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Womack, John, 1937-
and the
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Copyright© 1968 by John Womack, Jr.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy­
right Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc., New York, and Random House, Inc., New York and
simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited,
Toronto. Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., on January
15, 1969.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 68-23947
Manufactured in the United States of America
VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, SEPTEMBER 1970
79GB
 400· APPENDIX B The Plan de Ayala ·401

Zapata also looked back to the leaders of the past for precedents and inspira­ rights which had been trampled on, and not for a man to take possession of
tion. His primary-school teacher in Anenecuilco had been a veteran of the War power, violating the sacred principles which he took an oath to defend under
against the French Intervention, and Zapata remembered well his classes in the slogan "Effective Suffrage and No Reelection," outraging thus the faith,
the cause, the justice, and the liberties of the people: taking into consideration
history. 2 Two of his uncles had fought against the French with the Republican that that man to whom we refer is Don Francisco I. Madero, the same who
loyalists at Puebla, and he grew up listening to their tales. He himself often initiated the above-cited revolution, who imposed his will and influence as
referred in conversation to Hidalgo, Morelos, and Juarez. Chief of his village a governing norm on the Provisional Government of the ex-President of the
and by necessity a student of its history in the sources, the land titles, Zapata Republic Attorney Francisco L. de Barra [sic], causing with this deed re­
knew in detail how and why it had struggled. For him as for Montano the Plan peated sheddings of blood and multiplicate misfortunes for the fatherland in
a manner deceitful and ridiculous, having no intentions other than satisfying
de Ayala was one more declaration in defense of the pueblos and the people,
his personal ambitions, his boundless instincts as a tyrant, and his profound
which they could hardly tell apart. disrespect for the fulfillment of the preexisting laws emanating from the im­
The following translation I made from the version of the plan published in the mortal code of '57, written with the revolutionary blood of Ayutla;
Diario del Hagar, December 15, 1911. This was the first version widely known Taking into account that the so-called Chief of the Liberating Revolution
in Mexico City. There are others, among them the official Zapatista version pub­ of Mexico, Don Francisco I. Madero, through lack of integrity and the high­
est weakness, did not carry to a happy end the revolution which gloriously he
lished in Magana: op. cit., II, 83-7. The differences are minor rewordings, omis­
initiated with the help of God and the people, since he left standing most of
sions, and grammatical and other corrections. Of the last, the most noteworthy the governing powers and corrupted elements of oppression of the dicta­
is the legal refinement of Article 12, which as it originally stood violated consti­ torial government of Porfirio Dfaz, which are not nor can in any way be the
tutional procedure-Congress, not the President, properly having the authority representation of National Sovereignty, and which, for being most bitter
at first assigned to him. 3 To give a faithful translation I tried not to clarify what adversaries of ours and of the principles which even now we defend, are pro­
was obscure, nor unravel what was tangled, nor tighten what was loose. In some voking the discomfort of the country and opening new wounds in the bosom
of the fatherland, to give it its own blood to drink; taking also into account
places, where Spanish syntax swings on but English breaks down, I had to insert that the aforementioned Sr. Francisco I. Madero, present President of the
words in brackets to keep an obvious meaning obvious. I also changed punctu­ Republic, tries to avoid the fulfillment of the promises which he made to the
ation here and there for the same reason. Highfalutin words I tried to find equiv­ Nation in the Plan of San Luis Potosf, being [sic, siendo, misprint for cifi­
alents for, rather than deflate them, because I thought they conveyed the rural endo, restricting] the above-cited promises to the agreements of Ciudad
writer's indignation better. After all, it is his show. Juarez, by means of false promises and numerous intrigues against the
Nation nullifying, pursuing, jailing, or killing revolutionary elements who
Liberating Plan of the sons of the State of Morelos, affiliated with the
helped him to occupy the high post of President of the Republic;
Insurgent Army which defends the fulfillment of the Plan of San Luis, with
Taking into consideration that the so-often-repeated Francisco I. Madero
the reforms which it has believed proper to add in benefit of the Mexican has tried with the brute force of bayonets to shut up and to drown in blood
Fatherland. the pueblos who ask, solicit, or demand from him the fulfillment of the prom­
We who undersign, constituted in a revolutionary junta to sustain and
ises of the revolution, calling them bandits and rebels, condemning them
carry out the promises which the revolution of November 20, 1910, just
to a war of extermination without conceding or granting a single one of the
past, made to the country, declare solemnly before the face of the civilized
guarantees which reason, justice, and the law prescribe; taking equally into
world which judges us and before the nation to which we belong and which
consideration that the President of the Republic Francisco I. Madero has
we call [sic, llamamos, misprint for amamos, love], propositions which we
made of Effective Suffrage a bloody trick on the people, already against the
have formulated to end the tyranny which oppresses us and redeem the
will of the same people imposing Attorney Jose M. Pino Suarez in the Vice­
fatherland from the dictatorships which are imposed on us, which [proposi­
Presidency of the Republic, or [imposing as] Governors of the States [men]
tions] are determined in the following plan: designated by him, like the so-called General Ambrosio Figueroa, scourge
1. Taking into consideration that the Mexican people led by Don Francisco
and tyrant of the people of Morelos, or entering into scandalous cooperation
I. Madero went to shed their blood to reconquer liberties and recover their
with the cientffico party, feudal landlords, and oppressive bosses, enemies of
Palacios:Zapata, p. 18, and Paez in El Sol de Puebla, April 2, 195r.
2 the revolution proclaimed by him, so as to forge new chains and follow the
8 This
and the officialversion are both in Gonzalez Ramirez: Planes, pp. 73-83. pattern of a new dictatorship more shameful and more terrible than that of
A handwritten copy of the plan, dated November 28, 19n, is in AZ, 28: 14. Porfirio Dfaz, for it has been clear and patent that he has outraged the sov-
402· APPENDIX B The Plan de Ayala

