. from Juarez, Mexico in 1956. I grew up in the barrios of South L.A. and East L.A. and experienced the racist conditions in the schools, police abuse, drugs, and the poor living conditions. This led me to get involved in the first Chicano student group, the Mexican American Student Association (MASA), at East L.A. College in 1967 which saw using education as the solution to injustice. I was also working as a youth center director and came across Young Chicanos for Community Action and La Raza newspaper, which were starting to voice opposition to the racist conditions in the barrio. I was drawn to the more active and direct action approach of Young Chicanos for Community Action, which became the Brown Berets in late 1967.

Fight Back!: What kind of community organizing did you do?

Carlos Montes: We first took on the issue of police brutality. The East L.A. sheriffs were notorious for their brutality, especially against Chicano youth, which I experienced cruising Whittier Boulevard on the weekends with hundreds of other youth. We were the first to lead a protest at the East L.A. sheriffs station to protest the killing of youth at the station in 1967. We also started working with the car clubs in East L.A. to defend them against police abuse. We opened a local cultural center in East L.A., The Piranya Coffee House, where we held youth meetings and cultural programs. It became one of the meeting places for the Brown Berets.

We also started working on the problems of the bad school conditions and the racist educational system. Our schools were old and in bad condition, with high drop out, or push out, rates and racist administrators and teachers. Over time, we started agitating for bilingual education, better school conditions, Chicano studies and more Chicano teachers. We attended community, school and youth meetings to raise demands for better educational and school conditions. This finally led to the historic East L.A. Blowouts in March of 1968, where thousands of high school Chicano youth walked out of the four predominantly Chicano high schools in the Eastside over a two week period.

Police photo of Brown Beret led walk-out at L.A.’s Lincoln High School

The Brown Berets were the first to run in to the high schools, yelling, “Walk out! Walk out!” To get the blowouts started, me and James Vigil (a k a Mangas Coloradas) ran into Lincoln High School on the first day to kick off the walkouts. We then went on to Roosevelt High School and the other schools.

We also supported the land movement in New Mexico of the Chicano small farmers and ranchers. They fought to recover the land stolen by the rich Anglo ranchers and the U.S. federal government. We supported the United Farm Workers’ struggle for union recognition and better working conditions. We marched with the first Rainbow Coalition in the Poor Peoples Campaign in Washington D.C. in the summer of 1968. We were at the first historic Chicano Youth Liberation conference, where the Plan Espiritaul de Aztlan was formulated in Denver, Colorado. We also organized the first Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War in December 1969. This led to the historic national Chicano Moratorium march and rally against the Vietnam war on Aug. 29, 1970, where over 20,000 Chicanos protested the high casualty rate of Chicanos in Vietnam and demanded self-determination at home in the Southwest. ‘Raza si! Guerra no!’

Fight Back!: What were major successes?

Carlos Montes: We exposed police brutality. Back then, some people tried to deny it existed. We were part of building the Chicano movement for self-determination, which raised the slogan of Chicano Power. It also started the movement for cultural awareness and pride in our Chicano history in the Southwest and Mexico, and our culture and language.

The blowouts were historic because it was the fist wave of mass actions by Chicanos in the urban barrios of the late 1960s. We eventually won bilingual education, Chicano studies, better school conditions and Chicano teachers and administrators. The mass anti-war demonstrations were part of the movement that eventually forced Nixon to pull out of Vietnam. We also opened the doors for affirmative action in higher education and political representation.

Fight Back!: How did the political views of the Brown Berets develop?

Carlos Montes: We started out with civic involvement and education as the road to equality, but soon learned that only real revolutionary change and political power by poor working people would gain real equality and freedom. We evolved from civic duty, work within the system, to self-determination, revolutionary nationalism and international solidarity with the liberation movements of Latin America, Africa and Asia - like the Vietnamese, the Congolese and Cubans fighting for freedom from U.S. domination.

Fight Back!: How did they see the world?

Carlos Montes: We believed in self-determination for Chicanos. The Brown Berets’ thirteen-point political program talked about self-determination as having political and economic control over our lives. It called for a return of our land, release of prisoners, jobs, education, housing, an end to the destruction of the environment by the capitalists, open borders, solidarity with all revolutionary peoples engaged in the struggle for self-determination. And we denounced the U.S. system of capitalism and imperialism.

Fight Back!: Did they work with groups in the Black community?

Carlos Montes: Yes, we supported and formed alliances with Black groups such as the Black Panther Party. We supported them when the police attacked them. We also set up similar programs like the East L.A. Free Clinic and free breakfast programs. We also were part of the first Rainbow Coalition when we joined the Poor Peoples Campaign in the summer of 1968. The Rev. Martin Luther King had struggled within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to include the Chicano militant groups in the march on Washington, such as the Crusade for Justice, from Colorado; Alliance of Free City States, from New Mexico and the Brown Berets.

Fight Back!: What happened to the Brown Berets?

Carlos Montes: The Brown Berets grew to have about fourteen chapters throughout the Southwest, with East L.A. being the National Office. After the initial organizing efforts, the Los Angeles Police Department and sheriffs sent undercover officers to infiltrate the Brown Berets. The police infiltrators spied and acted as agent provocateurs, with the purpose of arresting the leadership and disrupting the organization. The police used secret grand jury indictments to try to jail and tie up the leadership in court trials. The top-down military structure of the group did not allow for the development of new leadership, or the leadership and development of the women who did a lot of the internal work. The Brown Berets continued ‘till about 1972, when they were disbanded. By then, the Prime Minister David Sanchez had degenerated into staging publicity stunts and running a one-man egomaniac undemocratic group.

Fight Back!: What are the lessons for today?

Carlos Montes: Building a mass militant movement to the stop the U.S. war drive, for social change and for revolution is key. Also rebuilding grassroots militant organizations in the community that fight for self-determination, social justice and liberation - not just for reforms. We need an organization that includes the participation of the entire family and that values and promotes the leadership of women.

Fight Back!: What about today’s ‘Brown Berets?’

