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The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action (Acción Revolucionaria Mexicanista), better known as the Gold Shirts (Camisas Doradas), was a Mexican fascist, secular, anti-Semitic, anti-communist, ultra-nationalist paramilitary organization founded in September 1933 in Mexico City. With it's ultra-nationalist, strikebreaking roots and Nazi support, the organization sought to expel the Chinese, Jews, and communists from Mexico. The organization often violently engaged with labor movements associated with the Mexican Communist Party and labor strikers.

Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, a brigadier general under Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution, led the group during its' most active period. Many founding members of the paramilitary had also been veterans of the Mexican Revolution. Members were known as the Gold Shirts, reminiscent of Villa's elite soldiers who he referred to as "los dorados" (the goldens ones).

Operating under the motto of "Mexico for Mexicans", organization called for the expulsion of the Jews and Chinese from the country. The Gold Shirts advocated for the seizure of Chinese and Jewish owned businesses. The Gold Shirts also fiercely opposed labor movements and often clashed with members of the Mexican Communist Party. The group was very active in union busting with the Gold Shirts instigating violent clashes with strikers.

The organization was financially supported by the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany, National Fascist Party of Italy, and Mexican industrialists such as Eugenio Garza Sada. The Gold Shirts also received political protection from Plutarco Elías Calles who vehemently opposed the Cárdenas government.

Anti-Chinese and Anti-Semitic sentiment


At the start of the 1920s, racism in Mexico and xenophobic sentiments begun to intensify. Organizations such as the Pro-Race Committee and the Anti-Chinese and Anti-Jewish Nationalist League were created in response to a large influx of immigrants to Mexico. This was a result of growing economic concerns among the Mexican working and middle class. As Chinese-Mexicans, and Jews to a lesser extent, had come comprise a considerable portion of the merchant class, many protests and boycotts against Chinese businesses were held. Mexican labor unions had put political pressure to restrict Chinese and Jewish immigration to Mexico.

The Mexican government, both state and federal, actively enacted and enforced discriminatory laws targeting people of Chinese descent. Following the Great Depression, Jews had become subject to the same type of persecution. Notably in May of 1931 where 250 Jewish merchants were expelled from the La Lagunilla Market in Mexico City.

1930s Labor Strikes
The government of President Pascual Ortiz Rubio faced intense political instability, exacerbated by the Great Depression. Droughts and floods heavily impeded agricultural production. By 1932, mass labor strikes in multiple industries were erupting throughout the country.

Plutarco Elías Calles wished to "keep workers under control" in response to the support Vicente Lombardo Toledano had been garnering among laborers. Ortiz Rubio would resign from the presidency in September 1932 as a result of Calles's influence and power in the government.

Green Shirts (1932)
As the result of labor strikes and the support Toledano had garnered, Calles wished to protect the business interests of industrialists from strikers. Under the protection of a Callista official, if not Calles himself, Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco founded the Green Shirts (Camisetas Verdes) in 1932. Rodríguez Carrasco had joined the Pro-Race Committee a year prior. The Green Shirts were a paramilitary group which was characterized as anti-communist, anti-union, ultranationalist. Calles politically protected and financially supported the group. The Green Shirts's campaigned under the mantra of "Mexico for Mexicans". As Calles began to lose power under Abelardo Rodríguez, the group shortly after Rodríguez took power in September of that year.

Foundation and early years (1933-1935)


The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action was founded on September 25, 1933 within the Pro-Race Committee of the Federal District. The organization declared its fundamental objective was the moral and aggrandizement of Mexico, stating that their struggle "was not an offensive against foreigners but rather a defense of national interests."

The founders of the group foundation were mainly comprised of ex-militaries and generals. Prominent members included Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, Roque González Garza (instrumental figure during the Mexican Revolution and former President of Mexico), Julio Madero González (brother of Francisco I. Madero and Gustavo A. Madero), Silvestre Terrazas (former Governor of Chihuahua), and Eduardo Dávila Garza (Head of the Mexican Catholic Apostolic Church). Other key members included Ovidio Pedrero Valenzuela and Andrés Morán.

Roque González Garza led the group for a few months from it's foundation until Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco assumed the position of supreme leader.