ereignty of the States, trampling on the laws without any respect for lives or fields for sowing or laboring, and the Mexicans' lack of prosperity and well­
interests, as has happened in the State of Morelos, and others, leading them to being may improve in all and for all.
the most horrendous anarchy which contemporary history registers. 8. [~egardingJ T~e landlor~s, cientffic.os,or bosses who oppose the present
For these considerations we declare the aforementioned Francisco I. plan directly or mdirectly, their goods will be nationalized and the two third
Madero inept at realizing the promises of the revolution of which he was the parts which [ otherwise would] belong to them will go for indemnizations
author, because he has betrayed the principles with which he tricked the will of war, pensions for widows and orphans of the victims who succumb in
of the people and was able to get into power: incapable of governing, because the struggle for the present plan.
he has no respect for the law and justice of the pueblos, and a traitor to the ~· In order to execu.te the procedures regarding the properties aforemen­
fatherland, because he is humiliating in blood and fire Mexicans who want tioned, the laws. of d1samortization and nationalization will be applied as
liberties, so as to please the cienttficos, landlords, and bosses who enslave they fit: for servmg us as norm and example can be those laws put in force
us, and from today on we begin to continue the revolution begun by him, by the immortal Ju_arezon ecclesiastical properties, which punished the des­
until we achieve the overthrow of the dictatorial powers which exist. pots a~d. conservauves who in every time have tried to impose on us the
2. Recognition is withdrawn from Sr. Francisco I. Madero as Chief of the 1gnomm10usyoke of oppression and backwardness.
Revolution and as President of the Republic, for the reasons which before were ID. The insurgent military chiefs of the Republic who rose up with arms in
expressed, it being attempted to overthrow this official. hand ,at the voice of Don F:ancisco I. Madero to defend the plan of San Luis
3. Recognized as Chief of the Liberating Revolution is the illustrious Gen­ Po~os1,and who oppos~ with armed force the present plan, will be judged
eral Pascual Orozco, the second of the Leader Don Francisco I. Madero, and traitors to the cause which they defended and to the fatherland, since at pres­
'I
in case he does not accept this delicate post, recognition as Chief of the Revo­ ent many of them, to humor the tyrants, for a fistful of coins or for bribes '
lution will go to General Don Emiliano Zapata. or connivance, are shedding the blood of their brothers who 'claim the ful­
4. The Revolutionary Junta of the State of Moreios manifests to the Nation fillment of the promises which Don Francisco I. Madero made to the nation.
under formal oath: that it makes its own the plan of San Luis Potosi, with II. The expenses of war will be taken in conformity with Article II of the
the additions which are expressed below in benefit of the oppressed pueblos, Plan of San Luis Potosf, and all procedures employed in the revolution we
and it will make itself the defender of the principles it defends until victory undertake will be in conformity with the same instructions which the said
or death. plan determines.
5. The Revolutionary Junta of the State of Morelos will admit no trans­ 12 .. Once triumphant the revolution which we carry into the path of