Carlos Montes: The current group that call themselves Brown Berets have not led or been involved in any positive mass campaigns for self-determination or social change. They have not been able to grow or get support from any large segments of the Chicano community. They have not taken up the fight for immigrant rights or other important issues, especially the growing anti-war movement of today. They are primarily male and male dominated. They use militant rhetoric, but do not organize.

To talk with Carlos Montes contact him at the Centro CSO (323) 221-4000
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>
http://uniondelbarrio.org/lvp/newspapers/96/apraug96/pg03.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Concientización y Liberación is the section of ¡LA VERDAD! in which we publish our analysis on specific questions facing the struggle for Raza National Liberation. We understand that only by bringing clarity to the struggle through criticism and self-criticism will we be able to advance as a movement.

David Sanchez and Jeronimo Blanco VS the Brown Berets de Aztlán:


Former Activists Using the Colonial Judicial System Against the Movimiento
Unión del Barrio is pleased to print this criticism of David Sánchez and his side-kick, Jeronimo Blanco, who have formed a clique of "self-proclaimed" leaders of what they call the "re-commissioned National Brown Berets." For one, it allows us to struggle against a most reactionary ego-tripping clique whose claim to fame is their brief participation in the anti-colonial struggle of Mexican people during the "Chicano Power Movement" of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Secondly, it provides us an opportunity to sum-up what principled struggle and unity is all about; exposing in particular, how this reactionary clique is using the colonial (gringo) judicial/police system to attack and eliminate righteous Raza liberation fighters (specifically the Brown Berets de Aztlán). Thirdly, it enables us to win back the heritage of struggle of Mexicanos as something that belongs to nuestra gente and not the "property" of any one individual. And, fourthly, it enables us to advance the politics of national liberation by comparing it to the decadent tio-taco politics (brown democrats) pimped to our young Raza by Sánchez and Blanco.

As an organization deeply rooted in the "Chicano Power Movement," (our founders and some of our current members were active in La Raza Unida Party, Brown Berets, CASA, United Farm Workers Union, M.E.Ch.A., and other movement formations) our political objectives have, and continue to be, that of the Chicano Movement: the liberation of all Raza and our lands occupied by gringo colonialism. It is therefore Unión del Barrio's political responsibility to expose those charlatans (falsos) who, because of a short "stint" in the movimiento, go around claiming every progressive action and victory of the people as their own "private onda". This criticism, therefore, is our attempt to uphold our responsibilities and move our struggle forward.


We are conscious of the need to always bring up criticism in an "above board" political fashion, because by doing so, we make these differences useless to the police who would otherwise utilize them to spread rumors, slander, and misinformation. Moreover, those involved in the movimiento can see for themselves the contradictions which exist within our movement. With this knowledge, they can then make a conscious decision as to which side they stand on an issue (For more on this question, read "Handling The Differences And Contradictions That Arise Among Movement Forces", ¡LA VERDAD!, Oct.-Dec. 1993.).

Brief History Of The Brown Berets

The Brown Berets have their origins in an East Los Angeles group called the "Young Citizens for Community Action" (YCCA). The YCCA, sponsored by an inter-faith church group, was co-founded in 1967 by David Sánchez and several other young Chicanos, including Alberto Rivera, Tolin Enciso, Hank Rivera, Carlos Montez and Manuel Parsens. As some of its members began wearing brown berets (berets were typical attire of militant formations during that time) they came to be "popularly" known as the Brown Berets, a name which became common, not only within the community, but even with the police as well. By 1968 the group officially took on this name. Its logo or "beret patch", which depicts two rifles and a cross, was designed by Manuel Parsens (who died last year in San Diego). The Beret slogan, La Causa, was appropriated from the United Farm Workers Union. Initially set-up as a group whose main function was to address problems facing youth using a peaceful-mainstream approach (problems such as police brutality, lack of social activities, and so forth), by 1968 it quickly attained the militant politics of Chicano Liberation.

This political transformation did not come about in a vacuum. The 1960's were a period of tremendous upheaval, both internationally and nationally. There were revolutionary movements taking place in Asia (most notably Vietnam), Africa, and throughout Latin America. The writings of great revolutionaries such as Mao Tse-tung, Amilcar Cabral, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, and others were raising the consciousness of the oppressed masses throughout world. In México, Lucio Cabañas and Genaro Vasquez were leading revolutionary guerrilla movements, and hundreds of Mexican students were massacred at Tlateloco in 1968 while protesting against the neo-colonial Mexican government and yanqui imperialism. Within the borders of the U.S., the Crusade For Justice (in Denver) and the Alianza (in Nuevo Mexico) led by Corky Gonzalez and Reies Lopez Tijerina, respectivally, were organizing Raza in the barrios and the campos for self-determination and Chicano Power, while the Black Panther Party, under the leadership of Huey P. Newton, was taking the struggle against white-capitalist power to the streets of the African communities. Even within their own ranks, the U.S. ruling class was having its internal contradictions as Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, and the organization, Students for a Democratic Society rioted outside the Chicago National Democratic Convention. It was their existence within this tremendous political atmosphere that transformed the Berets (and other formations) from a pacifist-reformist grouping - to one calling for the national liberation of the Chicano Mexicano people.

Brown Berets Become A Leading National Mexican Liberation Organization

By 1970, the Brown Berets had developed a "13 Point Political Program - To Unite All Our People Under The Banner Of Independence." Concentrating its organizing in the barrios and colonias (where most Raza live), their "fuck the marrano" and "mi Raza primero" militant politics attracted the most oppressed sector of the Mexicano community; the homeboys and homegirls. Soon they had grown into a national organization with 90 chapters and over 5,000 members, making it the largest Chicano Mexicano liberation-oriented organization that has ever existed. The Berets published a national newspaper called La Causa, which was disseminated throughout Aztlán. It led or supported "student blow-outs" (walk-outs) throughout southern Califas and other parts of Aztlán. It organized the Chicano Moratorium Committee and was central to the formation of the National Chicano Moratorium Committee which organized a massive anti-Vietnam war march on August 29, 1970. This march was viciously attacked by the Los Angeles pigs, killing three, injuring dozens, and arresting hundreds; one of the dead was a 16-year old Brown Beret named Lynn Ward. The Berets organized a take over of Catalina Island, claiming the land for México. They organized a "Marcha de La Reconquista" (1971) from Calexico to Sacramento as a way of raising the consciousness of La Raza and winning the people to the struggle for self-determination. In Casa Blanca (Riverside), the Berets shot down a police helicopter. Literally hundreds of demonstrations were organized, from Califas to Tejas by the Brown Berets, many leading to clashes with the pigs, resulting in deaths and injuries of many of its members.

