Shield

The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action (Spanish: Acción Revolucionaria Mexicanista), better known as the Gold Shirts (Spanish: Camisas Doradas), was a Mexican fascist and anti-semitic paramilitary organization that operated from its founding in 1933 until the end of World War II in 1945.^[1] Its members were known as the Gold Shirts since most of them were veteran soldiers of Pancho Villa, who called his elite soldiers "los dorados" (the goldens) and whose charros wore yellow shirts, so they recycled the name and the yellow shirt of Villa's army.

The struggle that Rodríguez set out to carry until the end of his days consisted of attacking the Chinese and Jews, whom he considered carriers of the ills of Mexico and accused them of exploiting the Mexican with their business. He would express his feelings through these words:

“The Jews have monopolized all the small businesses in the country. They come in great numbers and the Mexicans cannot face their competition. They open small workshops and factories where hygienic conditions are bad and they exploit Mexicans with low wages and long hours. They bring in contraband goods, they don't pay taxes. They do business only with each other and never spend the money they extract from the Mexicans. It is necessary to expel the Jews to be able to rebuild our small national commerce”.

Of communism he expressed: “We have only two problems in Mexico: order against disorder and nationalism against communism. Our program calls for the liquidation of international communism, and when we come to power, we will put an end to these exotic, anti-nationalist ideas once and for all, and Mexico will be able to live in peace ”.

Nicolás Rodríguez called for the union of all Mexicans, who had been in constant struggle against each other; he asked that the divisions of political parties be ended and that they fight for the homeland, for the land that belonged to them. He had deep respect and admiration for Adolf Hitler:

“Hitler, an insignificant ex-soldier of the world war, but a man of a very clear vision and an unsuspected love for his country; he encompassed at a single glance the great problem of Jewish danger, matured his plans, and when he found himself master of Germany, he bravely faced the situation and mercilessly expelled, in a brilliant and audacious act, all the Jews residing in the Reich”; he had a clear knowledge of the development of national socialism and the emergence of fascist paramilitary groups in the world.

“The A.R.M. is an organization made up mainly of ex-soldiers and, naturally, we feel closely linked to veterans' organizations from all countries, such as the American Legion, the Fire Cross, and the German Steel Helmets”.

History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

The group was founded by general Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco in 1933 with the official title of Acción Revolucionaria Mexicana (Mexican Revolutionary Action).^[2] Carrasco, who had been a supporter of Pancho Villa until he deserted in 1918, named the group after the dorados, Villa's "golden" group of elite soldiers. Their uniform consisted of a gold shirt, black pants, a palm leaf hat or sombrero, and a tricolor badge.^[2] There was an affiliated women's auxiliary.^[1]

Beliefs[edit]

Their motto was "Mexico for the Mexicans," a racialized or ethnic group that excluded Mexicans of Jewish or Chinese descent, and those who held anti-fascist political views, supported trade unions, or were communists or socialists.^[3][1] Rodríguez claimed that blood tests carried out by ethnographers showed that Mexicans and Nordic peoples were racially equal.^[2][1] They were fiercely antisemitic and Sinophobic: they demanded the removal of citizenship from and immediate deportation of Jews and Chinese from Mexico, with all their businesses turned over to "Mexicans."^[2][1]

Although the dorados copied their style from the Blackshirts and Sturmabteilung, the anti-communism and authoritarianism of the former and the anti-Semitism of the latter, they nonetheless lacked the fascist mission, being essentially, according to Fascism expert Stanley Payne, counterrevolutionary and reactionary, and as such were more easily employed by the existing state.^[4] John W. Sherman, an expert in Mexican right-wing organizations, describes them as "fascist" and "fascist-inspired," for their nationalistic, racist, and pro-business beliefs and activities.^[1][5]

Activities[edit]

The Gold Shirts often violently clashed with supporters of the Mexican Communist Party and the Red Shirts, including a famous attack on a communist protest in March 1935 in Mexico City's Zócalo.^[2] Three people died and over fifty were injured, including Rodríguez.^[3] They ransacked communist party offices on various occasions.^[1]

ARM members were often hired to intimidate workers or to prevent agrarian reform on haciendas.^[5] They attacked workers in Monterrey in 1936 as part of their anti-union activities.^[1]

In 1936, one night the Gold Shirts raided Jewish businesses, destroying them and attacking their owners. The protests in response were immediate, highlighting those of the US embassy, ​​the Mexican Communist Party and the International Red Aid. The general public described the event as a pogrom.

Disbandment[edit]

In 1935, the Mexican senate sought to ban the organization on account of its fascist beliefs.^[6] A few months later, Rodríguez was arrested for promoting "inter-labor conflicts" and deported to Texas in August 1936, from where he continued to lead the group until his death in 1940.^[7][2] They established a new center in Torréon after Rodríguez's expulsion.^[5] Gold Shirts toured the United States in 1937 and raised money from American supporters.^[1]

After Mexico's declaration of war upon the Axis powers on May 22, 1942, the Gold Shirts were banned.^{[citation needed]}

See also[edit]

• Camisas Rojas
• Gun politics in Mexico

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The opposition in the sixth cardenista (1934-1940) - The Mexican Revolutionary Action: The Golden Shirts