[The following text is an English translation of a flyer that a comrade has written on the revolutionary seizure of Tijuana, Mexico which took place 113 years ago. The Spanish original will be uploaded and linked here shortly.]
Land and Liberty: 113 Years Since the Seizure of Tijuana in the Hands of Socialist Internationalism
In 1911, there was a titanic conflict in the region of Baja California that shook the international proletariat from its core, because these events were pioneering the world proletarian struggle towards changing the capitalist reality that today still has the globe in chains. This affair was the insurrection of combatants belonging to the anarchist Partido Liberal Mexicano (Mexican Liberal Party), the socialist syndicalists of the Industrial Workers of the World, Yaqui, Cucapáh and Kiliwa natives, Mexicans, among many other migrant worker volunteers that joined the open offensive against the government and the capitalist system, in the context of the Mexican Revolution and a possible world revolution. This is the context in which insurrectionaries from all over the world crossed the border to establish in northern Baja California a commune with the following principles: Bread, Land and Liberty (Pan, Tierra y Libertad).
Tijuana joined this broader internationalist struggle after two days of battle, on May 9th the proletarians seized control over this, then, small town. Thanks to the effort of the revolutionary forces, and the strategy of commander Pryce, they decided to travel towards Tijuana, because of its tactical relevance, being a customs point in the Baja California peninsula. This event began an occupation that lasted 45 days.
The proletarian fighters arrived and, after waging a ferocious struggle, hoisted the red flag over the post office. This flag carried the famous motto: “Land and Liberty” (Tierra y Libertad). Given the importance of this accomplishment for the world revolution, the PLM wrote in its newspaper, Regeneración, the following:
“Comrades, let us congratulate each other. Tijuana is under the power of the PLM. In these moments, the red flag floats over the plaza.”
Regeneración, published on May 13th, 1911.
The history of this conflict has been misrepresented by the official discourse, that does not even acknowledge its importance, as well as the testimonies of Porfirista Federales (i.e., the partisans of Porfirio Díaz, Mexican dictator) and then the Maderistas (i.e., the partisans of the reformist Francisco I. Madero) that fought against the proletariat in this insurrection, with the excuse of defending [Mexican] national sovereignty from [US] annexation or independence of Baja California.
After some divisive events in the working-class forces, this movement was gravely accused of filibustering [mercenary excursionism], these same allegations caused Pryce to be stripped of his title of commander, because of his favourable thoughts towards filibusterers. All this internal conflict and intrigue led to the demise of the insurrection, allowing a reactionary counterrevolution to infiltrate the movement thanks to the lack of adherence to a program for internationalist workers’ struggle.
The magnitude of this conflict today may appear minimal, and it could seem as though it was an isolated episode that had no repercussions on a larger scale. That view becomes less convincing when we understand its legacy in the internationalist struggle, as a predecessor of the international proletarian movement of the rest of the 20th century. This pluralistic concentration of workers terribly frightened the authorities and bourgeoisie of the binational region. It is precisely because of this that today we celebrate the takeover of Tijuana in the hands of the global proletarian struggle, while we reflect on its tactical mistakes, as part of this worldwide event.
Nowadays, the living conditions of most working people have changed little to nothing: we are still under the yoke of a capitalist minority, meanwhile the world turns by the sweat of the masses. We must not fall prey to the trap of the ballots, of “social democratic” reformism or trade unions. Instead, we must affirm, as our comrades in Grupo Barbaria say, our cardinal principles of “class independence, internationalism, revolutionary struggle, proletarian self-organization, denouncement of the ‘socialist’ regimes as state-capitalist and anti-communist”, as part of our class’ movement in favour of world revolution that will herald a new period of socialist internationalism.
Comrade S.
18 May 2024
League of Internationalist Communists 