In San Diego, the Brown Berets were central (along with M.E.Ch.A. and other movement forces) to the take over of Chicano Park in April of 1970. Also during 1970, the Berets took over a social service center and turned it into the "Chicano Clinic" and assisted in the take over and founding of the Centro Cultural de La Raza. They published a newspaper entitled El Barrio which consistently jammed-up police mistreatment of La Raza and called for people to defend themselves by any means necessary.

Terrified By The Struggles Of The Masses, The U.S. Government Unleashes All Its Military-Police Forces Against The Movement

Like all liberation oriented organizations of that period, the Brown Berets were targets of the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). Fearful of the mass uprising of colonially oppressed people, the gringo ruling class unleashed its police pigs to attack and destroy any organization that adhered to liberation of the oppressed people, or those opposed to the U.S. system of capitalist exploitation.

In 1986, in order to get a grasp of the causes that led to the decline of the Chicano Power Movement (and other liberation movements), we summed-up our understanding in the following way:

"Any analysis of the history of the Chicano Mexicano struggle for liberation must include, as central to its continuing inability to achieve its objectives, the overt and covert role of the colonial state [U.S. government]. The relationship of these forces to the movimiento during the last period [1965-1975] was their successful destruction of the militant Chicano Power Movement. Thus, it is of critical importance that today's activists thoroughly understand the tactics and strategies, overt and covert, of the CIA, FBI, etc. in order to counter the type of attacks that destroyed the movement in the last period of struggle. Key here, is the basic understanding of the various forms of colonial military repression, e.g. frame-ups, killings, beatings, intimidations, dis-information, and slander. Particularly effective was the counter intelligence program or COINTELPRO - with its "special" investigation units in police departments in every major city in occupied America (U.S.).

"Aside from the overt role the U.S. colonial military agencies have played in the destruction of the Chicano movement, we must also consider the covert warfare waged upon the struggle by the state. It is largely due to this mode of attack that we find that the movement was riddled by infighting, disinformation, and intimidation which resulted in mass confusion and demoralization. The bourgeois print and electronic media contributed tremendously to the undermining of the Chicano Movement through its consistent falsification of the objectives of movement forces. At this time we also witnessed the emergence of the Chicano petty bourgeoisie/vendido individuals and "tamed" agencies who quickly became the "legitimate" and "mainstream" representatives of the Chicano movement community. These opportunist perros, on the leash of the neo-colonial white power structure contributed in no small way to the suppression and neutralization of the liberation forces, by their siding with the colonial bourgeoisie in their attacks against the Chicano Nationalist movement." (see "Summing Up The Last Period: The Chicano Movement 1965 To 1975", Unión del Barrio pamphlet, June 1986)

David Sánchez Is Expelled From The Brown Berets

By 1972, many chapters of the Brown Berets had been infiltrated by the various police agencies. This infiltration led to the arrests of many of the Brown Beret's members as well as causing divisions between members and chapters of the organization. Some of the Brown Beret membership who lacked political maturity (didn't adhere to revolutionary ideology and practice) or brought with them into the organization petty-bourgeois (middle class) tendencies (ego trips, individualism, elitism, etc.), fell prey to the manipulation and confusion created by police infiltrators or informants. It is during the period in which these conditions occured that we must analyze an article in the Los Angeles Times which covered David Sánchez's resignation and unilateral (without consulting the central committee or its general membership) dissolvement of the Brown Berets:

"The leader of the Brown Berets - once called the shock troops of the Chicano movement - announced Wednesday that the organization is dissolving.

"David Sánchez who helped found the group in 1967, said that the more than half of the national organization 'is involved with a dissolution plan.'

"He said he expected the entire organization - 90 chapters with a membership of 5,000 - would be dissolved within three months.

"He announced the phasing out of three Los Angeles-area chapters with a membership of 150, said the state forces is closing itself out, and said he was resigning as prime minister of the national group.

"The 24-year-old veteran of scores of demonstrations and confrontations with police said the Brown Berets were disbanding chiefly to avoid strife within the Chicano movement.

"He said different groups had been seeking to use the Brown Berets 'as a vehicle for their own purposes.' He said he feared violence between Chicano factions - violence he said he would disband the berets to avoid.

Dangerous Situation Cited

"Sánchez, who made his announcement at a news conference, would not elaborate. 'It is a dangerous situation,' he said.

"The Brown Berets, like the Black Panthers of the black community, were a paramilitary group highly vocal in complaints of alleged police mistreatment of members of minority groups.

"The Berets wore distinctive head gear and khaki and brown uniforms. Their membership was mostly youth in their teens and 20s.

"He said Wednesday, 'it is time to go into a new phase of organization, but didn't say what kind of organization might be developed.

"He answered most questions with rambling discourses filled with the dialectic of the militant Chicano. Newsmen were unable to get special details of why the organization was being dissolved." (see "Brown Berets Leader Quits, Dissolves Units," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, 1972)

Why did David Sánchez "quit" the Brown Berets and "publicly" dissolve the organization without consulting (therefore disrespecting) the rest of the leadership or members of an organization, to which hundreds of young Mexicanos had committed themselves to, and were prepared to die for? Was he "physically threatened" by other forces within the organization? Did the FBI or some other police agency, as part of COINTELPRO, force him to "publicly" call for the disbanding of the Brown Berets? Or was it a case of him losing control of the organization because of his ego-tripping and elitist tendencies many had come to notice? Whatever the answer, David Sánchez was not to associate himself again with the Berets or the movement until he surfaced 20 years later demanding to speak at a march organized in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of August 29th Chicano Moratorium held in Los Angeles in 1990. In the meanwhile, Jeronimo Blanco would be seen every couple of years wearing a Brown Beret uniform, usually when he would approach active chapters to claim that he was the national leader because Sánchez "anointed" him so, and to demand such recognition. Jeronimo did this in San Diego in 1977 and in El Paso in 1978. Needless to say, no one took him seriously.

