Emiliano Zapata Assassinated (1919)
Thu Apr 10, 1919
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Emiliano Zapata, assassinated on this day in 1919, was a leader of peasant uprisings in Mexico and the inspiration for the name of the revolutionary Zapatista movement.
Zapata was born in the rural village of Anenecuilco in Morelos State, where peasant communities were under increasing pressure from a small landowning class, supported by dictator Porfirio Díaz, who monopolized land and water resources for sugar cane production.
Early on, Zapata participated in political movements against Diaz and the landowning hacendados, and when revolution broke out in 1910, he was positioned as a central leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Zapata was responsible for defeating and ousting various invading armies from Morelos on multiple occasions.
On April 10th, 1919, Jesús Guajardo invited Zapata to a meeting, intimating that he intended to defect to the revolutionaries. When Zapata arrived at the meeting, however, Guajardo's men riddled him with bullets instead.
"I want to die a slave to principles. Not to men."
- Emiliano Zapata
- Date: 1919-04-10
- Learn More: www.jstor.org, en.wikipedia.org.
- Tags: #Assassinations.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org