The Plan de San Diego: Tejano Rebellion, Mexican Intrigue

Conclusion

Conclusion As the prophet Hosea warned, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” What were they thinking? Were the sediciosos too naive to realize that proclaiming—and trying to implement—a genocidal war without quarter wouldn’t have serious—and unpleasant—consequences? You didn’t have to be a college graduate to figure this out. A contemporary corrido, or ballad, titled “Los Sediciosos” lamented that the fuse had been lit by real Mexicans but it would be Tejanos who’d have to pay the price.1 Brownsville attorney and state representative J. T. Canales attributed the Plan to German propagandists and stated that “I don’t believe the effect of it, that is the execution of it had any serious consequences.”2 On the other hand, prominent South Texas political boss James B. Wells testified that “Innocent men were killed in Hidalgo and Cameron Counties in 1915–16. I want to add that there were a lot more that should have been killed.”3 With regard to Canales it should be mentioned that despite his rather odd statement quoted above he did take the Plan seriously, organizing the “Canales Scouts” to assist the army in combating raiders. The Scouts, though, were organized just as the raids ended. And Deodoro Guerra, the political boss of Hidalgo County, also opposed the sedi- 260 Conclusion ciosos, on occasion leading posses against marauders. In Guerra’s case of course his opposition stemmed at least in part from his villista sympathies . But what both Canales and Guerra illustrate is that the Hispanic establishment not only brought the Plan de San Diego to light but stood shoulder to shoulder with the Anglos against the militants, who drew their support largely from the lower Hispanic socioeconomic class. As the Old West saying goes, a man’s got to back his play. The sediciosos , having proclaimed a war without quarter, proved singularly unable to back their play. Not only didn’t they generate much support in the rest of the Southwest, but even in Texas their rebellion was confined essentially to four counties—Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Kenedy—(out of the 254 counties in the state). What the sediciosos did produce was a massive Anglo backlash—it became open season on “bad Meskins.” In this connection, those who maintain that the Plan was essentially a Tejano rebellion stress the element of Anglo racism as directed at Hispanics. However, the Plan itself embodied a fair amount of Hispanic racism toward Anglos, something that is rarely mentioned. It would be like the Japanese complaining about having atom bombs dropped on them but neglecting to mention Pearl Harbor. The Plan de San Diego affair unfolded in three distinct phases. The first lasted from January to June 1915 and was characterized by the arrest of Basilio Ramos, the discovery of the Plan, and Ramos’s account of the Plan’s alleged huertista origins. The Plan was really written by magonistas, although precisely by whom remains unclear. There appeared an expanded version of the Plan—the “Manifesto to the Oppressed Peoples of America,” but since no violence occurred, people generally dismissed the Plan as ridiculous. The second phase erupted in July 1915 and lasted through October. Luis de la Rosa and Aniceto Pizaña were perceived as the leaders of a Tejano rebellion, but the evidence indicates that it was the carrancistas who were manipulating them in a covert operation. A wave of raids into South Texas from Mexico convulsed the region. Despite the turmoil they caused, the sediciosos made little headway militarily, their offensive consisting largely of hit-and-run raids. A scorecard listing the principal engagements would read: Conclusion 261 Los Tulitos 1915 victory Galveston Ranch 1915 defeat Las Norias 1915 defeat Ojo de Agua 1915 defeat Progreso 1915 defeat Olmitos train wreck 1915 victory Webb Station 1916 defeat San Ignacio 1916 defeat Cortillo Ranch 1916 defeat So, their principal military accomplishment was wrecking a train. The one area where they excelled was propaganda. The sediciosos were a lot better at writing than at fighting. And for all the turmoil they caused, the insurgents inflicted remarkably few Anglo casualties, but they managed to get hundreds of Hispanics killed. This would fit with the magonistas’ track record of ineptitude , even in this case with substantial assistance and direction by the carrancistas. The weight of evidence indicates that Venustiano Carranza , fighting for the survival of his...