What Happened To The Brown Berets After The David Sánchez Press Conference? What Did Other Berets Have To Say Regarding This Situation?

Two months later, a newspaper printed the following article:

"Just recently, former Prime Minster for the National Brown Berets announced to the news media that all Brown Beret Chapters had been disbanded. Since the time of his announcement, many people have expressed queries as to the reasons for the disbandment. Many rumors have circulated that the Berets would go underground; or would exert their efforts more toward political involvement.

"The Indio Chapter of the Brown Berets has authorized the following information to be released in order to shed more light on the issue. According to local spokesmen, David Sánchez was "kicked out" from his position. Reasons given were: David Sánchez was prostituting the Brown Beret movement for self advancement; David Sánchez repeatedly displayed cowardice in the face of the enemy; and finally that David Sánchez was grossly guilty of creating disruption, chaos, alienation and polarization in his own chapter as well as in all national chapters. The decision to oust Mr. Sánchez was made in a series of meetings held in Sept. and Oct. [of 1972] in the Los Angeles and San Joaquin areas. In these meetings the administrative structure was also set up. It consists of a cabinet of ministers: Minister of Self Defense; Education; Correspondence; and Minister of Discipline. The old position of National Prime Minister was eliminated." (read Ideal, January 1973)

In a document entitled "Twenty-Fourth Anniversary of the National Chicano Moratorium Held In East Los Angeles" [published in 1994] which gives a chronology of major events of the National Brown Berets Organization de Aztlán (1967 to 1994), the question of David Sánchez and his role as Prime Minister of the organization is summed up in the following manner:

"With all that the Brown Berets de Aztlán have done to move La Causa forward, there remains one dark cloud which hangs over the Brown Berets de Aztlán to this day, this is [in reagrds to] the actions of ex-Prime Minster David Sánchez. In 1972, Sánchez committed acts of treason by allowing the infiltration into the organization of the Brown Berets by federal agents; the recruiting of "instant" Berets, and the unauthorized occupation of Catalina Island and its subsequent surrender to the enemy which caused dissension and division amongst the organization which is demonstrated to this day. When the Central Committee brought out all the allegations against their Prime Minister for conspiracy, murder, drugs (LSD), and exploitation in the name of La Causa, Sánchez did not show to defend himself.

"At the tenth Anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium March and Rally held in Los Angeles, National Brown Berets de Aztlán Minister of Defense, Seferino Garcia, addressed the issue of the acts of treason committed by Prime Minister David Sánchez to set history straight:

"Sánchez, like a reactionary coward, moved on one of the Brown Beret's most important issues - our land - the occupation of Catalina Island. Catalina was our fist target of reoccupation. The Brown Berets worked and researched the land rights of our people. Sánchez thought by getting national recognition he would be able to control and dominate his puppets that he had along his side. We don't want to have disrespect towards any of the soldiers that were real on that island. Here is a quote from the National Brown Beret organization's Central Committee: 'We will occupy Catalina Island no matter what it takes; if it rains we will stay; if we run out of food we will starve; if we have to use force against the invaders of our land then we will.'

"The Central Committee had support from the Mexican Embassy and the Berets from Long Beach, Wilmington, San Pedro, and segments of the surrounding area of the islands had endorsed and supported our occupation. But knowing the history of David Sánchez, they did not support this reactionary act.

"After staying on the island for over three weeks, Sánchez was given two hours to leave. Within an hour, eating McDonald's hamburgers and drinking Coors beer, he and his followers packed up their belongings and left the island.

"When he came off the Island, the following day, this make believe hero called a press conference and announced that 'he' disbanded the Brown Berets and that he was available for a leadership role for another organization.

"Several Oakland Brown Berets who were on the Island, [while] not knowing the Central Committee's plan, knew there was something wrong with the action. Chuey Mendoza and other Oakland Berets went to the Norwalk Brown Berets de Aztlán and made a full report of the actions on the island. They stayed for over a month to learn the concept of community organizing at a grassroots level.

"His [Sánchez's] actions put the darkest cloud over the heads of the true revolutionary brothers and sisters and supporters of the National Brown Berets Organization de Aztlán.

"Downey's The Southeast News writer Steve Comus was the only one that covered the true events of what happened in Catalina Island and Sánchez's grand stand play to grab center stage from the real organizers of the Brown Berets de Aztlán.

"Ministers Albert Rivera, Tolin Enciso, Catarino Hurtado, Eddie Fernandez, and Minister of Defense Seferino Garcia, along with the Field Marshals and Commanders and the Troops of the Brown Berets de Aztlán, were invited to the Congreso de Aztlán, a national conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1972. Over 5,000 leaders from all over Aztlán and the Black Berets rose to their feet when it was announced that David Sánchez was denounced and ousted as prime minister of the National Brown Berets. There was a five minute standing ovation," concludes Garcia. (for more on this Congreso, read El Grito del Norte, 1973, were they report the spirited support given by those in attendance of the Brown Beret ousting of David Sánchez).

Newspaper Makes Fun Of The David Sánchez's Berets

In another newspaper article, a reporter reminisces about his coverage of the Catalina Island takeover:

"As a news service reporter assigned to cover the 'occupation,' I can still recall watching some Berets eat corn flakes with milk, on flat paper plates. These guys may have been militants but I realized they weren't as tough as they led others to believe.

"The Berets peacefully left the island after 26 days when they were declared to be in violation of camping ordinances.

"I admit that those plates of corn flakes came to mind when Jeronimo Blanco, the Berets' national leader and a participant in the Catalina invasion, and three others came by the newspaper. The uniformed men seemed out of place, and perhaps lost in time, as they walked in single file into the newsroom.

"Drawing on a group of about 20 former members, the Berets have decided to resurrect themselves with a new twist to their message of Chicano power: Gang violence is a threat to L.A.'s burgeoning Latino population that must be stopped.

