Recuerdos de General Emiliano Zapata
Written by:Honorio Abúndez
Performed by: Anonymous
Disco INAH 26. Ed. Carlos Barreto Mark. México: SEP, 1984.

Sobre el sentir de mi Patria
Voy a escribir un renglón
Aunque mi pluma es inepta
Carece de ilustración


Ahora hablaré de Zapata
Que en Chinameca murió
Muerto por Jesús Guajardo
Bajo una infame traición


Murió el caudillo suriano
Enemigo al español å
Cuyo elemento insano
Que tanto odia el luchador


Con el acero en la mano
Y con supremo valor
Gritaba: “Muera el tirano,
El déspota y el traidor”


Allá en los montes y valles
Se oyó el del cañón
También, se escuchan las ayas
Cuando el guerrero rodó


Herido por la metralla
Envuelto en sangre expiró
Por la libertad
Que el pobre pueblo perdió


Los que murieron, murieron
Y los que viven son hoy
Los que disfrutan los puestos
Sillas de gobernación


Allá en los campos de lucha
Pocos iban con valor
Ninguno quería un tener
Puesto ser gobernador


La muerte de ese caudillo
Dio lo gusto al español
Decían: “Ha muerto el bandito
Que tantos males causó

Es que estaban ofendidos
Del elemento opresor,
Porque sus fincas Zapata
En ruinas se las dejó


Zapata fue un gran patriota
Y peleó de corazón
Nunca de sangre una gota
De ramo por ambición


Sola que una mala nota
La opinión pública dio,
Fue la única derrota
El pobre pueblo perdió


Adiós, patriota esforzado
Adiós, bravo luchador
Leal y valiente soldado
Modelo de gran valor


Nunca el pueblo mexicana
Olvidará en su interior
Que el General Emiliano
Fue un grande defensor.

About the feeling of my mother country
I am going to write a line
Though my pen is inept
For it lacks illustration


Now I will speak of Zapata
Who died in Chinameca
Dead because of Jesús Guajardo
Trough an infamous betrayal


The military chief died
Enemy to the Spanish
Whose insane element
The fighter hates as much


With the sword in his hand
And with supreme valor
He shouted: “The tyrant dies
The tyrant and the traitor”


There in the mountains and the valleys
The sound of the canon was heard
Also, the nurses heard
When the soldier rolled


Hurt by the shrapnel
Wrapped in blood he died
For the liberty
That the poor town lost


Those who died, died
And those that lived are here today
Those that enjoy the places
Are in the chairs of government


There in the battle fields
Few went with honor
None of them wanted to have
The poisition of Governor


The death of that military leader
Who pleased the people
He (Guajardo) said: “The bandit has died
Who caused so many evils”

It was the townsfolk who were victims
Of the opressive element
Because Zapata’s farms
Were left in ruins


Zapata was a great patriot
And he fought with his heart
Never a drop of blood
Or a limb for his ambition


The only bad mark
Was the opinión the public gave
It was the only defeat
The poor town lost


Goodbye, strengthened patriot
Goodbye, brave fighter
Loyal and valient soldier
Model of great valor


Never will the Mexican people
Forget your soul
That General Emiliano Zapata
Was a grand defender.

 

Recuerdos de General Emiliano Zapata:

“Recuerdos de General Emiliano Zapata,” laments the death of the fearless agrarian reformer and Revolutionary hero. The Zapatista Movement was the, “most ideologically consistent movement of the revolution and,” (Warman, 92) and thus the death of their leader was a tragic event. We see in this corrido the line, “Con el acero en la mano,” (line 13) which although not identical to the “con la pistola en su mano” strophe that characterizes Gregorio Cortez, still illustrates Zapata as a cultural hero.
Despite his image as a hero, Zapata remained close to the common peasant, never letting issues of status or pomp cloud his consciousness. Zapata fought for his people and they responded with unfailing support and admiration as evidenced in this corrido. Warman continues, “The Zapatistas were volunteers; they never used forced recruitment and desertion was never really punished. They fought for and among their own people,” (Warman, 92). And Knight further expounds on this idea of communal involvement within the Zapatista movement. “It was a communal movement not just simply in the narrow sense of demanding the restitution and protection of communal lands but also because grievances, membership and objectives were constituted at the level of the community” (Knight, Vol.#1, 310). Zapata poetically illustrated this idea of personal and communal accountability, always fighting out of an innate desire to help his people and instigate sustainable agrarian reform. Through his actions and devotion to the constant fight for agrarian reform Zapata was able to unite and galvanize a valiant movement. Thus, he is remembered with great respect and admiration.

 

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