Читать книгу Ringside Seat to a Revolution - David Dorado Romo - Страница 45
Оглавлениеalong the Rio Grande carrying 300 rounds of ammu-
nition and photographs of Teresita.83 They were
brought before federal court judge Sexton, charged
and convicted of violating U.S. neutrality laws. The
Mexican consul in El Paso, Francisco Mallén, accused
Cortez of having decapitated the mayor of Ojinaga. To
avoid extradition, Cortez pled guilty on the charge of
violating U.S. neutrality laws. He was sentenced to Fort
Leavenworth prison for two years and two months.
IN SEPTEMBER 1896, President Porfirio Díaz
called for the extradition of the leaders of the border
uprising—Teresita, her
father and Lauro Aguirre.84
That same week, El Paso
authorities placed a cor-
don of armed guards
around the Urrea home.85
A U.S. deputy marshall
knocked on Urrea’s door
in South El Paso, showed
Tomás a search warrant
and asked where his
daughter was. He told
Tomás that they had
received a telegram from
Nogales saying that
Teresita was seen on a
horse leading the armed
attack on the border cus-
tomhouse.86
Teresita denied any
involvement in the armed
uprisings. She argued that
there were about 200
patients who saw her in El
Paso on the day of the attack.87 “When asked if she
[Teresita] knew anything about the revolutionary out-
break at Nogales,” the El Paso Herald wrote, “she
replied that she knew nothing beyond what friends had
told her and what appeared in the printed dispatches.”
“The information that these people [the Teresista
rebels] are my followers may be correct so far as it may
be interpreted that they love me, but no farther,” she
said. “My mission is not to create trouble. I love all my
people and will devote my life upon earth, so long as
God shall will it so, to alleviate the suffering among
God’s children, for only such are we. If the men who
attacked Nogales use my name, it is for the purpose of
deceiving the Mexican government and not because I
have sanctioned anything of that kind.”88
Teresita repeated her denial to other newspapers that
came to El Paso to interview her after the border raids. The
New York Times believed her, but only partially.
It is reported that the Mexican Government
has already made a requisition on the United
States for Lauro Aguirre and Teresa de
Cabora, and her father, who is with her at El
Paso. The [Yaqui] Indian prisoners say her
father is more to blame
than she, as the girl
does about as he wants
her to. Aguirre is the
worst, they say, as he
has complete control
over Teresa’s father…It
is estimated by the
Mexican officials here
that he and Santa
Teresa, by their influ-
ence, have caused the
death of more than
1,000 people in the last
six or seven years.89
THE NEW YORK TIMES
reporter wasn’t the only one
who thought that Lauro
Aguirre, and not Teresita,
was the true leader of the
Teresista uprising. Many
believed at the time—as
some historians today—that
he planned the insurrection without Teresita’s con-
sent or involvement.
But the view that Aguirre was the true brains
behind the revolution—and that Teresita was the
unwilling victim of his Machiavellian maneuverings—
is simplistic and underestimates the young woman’s
strength of character. Teresita was no pushover.
Neither Aguirre nor her father had the kind of control
over her that the Anglo press believed they had. On
at least two separate occasions, the impetuous Don
Tomás pulled out a gun during arguments with his
daughter to emphasize his point. He threatened her
40
“When asked if she
approved of a revolutionary
movement against the
Mexican government if one
now existed, [Santa Teresa]
replied that revolutions were
a manifestation of God’s
will, for He had instilled into
all people the spirit of
resistance of oppression.”
—El Paso Herald,
August 25, 1896
83
El Paso Times, September 18, 1896.
84
El Paso Times, September 7, 1896.
85
El Paso Times, September 23, 1896.
86
Laura Urrea, interviewed by W. Holden, January 17, 1962. Holden Collection, Texas Tech University.
87
El Paso Herald, September 11, 1896.
88
El Paso Herald, August 26, 1896.
89
New York Times, August 20, 1896.