Organization & structure
Initially, organizing, directing messages, appointments, as well as basic tasks were all carried out by Rodriguez Carrasco. By May 1934, however, the ARM was divided into 15 zones. The zones were divided throughout the country but mainly in Mexico City. Each of these zones consisted of several groups of 10-15 individuals. Each group had a sub-chief who only reported to the zone chief who, in turn, would report to the supreme chief. By 1935, the ARM had 350 group leaders in the 15 zones. At this time, the organization had approximately 4000 members.



In the Mexico City chapter, there were a total of 377 members. Many members had been former military which included 14 generals, 7 lieutenant colonels, 13 colonels, 3 majors, 3 captains, 1 first sergeant, 1 lieutenant, a police chief, and a cop. General Vicente Gonzalez, chief of Mexico City's police force, was also in close contact with Rodriguez Carrasco.

1934 structure
Mesa Directiva 1934

Gen. Lucio G Verdiguel - Secretary General

Manuel Rodriguez Carrasco - treasurer

Alfredo Serratos - Organization Secretary

Gen. Miguel M Ramos - Secretary of education

Gen. Jose M Sanchez - Secretary of Hacienda

Gen. Jose E Solares - chief assistant

Salvador Diaz F. - chief of migration

Gen Arturo E Valverde - Secretary of Agriculture

Chief of zones: Jose Vela, Matias Rodriguez, Agapito Lopez, Rafael Plata, Jesus Carcia, Col. M. Sanchez T., Manuel Gonzales, Enrique Backmaann, Esequiel Flores, Primitivo Gonzales, German RAmirez, Daniel M. Trejo, 1st Captian Jose Ramos, Felipe Garcia, and Teodoro Buendia.

group leaders: Alberto Schaar, Bonifacio Reyes, Alejandro Constantino, Isauro Limas, Victor M Lorenzana, Meliton Contreras, Francisco Aladin, Roberto Rojas, Cesareo Rivera, Eutiquio Sanches, Cruz Galicia, Jesus VAsquez, Luciano Huerta.

By 1934, the organization had branches registered in: Villa Union, Mazatlan, Concordia, Culiacan, Saltillo, Torreon, Coahuila, Durango, Chiuahua, Juarez, Toluca, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Sabinas, Hidalgo, Puebla Texmelucan, Tehuacan, Guadalajara, Orizaba, Veracruz, Iguala Guerrero.

1935 Revolution Day Clash


Following a clash with Communists, the Mexican senate sought to ban the organization. They established a new center in Torréon after Rodríguez's expulsion. Gold Shirts toured the United States in 1937 and raised money from American supporters.

Political pushback and ban (1936)
In February 1936, the group participated in anti-communist rallies in Monterrey and in Puebla. The Monterrey rally was filmed by fascist film director and Gold Shirts supporter Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia.

Despite the ban in Mexico, the Gold Shirts remained active, establishing a headquarters in Mission, Texas.

Plans for rebellion
During this time Rodriguez Carrasco was financially and politically supported by Saturnino Cedillo who had his own private army.

Reverend P. L. Delgado acted as Rodriguez Carrasco's secretary as well as William Wood's.

In 1937 Calles commissioned Melchor Ortega Camarena, ex-governer of Guanajuato, to aid Rodriguez Carrasco's rebellion plans.

In 1937, Rodriguez Carrasco came in contact with Henry Allen, leader of the anti-Semitic and anti-communist Silver Batallion based in California. Allen invited Rodriguez Carrasco to Los Angeles, offering protection and support proclaiming both were fighting the same enemy. Both had been receiving aid from Nazi Germany  A meeting between the two in Guaymas was set to take place in early 1937 however it did not come into fruition as Allen was unable to enter the country.

1938 Matamoros Rebellion
Sunday November 13, 1938, five automobiles each carrying between 15 to 20 Gold Shirt members departed from Mission.

Post-Rodríguez Carrasco's death
Following the rebellion, Rodríguez Carrasco lost a considerable amount of support from the Gold Shirts. In early 1940, Rodríguez Carrasco developed aplastic anemia. Following the diagnosis, Rodríguez Carrasco effectively stepped down as leader of the Gold Shirts. Defeated, Rodríguez Carrasco requested a pardon from President Cárdenas to be allowed to return to Mexico citing his illness. Cárdenas approved the request and allowed Rodríguez Carrasco to return to Mexico in August of 1940. Rodríguez Carrasco returned to Mexico on August 5th, coincidentally the same date he had been exiled. He died 6 days later on August 11 in his mother's house from his illness.