"'We have to stop killing ourselves,' Blanco said. 'If we can help out, by showing kids there are other things to do, that will help our community. We want to work within the political system'.[our emphasis]

"Even Sánchez, who was no longer active with the group, has come full circle. The one time president of former Mayor Sam Yorty's youth advisory council, who wrote one manifesto after another as founder of the Brown Berets, is now an aide to an L.A. County supervisor and teaches Chicano history at East Los Angeles College." [our emphasis] (see article "Brown Berets Are Back, With a New Mission for '90s", Los Angeles Times, July 12, 1993)

Without David Sánchez, The Brown Berets Continue The Struggle (1972 To 1996)

From 1972 to 1974 most Brown Beret chapters, without the leadership of David Sánchez who had publicly quit the organization, continued to exist and be active in the barrios throughout Aztlán. As we have summed-up many times in ¡LA VERDAD!, the police-colonial war (COINTELPRO) waged against our movimiento had, by 1975 destroyed or neutralized the great majority of the liberation forces. Nevertheless, Brown Berets chapters (as well as other groups such as CASA, Crusade for Justice, Committee On Chicano Rights, some M.E.Ch.A. chapters, etc.) continued to struggle in defense of nuestra Raza throughout the late 1970s. The few Beret formations that survived into the 1980's usually played a supporting role to other organizations engaged in struggle during this period. Many former Berets, who never denounced La Causa, worked as individuals to better the conditions of la gente. Among these were camaradas Seferino Garcia and David Rico.

David Rico, who was incarcerated for activism as a Brown Beret, never gave up the principles and objectives of the Brown Berets. In fact, everywhere he would go, he would defend the history of the Berets and jammed-up those so-called "ex-Berets" who had given up the struggle and yet still claimed the history of the organization. In every organization he would work with, David Rico would struggle vigorously to win over people to the political line of the Brown Berets. He would often put his life on the line and his financial situation would suffer because of his ideals. As a member of Unión del Barrio, David Rico had a profound influence in its development and political orientation. Because of his uncompromising stand in support of Mexicano liberation, the glorious history of the Brown Berets, and his refusal to "keep quiet" in his criticism of the "ex-militants" and now vendido-hispanic poverty pimps (social service agency directors, brown democrats, token government officials, etc.), David Rico has been a constant target of police agents and their lackeys, the vendidos.

It was David Rico and the San Diego Berets, M.E.Ch.A., and other movimiento activists (who are to numerous to mention in this article) who were central to the take over of Chicano Park, the Chicano Clinic, establishment of the Chicano Federation, and assisted in the take over and establishment of the Centro Cultural de La Raza.

While we personally do not know much about camarada Seferino Garcia, we understand that his history has paralleled much of that of David Rico's. As the last Minister of Defense, Seferino Garcia assisted in keeping the Brown Berets active years after the ousting of David Sánchez. For decades, he has been central to politics in the Orange County area and has been instrumental in keeping the ideals and objectives of the Brown Berets and the movimiento alive.

In 1987, David Rico along with a core group of young gente (Hector Muro, Froilan Mercado, Ismael Avilez, and other good camaradas) from San Diego's North County area, re-established a Beret chapter. Calling themselves the "Brown Berets de Aztlán", adhering to the same basic objectives and principles of the original Berets. By 1989 they had been joined by new chapters (or regroupings of former members) in Riverside, Coachela, Orange County, El Paso, Los Angeles, and other areas. Since then, much of their work has centered in providing support to the work of other organizations such as Unión del Barrio, National Chicano Moratorium Committee, Chicano Park Steering Committee, and some MEChAs. They have played a significant role in the organizing of the 20th Commemoration of August 29th (1990), the 500 Years of Raza Resistance Marcha (1992), the mass youth demonstrations against Prop 187 (1994), and the 25th Commemoration of August 29th (1995). It was precisely in 1990, that the movement was to hear from Sánchez again.

After Hiding For 20 Years, David Sánchez Demands To Be Recognized As A Leader Of Our Movement

During his 20-year absence, David Sánchez had no relationship to the movement. Sources close to ¡LA VERDAD! explained that he was working with Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, former white "radicals" who created an organization called the Campaign For Economic Democracy (CED). After the defeat of the national liberation struggles in 1975 (Chicano Movement, Black Power Moment, American Indian Movement, etc.), most white left-radical groups, who survived on the backs of the colonized peoples struggle, gave up radical politics and searched for space and assimilation into the mainstream capitalist-colonial system; the CED was one of them. We also learned that David Sánchez had ran, unsuccessfully, for some government office pushing Democratic Party-type politics. He also took "time off" to get his "Ph.D." which enables him to call himself "Dr. Sánchez" and wrote a book entitled Expedition Through Aztlán, in which he glorifies himself, giving no credit whatsoever to other Berets or movement organizations; a classic example of bourgeois egotism.

It was not until 1990, during the march to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium of Aug. 29th that David Sánchez surfaced. During one of the meetings of the L.A. region of the NCMC, David Sánchez showed up and demanded that he be one of the keynote speakers of this historic event. The majority of the activists present at the meeting, knowing the negative history of David Sánchez, refused to recommend him as a keynote speaker to the national body of the NCMC. Sánchez angrily told the L.A. Committee that he was going to speak at the march no matter what (see L.A. NCMC minutes or speak to members for more information on this issue). Later, at a national meeting of the NCMC, it was decided that because of the historical significance of his past work, that David Sánchez should address the 20th Commemoration of Aug.29th. During the actual event, David Sánchez was scheduled to speak during the morning rally - but he failed to show up. Later in the afternoon, Sánchez arrived accompanied by a group he had recently formed, called "The Mexican American Peace Corps" (who wore brown uniforms with yellow berets), demanding to speak. In order to avoid a confrontation and not give the police an excuse to attack the march and rally (which had close to 7,000 participants, and included many children), David Sánchez was allowed to go up to the stage alone and give a brief message. The fact that David Sánchez was able to break ranks with the rest of the Mexican American Peace Corps (who wanted to go up to the stage with Sánchez), and go up to the stage alone to speak, again demonstrates the individualist-egotistic approach that he has towards struggle; a personality trait that puts oneself above all others.