actions or compromises until it achieves the overthrow of the dictatorial re~hty, a Junta of the principal revolutionary chiefs from the different States
elements of Porfirio Dfaz and Francisco I. Madero, for the nation is tired of will name or designate an interim President of the Republic, who will con­
false men and traitors who make promises like liberators and who on arriv­ voke elections for the organization of the federal powers.
ing in power forget them and constitute themselves as tyrants. 13. The principal revolutionary chiefs of each State will designate in Junta
6. As an additional part of the plan we invoke, we give notice: that [ regard­ t?e G_overnor of the .State to which they belong, and this appointed ofli­
ing] the fields, timber, and water which the landlords, cientilicos, or bosses ci~l will ~onvoke el~ct10nsfor the due organization of the public powers, the
have usurped, the pueblos or citizens_who have the titles corresponding to obiect bemg to av01d compulsory appointments which work the misfortune
those properties will immediately enter into possession of that real estate of of the pueblos, like the so-well-known appointment of Ambrosio Figueroa in
which they have been despoiled by the bad faith of our oppressors, maintain­ t~e State of Morelos and others who drive us to the precipice of bloody con­
ing at any cost with arms in hand the mentioned possession; and the usurpers flicts, sustained by the caprice of the dictator Madero and the circle of cien­
who consider themselves with a right to them [those properties] will deduce tfficos and landlords who have influenced him.
it before the special tribunals which will he established on the triumph of 14. If Pre~ident Madero and other dictatorial elements of the present and
the revolution. former regime want to avoid the immense misfortunes which afflict the
7. In virtue of the fact that the immense majority of Mexican pueblos and fatherland, and [if they] possess true sentiments of love for it, let them make
citizens are owners of no more than the land they walk on, suffering the immed!ate renunciation of the posts they occupy and with that they will with
horrors of poverty without being able to improve their social condition in somethmg staunch the grave wounds which they have opened in the bosom
any way or to dedicate themselves to Industry or Agriculture, because lands, of the fatherland, since, if they do not do so, on their heads will fall the blood
timber, and water are monopolized in a few hands, for this cause there will and the anathema of our brothers.
he expropriated the third part of those monopolies from the powerful propri­ 15. Mexicans: consider that the cunning and bad faith of one man is shed­
etors of them, with prior indemnization, in order that the pueblos and citi­ ding. blood in a scandalous manner, because he is incapable of governing;
zens of Mexico may obtain ejidos, colonies, and foundations for pueblos, or consider that his system of government is choking the fatherland and tram-
 APPENDIX B
piing with the brute force of bayonets on our institutions; and thus, as we
raised up our weapons to elevate him to power, we again raise them up
against him for defaulting on his promises to the Mexican people and for APPENDIX C
having betrayed the revolution initiated by him, we are not personalists, we
are partisans of principles and not of men!
Mexican People, support this plan with arms in hand and you will make
the prosperity and well-being of the fatherland.
The Agrarian Law
Ayala, November 25, 19u Liberty, Justice, and Law
Signed, General in Chief Emiliano Zapata; Generals Eufemio Zapata, Fran­
cisco Mendoza, Jesus Morales, Jesus Navarro, Otilio E. Montano, Jose Trini­
dad Ruiz, Pr6culo Capistran; Colonels Felipe Vaquero, Cesareo Burgos,
Quintm Gonzalez, Pedro Salazar, Simon Rojas, Emigdio Marmolejo, Jose
Campos, Pioquinto Galis, Felipe Tijera, Rafael Sanchez, Jose Perez, Santiago
Aguilar, Margarito Martfoez, Feliciano Domfoguez, Manuel Vergara, Cruz
Salazar, Lauro Sanchez, Amador Salazar, Lorenzo Vazquez, Catarino Per­ THE ZAPATISTAS' BASIC LAW OF AGRARIAN REFORM was as original as their Plan de
domo, Jesus Sanchez, Domingo Romero, Zacarias Torres, Bonifacio Garcfa, Ayala. In the specific limits on individual agricultural holdings, in the provisions
Daniel Andrade, Ponciano Domfoguez, Jesus Capistran; Captains Daniel
for direct expropriation of all land beyond those limits and not in the hands of
Mantilla, Jose M. Carrillo, Francisco Alarcon, Severiano Gutierrez; and more
signatures follow. [This] is a true copy taken from the original. Camp in the villagers, in the definition of village land as perpetually inalienable, in the pro­
Mountains of Puebla, December rr, 191I. Signed, General in Chief Emiliano hibition of agricultural syndicates and companies, in the assertion of confiscatory
Zapata. rights over "enemy" property, in the establishment of special agrarian courts
and federal agencies of irrigation, rural credit, and agricultural education and
research, in the enormous power assigned to the secretary of agriculture, and in
the resort not to state but to municipal authorities for local execution, the Zapa­
tista law departed radically from precedent revolutionary projects, bills, and
laws. Most clearly it owed little to Carranza's decree of January 6, 1915.1 Of the
probably several coauthors of the law, no doubt the most important was Palafox.
The translation that follows is mine. 2 Again, I have altered the syntax and
inserted words in brackets only to keep plain in English what is plain in Span­
ish. As elsewhere, I have transposed hectares into acres, a measure more familiar
to readers of English.

UNITED MEXICAN STATES

Executive Council of the Republic
AGRARIAN LAW
THE EXECUTIVE CouNCIL,in use of the faculties invested in it, makes known
to the inhabitants of the Mexican Republic:
1 For contrary claims, see Antonio Diaz Soto y Gama: "La Ley Agraria de! Vil­
lismo," Excelsior, October 26, 1950, and Gomez: ''La Reforma Agraria," p. 167.
2 The original text is available in Reyes H.: op. cit., pp. 125-34. There is a poor
copy, misdated October 28, 1915, in AZ, 28: 5: 3.

·405·