Following the death of Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, two separate factions led by Aniceto López Salazar and Joaquín Rodríguez Carrasco (brother of Nicolás) emerged from the Gold Shirts. López Salazar's faction was noted to have been Anti-fascist as well as much less xenophobic and anti-Semitic while remaining implacably opposed to communism and labor-strikes. A general assembly held on January 5th and 6th, 1941 was held where Joaquín Rodríguez Carrasco (brother of Nicolás), Antonio Escobar, Jesus D. Davila were expelled from the Gold Shirts. Joaquín's faction was splintered into a group referring to themselves as omly Dorados. This was announced by Aniceto López Salazar on June 16, 1941, stating Joaquín Rodríguez Carrasco's group were expelled for being "nazi-facists" and denouncing him and his faction as a fifth column.

two separate factions led by Aniceto López Salazar and Joaquín Rodríguez Carrasco (brother of Nicolás) who proclaimed themselves to be the legitimate heirs of the organization, emerged.

The Revolutionary Mexicanist Action ultimately split into two factions led by López Salazar headquartered in Mexico City, and the north headed by Joaquín Rodríguez.

López Salazar's faction was noted to have been much less xenophobic and anti-Semitic while remaining implacably opposed to communism and labor-strikes.

After 1945
After World War II, the activity of the Golden Shirts is reduced. On May 1, 1952, about 50 members of "Golden Shirts" attacked workers contingents of the Communist Party and the Peasant Workers Party in front of the Palace of Fine Arts; In the confrontation Luis Morales Jiménez, a student of the IPN, and Lucio Arciniega, a shoemaker artisan, members of the Communist Youth, died.

Beliefs
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. Rodríguez claimed that blood tests carried out by ethnographers showed that Mexicans and Nordic peoples were racially equal. 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."

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. 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.

Activities
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 1935 in Mexico City. Three people died and over fifty were injured, including Rodríguez. They ransacked communist party offices on various occasions.

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

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.

Organization & structure
Initially, organizing, directing messages, appointments, as well as basic tasks were all carried out by Rodriguez Carrasco. By May 1934, however, the ARM was divided into 15 zones. The zones were divided throughout the country but mainly in Mexico City. Each of these zones consisted of several groups of 10-15 individuals. Each group had a sub-chief who only reported to the zone chief who, in turn, would report to the supreme chief. By 1935, the ARM had 350 group leaders in the 15 zones. At this time, the organization had approximately 4000 members.



In the Mexico City chapter, there were a total of 377 members. Many members had been former military which included 14 generals, 7 lieutenant colonels, 13 colonels, 3 majors, 3 captains, 1 first sergeant, 1 lieutenant, a police chief, and a cop. General Vicente Gonzalez, chief of Mexico City's police force, was also in close contact with Rodriguez Carrasco.

1934 structure
Mesa Directiva 1934

Gen. Lucio G Verdiguel - Secretary General

Manuel Rodriguez Carrasco - treasurer

Alfredo Serratos - Organization Secretary

Gen. Miguel M Ramos - Secretary of education

Gen. Jose M Sanchez - Secretary of Hacienda

Gen. Jose E Solares - chief assistant

Salvador Diaz F. - chief of migration

Gen Arturo E Valverde - Secretary of Agriculture

Chief of zones: Jose Vela, Matias Rodriguez, Agapito Lopez, Rafael Plata, Jesus Carcia, Col. M. Sanchez T., Manuel Gonzales, Enrique Backmaann, Esequiel Flores, Primitivo Gonzales, German RAmirez, Daniel M. Trejo, 1st Captian Jose Ramos, Felipe Garcia, and Teodoro Buendia.

group leaders: Alberto Schaar, Bonifacio Reyes, Alejandro Constantino, Isauro Limas, Victor M Lorenzana, Meliton Contreras, Francisco Aladin, Roberto Rojas, Cesareo Rivera, Eutiquio Sanches, Cruz Galicia, Jesus VAsquez, Luciano Huerta.