After the 20th Commemoration, the Mexican American Peace Corps disappeared and Sánchez paraded out a new group called the "Brown Berets of America". Later, around 1992, he was to change the name to the National Brown Berets. The leadership role Sánchez has played with the "national" Berets smacks of someone with a psychological problem as he has been quoted in the media as claiming to be the "Master of Ceremony", "Advisor General", "Prime Minister", and "Chief" of the organization. (see Brown Berets split in factions; sense of unity lost", East Los Angeles College Campus News, Feb. 16, 1994)

It was around 1992 that Sánchez began to demand that the Brown Berets de Aztlán (and other active Berets) either join his organization, under his leadership, or stop using the name "Brown Berets". The Brown Berets de Aztlán refused this command for several important reasons: One, David Sánchez had been expelled (or "quit" as Sánchez claims) from the organization in 1972, therefore he had no right to tell any Beret what to do. Second, Sánchez's absence for almost 20 years from any kind of movimiento work gave him absolutely no authority or legitimacy to tell "anyone" what to do. Third, that the current work he and Jeronimo Blanco were doing had nothing to do with liberation struggle, but in fact iwas nothing but "brown Democratic Party" style of work; a politic that is clearly contrary to the Brown Beret Political Program .

Proof of the hispanic politics of Sánchez and Blanco can be seen in statements they have given to the media; and even in their own publications: They push a line that calls for working within the system, with the police, etc. (see "Brown Berets set caps against gangs", San Diego Union-Tribune, "Una Casa Divida" in L.A. Village News, 9/18/95, The Brown Book, By Dr. Sánchez, Chief B.B.N.O., etc.)

David Sánchez And Jeronimo Blanco Use The Gringo Judicial/Police System To Attack Other Raza

On January 26, 1996, David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco did the most reactionary, traitorous, and "rata-like" act that anyone can do: they used the gringo colonial Judicial-Police System to attack David Rico and all of the righteous liberation fighters of the Brown Berets de Aztlán. In a suit filed in the gabacho court system, David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco, beg the gringo judicial system that they be paid for "medical expenses," "loss of earnings," "cost of suit," and "other relief the court deems just and proper," allegedly caused by the use of the name "Brown Berets" (see Summons, Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, case #696675, filed Jan. 26, 1996). How can these two vendidos claim to have any relationship to the Brown Berets when they have clearly violated the "Brown Berets 13 Point Program", specifically Point #5 which states:

"We want all Chicanos being held in all political jails released. No Chicano has ever had a fair trail in the racist US. Judicial system. All Chicanos being held are political prisoners" (see brown beret 13 point political program)

Why are David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco now using (and violating the Beret code of honor) the racist U.S. Judicial System to attempt to jail other Raza? Do they believe that the system is no longer racist or anti-Mexicano? How do they justify using the gringo Judicial-Police system on other Raza to the thousands upon thousands of Raza (and their familias) doing time in la torcida? How do they explain their actions to those Mexicanos doing tiempo in Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, Pelican Bay, Susanville, Calipatria, Indiana State Prison, Ironwood, Donovan, Florence Arizona, Tennessee Colony-Texas, Gatesville-Texas, Corcoran, and the dozens of other pintas where nuestra Raza is locked down? We're sure the homeboys and homegirls in las calles (barrios) and in la torcida want to know why David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco are calling the pigs on their own Raza. We're sure those in the movimiento (the MEChAs, Crusade for Justice, the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional, La Raza Unida Party, Mexicanos Unidos, the Chicano Press Association, etc.) would like to know why David Sánchez and Jeronimo have become ratas and are calling the pigs on other Raza and still have the nerve to call themselves "Brown Berets".

Furthermore, we question who is behind the actions of Sánchez and Jeronimo? In our critique of Sánchez and Jeronimo, we must not let the hispanic lawyer, Carlos E. Castañeda off the hook. Castañeda, who claims he took the case "free of charge", must think the movement is stupid. Everyone knows how difficult it is to get a lawyer for "free of charge" no matter what the case might be (just ask any Raza in la torcida). This makes us believe that someone else "encouraged" Castañeda to take on this particular case. Knowing the history of Castañeda, who all the way through law school lived off of "poverty pimp jobs" (social service agencies who are supposed to help the poor, yet the only ones who benefit are the ones who administer the programs), it would not surprise us if a former supervisor pushed him into working against the movimiento. History has proven, that the major enemy of the people have been the sell-out neo-colonial puppets (lawyers, parole officers, wardens, principals, teachers, etc.) who do the "dirty work" for the gabacho ruling class.

So-Called Activist Who Wants To Instill Respect And Create Unity Among Raza Youth Practices The Most Sick-Vulgar Language And Police Style Rhetoric To Attack A Movimiento Organization

Not satisfied with snitching on Raza to the judicial-police system, Jeronimo Blanco spews the most foul and degenerate language (No tiene respeto o vergüenza) when communicating with movement organizations. In a letter sent to Unión del Barrio, dated April 29, 1996, and titled "Your Holy Redness Has Chorro of the Mouth", this hypocritical low-life, while going around to the gringo media explaining how the main objective of the '"national" berets is to instill respect in youth, turns around and uses trash to explain some silly problem he claims comes from our "camp" (see copy of this letter below). But worse than talking trash to explain his concerns was Jeronimo's reference to "communism" and "red", as these are the very same terms that the police used (during the Chicano Power period 1965-75) against the Brown Berets, La Raza Unida Party, Crusade for Justice, M.E.Ch.A., etc., as a way of "neutralizing" and keeping them from struggling in defense of La Raza. If Jeronimo is against "communism", then he must be for capitalism; the same system that is responsible for the occupation of Aztlán, the killing and raping of millions of Raza, the poverty in which most of our pueblo exists, and for the imprisonment of thousands of Mexicanos.

Unión del Barrio is not afraid (and never has been) to explain where we stand. We stand for the liberation of all Raza and our lands; the reunification of Aztlán-Mexico, the establishment of a socialist society based on the cultural and historical realities of the Mexican people; a society where there is no rich or poor, oppressor or oppressed, and everyone shares the wealth of the nation. If Jeronimo Blanco has a problem with this stance, then he should lay it out - as this is the fundamental question Unión is fighting for; not someone calling someone "Very White" (see letter written by Blanco), or "pendejo", and so forth.

