Brothers Flores Magón: what was the influence of the newspaper Regeneración on the Mexican Revolution

During the armed struggle of the Mexican Revolution, which began on November 20, 1910, there were several characters who stood out, some of them because of the struggle they waged with arms, and others because they were precursors of the movement.

Without a doubt, the Flores Magón brothers were important precursors of the Revolution, and one of the most prominent elements in their struggle was the newspaper Regeneración, which was promoted by them. There were three brothers, they were Ricardo, Jesús and Enrique Flores Magón. The latter, born on a day like today, April 13, but from 1877.

The Flores Magón brothers dedicated their lives to improving the quality of life of workers, peasants and poor groups in general. In addition to being precursors of the Mexican Revolution, they fought against the government of Porfirio Díaz and its system, dissatisfied with its re-election, its taxes and its way to handle justice in their favor.

In order to counter these acts and inform, raise awareness and sensitize the people, they created, in 1900, the newspaper Regeneración. In its pages there were criticisms of the government, and article 7 of the Constitution in force at that time was always cited: “Freedom of the press has no limits other than respect for private life, morals and public peace”. With this they wanted to assert their rights.

The content published in the newspaper edited by the brothers was a pretext for them to be arrested on several occasions. One of them was when Ricardo published a text demanding the resignation of President Porfirio Díaz, and called on Mexican industrialists and small businessmen to resist foreign monopolization and high taxes.

“All these railways kill all industry and all commerce, because because of their high freight rates, railway companies gain the profit that the trader or the industrialist could receive,” he said. As a result, he was confined to prison in Belén prison, located in the City Center. Another of his imprisonments was due to the publication of a cartoon about Porfirio Díaz and the attacks on Bernardo Reyes and his second reservation. The illustration was titled: “Outrage to public officials”.

The first issue of Regeneration was published on August 7, 1900. It was born with the aim, not to criticize the government of Díaz, but to point out bad practices in the judiciary, and “to denounce all those acts of judicial officials that do not conform to the precepts of written law, so that public shame does with them the justice they deserve.” However, after a few months its editorial line changes radically.

The following October, Diaz was declared president for the fifth time without interruption. After this, the Flores Magón brothers announce the new tone of the publication. They say it will now be an “independent combat” newspaper.

“Our principles have won, they have outbid the purely legal field, and have fully entered that of the general administration. It had to be. The administration of Justice is nothing more than a complement, as Power, to the other two: the Executive and the Legislative.” In this way, in its pages it will begin to fight directly against the dictatorship, as well as with the organization and mobilization of liberal clubs.

After being imprisoned and the death of their mother, the Flores Magón continued to publish the newspaper, in 1904, with interruptions, from San Antonio, Texas and San Luis, Missouri, in the United States, until 1918, when it became extinct. However, it represented a significant influence in the years before the outbreak of the Revolution.

The movement led by Ricardo Flores Magón chose, at first, peaceful means of struggle, but over time it became radicalized to an anarcho-syndicalist ideology and called on citizens to armed struggle against the government, which caused them to be accused of being rebels and agitators. Regeneración was the propaganda arm of that struggle and also maintained an editorial line in favor of the workers' organization for the defense of their rights.

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