The Issue Of Sánchez And Jeronimo Blanco Has Nothing To Do With Unity, It Has To Do With The Struggle Between The Forces Of Mexican Liberation And Mexican Oppression

It is clear, by the action of David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco, that the whole issue between them and the Brown Berets de Aztlán, has nothing to do with a "split" in the movement or the question of unity, or a struggle between the National Brown Berets and the Brown Berets de Aztlán. Rather, it has to do with a struggle between two opposing forces. On one side you have the so-called National Berets (which is really Sánchez-Blanco) who push working with and assimilating within the system that is oppressing nuestra Raza; and on the other hand you have the Brown Berets de Aztlán, which see the system as the main cause of our oppression and who are committed to the total liberation of La Raza. Whether Sánchez and Blanco are cognizant or not, they are working with the system against La Raza. In the real world, Sánchez and Blanco as individuals mean little to us, since, unfortunately, all oppressed people have had their share of Vendidos. The problem for us, is that this reactionary tendency is rampant throughout our movement. We specifically feel for those young hermanas y hermanos who are blindly following these vendidos. We hope that after reading this article they can challenge Sánchez and Blanco and begin by asking them two important questions: "who elected them to the leadership of the National Brown Berets?", and "why are they using the sistema to attack other Raza?

In closing, we call on all progressive and revolutionary forces to expose, denounce, and expel David Sánchez and Jeronimo Blanco from the movimiento. If you are about self-determination and liberation struggle, this is the only principled approach to this question. ¡Abajo Con Los Vendidos!
¡Y Que Vivan Los Brown Berets de Aztlán!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 29, 1996
YOUR HOLY REDNESS HAS CHORIZO OF THE MOUTH:

Greetings, Comrades!!!

I write to you these few lines hoping that all of you in La Union del Barrio; or quite appropriately: La Cagazón Del Barrio, are feeling just fine.

I just recently heard something that is very amusing because it comes from your camp; and I couldn't wait to let you know and it goes like this: I heard that La Cagazón Del Barrio is calling me "Very White".

That's because my last name in Blanco, so it's "White"; and my first name is Jeronimo, so it "Jerry"; but you don't want to call me "Jerry White"-so you call me "Very". Get it? "Very White".

Now-I wonder. Based on what I know about your Communists in La Cagazón Del Barrio, you most certainly deserve the title: "Very Red". Right, Comrades? I also thought of other titles, such as "Your Holy Redness" because you walk around like the god of the Chicano Movement and like your caca doesn't stink.

There's nothing Chicano about your organization because the Movimiento is really about La Raza, and not about Russia. In case your head has been stuck somewhere the sun don't shine, communism has not worked anywhere, so what makes you think that it's going to work for La Raza?

I take it that you think you know everything about me because of your incessant chorro of the mouth, and that's why you baptized me "Very White". I will put my commitment and my involvement in the Chicano Movement before any of you. Any time. Any place.

Some of your old "Very Red" members of La Cagazón Del Barrio might remember the first letter that I sent to you back in 1982 when your verbal diarrhea accused those of us who were hired in the San Diego Street Youth Program of having sold out and that we'd be working with the cops.

We proved to you that all you had to back that up was your chorro of the mouth. Nevertheless, you had the huevos to talk shit, but you did not have the huevos to retract when you half-ass admitted you were wrong.

I deal with the facts, not chismes, fabrications or straight-out lies. What do you "Very Red" deal with? What are you instilling your youngsters? That you want them to start a revolution and when they get their ass shot or in other deep shit you will wash your hands off like if you had nothing to do with it? Bola de pendejos.

What have you accomplished in all those years that you have been walking around like the god of the Chicano Movement? How many of you are not working with the gabacho system of live off of it in one way or another?

How many ideas have you stolen from my organization, such as La Causa name and now; la Verdad, an affiliate of the San Diego unit of the Brown Beret National Organization in the late 60's and early 70's? And how about the Chicano Moratorium Committee, an invention of the Brown Berets?

What is your motive to make me look bad before La Raza? What is your motive to spread ideas that are not Chicano Movement ideas? Are you some kind of U.S. government agents that have been sent to destabilize the Chicano Movement?

I am ready, willing and able to put my cards on the table to show that I am playing straight, but I doubt that you have your "Very Red" huevos to show yours.

"La Cagazón Del Barrio has a bad case of chorro of the mouth".

Sinceramente,
Jeronimo Blanco
[original copy on file]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c/s 1997 La Verdad Publications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>
http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/may27-05/brown.htm

May 27, 2005
April, a Month of Tears, Deceptions, Triumph and Hope for the Brown Berets of Aztlán
By Ricardo Raúl Pozos y Garay

Racism against Mexicans here in the southwest is nothing new and undocumented Mexicans, since they are poor and defenseless, have become the target of this racism. Ever since Mexico lost the war in defense of its northern territories more than half a century ago, the racists have made it their priority to label all Mexicans as “foreigners” and “illegal immigrants” despite Mexicans’ indigenous roots. The Mexican people’s resistance to racism is nothing new either. Mexicans such as the legendary Joaquín Murrieta, since the mid-nineteenth century, have sacrificed their lives in defense of the Mexican people.

Indeed there have been many Mexican men and women that have struggled against racism throughout the centuries. In line with this tradition of struggle and resistance is the organization Brown Berets of Aztlán made up of individuals whose raison d’être is the self-determination of the Mexican people. Born out of the Chicano Movement fervor, some four decades ago, it’s one of the few organizations of that époque still around. Its paramilitary structure and radical precepts have always attracted the most militant Chicanos most especially the barrio street youth known as “cholos.”

THE ORIGINS OF THE BROWN BERETS

Today’s notorious “cholo” is the modern-day “pachuco” whose origins can be traced to the twentieth century thirties and forties when the consensus among Mexican Americans was to resort to assimilation in order to better their socioeconomic lot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brown Berets march in protest to racism in Douglas, Arizona.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nonetheless, young Mexican Americans viewed this proposal with much scepticism and many outright rejected it completely. They were inspired by the notorious eighteenth century “bandidos” like Joaquin Murrieta and Tiburcio Vazquez for they defied the law and refused to become “Americans.” These youngsters wore ostentatious outfits with matching hats and shoes at a time when most Mexican Americans just sought to blend in with Anglos. That is why three decades later they became role models when Mexican Americans realized that their pro-assimilation campaign had come to naught. A new Mexican American movement was born that sought to recover culture and ancestral lands in the Southwest, “Aztlan,” and so it appropriated the moniker proper to pachucos, “Chicano.”

In the mid-sixties, the enigmatic David Sanchez began the organization “The Brown Berets” which advocated “revolutionary cultural nationalism” amongst Mexican American youth. In 1972, they made headlines as they proposed to recover Catalina Island for Mexico, alleging that Catalina Island was not included in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (the treaty that marked the end of The Mexican American War and granted annexation of half of Mexico’s territory) ergo was rightfully Mexican territory.

Armed with a copy of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a small group of Brown Berets headed by David Sanchez settled in Catalina Island and awaited the right time to summon reinforcements to seize the island. All of a sudden, Sanchez decided to abort all plans and surrendered to the authorities and was escorted off the island. Shortly thereafter he disbanded and abolished the organization. No one knows his reasons for his brusque and drastic decisions; however, not all of the 5,000 members abandoned the organization. Some chapters remained as did the San Diego chapter which chairman David Rico has kept afloat for the past three decades. Rico and the San Diego Brown Berets played a crucial role in the seizure and establishment of Chicano Park. Known as “The Brown Berets of Aztlán,” they honor the original Mexican self-determination platform set down by the first Brown Berets.

A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS

Late last March, new members joined the Brown Berets of Aztlán and a new chapter was declared marking a new chapter in the ongoing history of the organization. The new members are a heterogeneous bunch ranging from adolescents to adults, the majority of whom are males—but also some females to boot—from nearby by barrios around Barrio Logan where the organization has been based since its inception.

THE BROWN BERETS JUMP INTO ACTION

It was the first week of April and Rico had just begun to initiate the new members when news of the minutemen saturated the press with their anti-Mexican propaganda. “We all knew the ‘minutemen’ were headed to Arizona but not like this,” explained Rico. “When I saw them on the news—armed up to their teeth—arresting Mexican men and women, that’s when I said, ‘we have to do something.’” On Friday, April 8, at 11:00 PM, a group of Brown Berets traveled by car to Arizona with the intent of analyzing firsthand the activities of the minutemen. The rest of the Brown Berets remained in San Diego to attend a local manifestation the following day.

Eleven hours later, the Brown Berets convoy arrived in southern Arizona and settled in Naco. The “minutemen” were no more than a small band of fifty; however, the scene was littered with their vile propaganda everywhere you turned. Hundreds of billboards and signs covered buildings and lined roads: “President Fox’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Are Illegals,” “Illegal Aliens/Terrorists,” “Close the Border Now!” This type of hate propaganda inflicts much damage to the Mexican people’s psyche especially the children. What effects will the racist propaganda have on children there? Will they be traumatized by it? Will they grow to be ashamed to be Mexican? Does anyone care?

A PLAN OF ATTACK IS FORMULATED

Early morning on April 14, the media was summoned to a press conference. Ildifonso Carrillo, owner of Chicano Perk Café and longtime admirer of the Brown Berets, lent his shop on short notice for the media event that day. The Brown Berets along with Enrique Morones of Border Angeles took seat in front of the cameras and microphones to make known their stance and plan regarding events in Arizona. David Rico spoke of incidents of abuse against both documented and undocumented Mexicans. “In front of the cameras the minutemen assure us they’re doing nothing illegal but as soon as the reporters are gone it’s a different story,” said Rico. “Many told us that the minutemen mistreated, insulted and even threatened them.”

At the conference’s end, the Brown Berets announced their plans to organize a caravan headed to Naco, Arizona on April 28. The Brown Berets hoped to organize a massive protest in southern Arizona the last weekend of April thinking that the minutemen would figure that if they continued with their “minuteman project” they would set off a wave of protests by the Mexican community.

THE CARAVAN TAKES OFF, IT LESS THAN HOPED FOR

On the night of the 26th, the Brown Berets met at Chicano Perk Café to announce their departure the following day and were heartbroken once more to learn that despite the thousands of flyers distributed and staged press conferences, no one would join them.


A total of fifteen people—all of them Brown Berets—took part in the hailed “Caravan for the Defense of Aztlán.” Fortunately many people offered both their moral and monetary support. A collection at the café rounded up enough money to at least cover expensive fueling costs. Artist and Aztec dancer, Carmen “Kahlo” Linares, besides contributing monetarily, also extended her prayers and blessings. The Brown Berets Watsonville, California chapter also chipped in and offered much encouragement as well.

FINALLY GOOD TIDINGS AND HOPE ARRIVE

The Brown Berets left San Diego bound for Arizona at 7:00 PM on Thursday, April 28th as promised and arrived at Douglas, Arizona the following day at 8:00 AM after driving the whole night. After setting up camp on the outskirts of Douglas, Brown Berets Jose Maria Leyva and Ignacio Parra headed south across the border to Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico to learn the latest news.


There they learned that the minutemen had abandoned ship and aborted their “project” the previous week thanks to the ingenious efforts of the redaction staff of the local newspaper “La Razón de Agua Prieta,” which staged a boycott of Douglas City business on the weekend of the 16th. The boycott was so successful that business registered losses in the thousands. Deeply concerned, Douglas mayor Ray Borane informed Arizona governor Janet Napolitano and the Minutemen were compelled to abandon the county. Nonetheless, the Brown Berets took the opportunity to join local protests against racism and paraded around the streets of Douglas and Tombstone, Arizona with Mexican flags much to the chagrin of local racists.

On the first of May, the Brown Berets returned to San Diego visibly exhausted yet full of hope. The most important lesson learned was that the old Mexican saying “el pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (the people united will never be divided), holds true.

Return to the Frontpage
http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>
Liberation Now! Blog

Join the Humane-Rights-Agenda Yahoo Group!

Join Aztlannet_News Yahoo Group!

Aztlannet Website
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>