Revolutionary Women - Men Aren't the Only Ones Who Revolutio

[Sasafrás]

I found this article on Mi Gente (http://www.migente.com). It's about women revolutionaries in Latin America. It was written by Gabriella Leff (http://members.migente.com/gmleff/)

In the course of documented history, men often take center stage, but we know the truth: that women have been making a difference for centuries. In celebration of Women`s Heritage Month here are several revolutionary women who didn`t take no for an answer, who broke the chains of convention, who stood by their ideals and passionately fought for the changes they knew were necessary. From over a hundred years ago to today, it takes just one woman to make a revolution.

Las Adelitas
Las Adelitas have been a symbol of power since the early 1900s and with good reason. During the Mexican Revolution in 1910 these women were staunch defenders of political, social and economic equality, with many serving as capitanas and organizing revolutionary armies. They were named after Pancho Villa`s lover, Adele, who is said to have ridden on the same horse with him in his fight for justice for the poor. In the 1970s a new group of women took on the title of Las Adelitas and carried on the original mission of valiantly fighting alongside the men during the 70`s Chicano movement.

Lolita Lebron
There are moments when extreme measures are necessary and Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebron knew the time had come as she led three fellow puertorriqueños (Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores and Andres Figueroa) in an attack on the U.S. House of Representatives on March 1, 1954. Several congressmen were wounded during the attack that protested the U.S`s presence in Puerto Rico, yet during the incursion Lebron was quoted as saying, "I did not come to kill, I came to die." She served 20 years in prison until her pardon by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Proving that activism is an ageless occupation, Lebron was arrested at 80 in 1999 when she participated in a peaceful protest in Vieques.

Mirabal sisters
The Mirabal sisters, also known as Las Mariposas, tirelessly campaigned against Rafael Leonidas Trujillo`s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and were symbols of popular and feminist resistance. Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Dede, and their husbands, were repeatedly arrested for revolutionary activities relating to democracy and justice. On November 25, 1960 they were murdered by Trujillo`s secret police. Ironically, they achieved even greater power in their deaths as news of their murders outraged the nation and fueled the anti-Trujillo movement. Today, Nov. 25 is commemorated as the International Non-Violence Against Women Day.

Lola Rodriguez de Tio
Born in San German, Puerto Rico, Lola Rodriguez de Tio was exiled throughout her life for her revolutionary activities. In 1868, inspired by the call for Puerto Rican independence known as the Grito de Lares, she wrote the patriotic lyrics to the popular song La Borinqueña,, which got her into hot water with Spanish authorities. The family was forced to flee to Venezuela, but returned years later. In 1887 she was exiled again and fled to Havana. There she mingled with politicians, intellectuals and other exiled Puerto Ricans. Her revolutionary book, Mi Libro de Cuba, won her a final exile to New York City. There she helped Jose Marti and made the historic suggestion that Puerto Rico model its flag after the Cuban flag with the colors reversed.

Ingrid Betancourt
After living in France with her husband for many years, Ingrid Betancourt`s concern for family and friends in Colombia brought her home determined to establish democracy and ethics in Colombia at any cost. Now the 40 year-old Colombian senator and presidential candidate is intent on leading the war against devastating corruption. She recently wrote her memoir, Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia, detailing her crusade against drug-trafficking and political corruption. Her book points fingers at corrupt politicians and she has even denounced her opponents in the presidential race. FARC guerrillas recently kidnapped Betancourt. And while her fate remains unknown, her actions have shaken Colombia`s political foundation.

It was really interesting and I thought I'd share it with ya'll. The only ones I really knew about were "The Mirabal Sisters" and I learned about them from the Showtime film, In The Time of the Butterflies. There is also a book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452274427/qid=1016677637/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_7_1/103-4435625-9715030). Hope you enjoyed the article!

Peace, Love, and Girl Power! :)


(Edited by La Rainbeaux at 3:12 pm on Mar. 21, 2002)

[Natalenko]

You should read "Guerrilla Warfare" Che has some FUCKED UP veiws on the role of women in the revolution!

[CheGuevara]

I disagree. I don't understand what you're talking about comrade.

(Edited by CheGuevara at 3:51 am on Mar. 21, 2002)

[El Che]

Hey La Rainbeaux nice article, but you should just paste it in italic or something coz its really hard to read in those small letters :)

[I Will Deny You]

Good article. There were also lots of Jewish women in Eastern Europe who were great communist/anarchist theorists. (Emma Goldman and Rosa Luxemburg are probably the two most famous.)

What did Che say in Guerilla Warfare? I know he was really close with Tania, but that's pretty much it.

[Sasafrás]

Yeah, what did Che say? :confused:

[Angie]

Portion of Guerilla Warfare
Taken from: Red Encyclopedia (http://www.red-encyclopedia.org/), to save me typing it all out.

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THE ROLE OF THE WOMAN

The part that the woman can play in the development of a revolutionary process is of extraordinary importance. It is well to emphasize this, since in all our countries, with their colonial mentality, there is a certain underestimation of the woman which becomes a real discrimination against her.

The woman is capable of performing the most difficult tasks, of fighting beside the men; and despite current belief, she does not create conflicts of a sexual type in the troops.

In the rigorous combatant life the woman is a companion who brings the qualities appropriate to her sex, but she can work the same as a man and she can fight; she is weaker, but no less resistant than he. She can perform every class of combat task that a man can at a given moment, and on certain occasions in the Cuban struggle she performed a relief role.

Naturally the combatant women are a minority. When the internal front is being consolidated and it is desirable to remove as many combatants as possible who do not possess indispensable physical characteristics, the women can be assigned a considerable number of specific occupations, of which one of the most important, perhaps the most important, is communication between different combatant forces, above all between those that are in enemy territory. The transport of objects, messages, or money, of small size and great importance, should be confided to women in whom the guerrilla army has absolute confidence; women can transport them using a thousand tricks; it is a fact that however brutal the repression, however thorough the searching, the woman receives a less harsh treatment than the man and can carry her message or other object of an important or confidential character to its destination.

As a simple messenger, either by word of mouth or of writing, the woman can always perform her task with more freedom than the man, attracting less attention and at the same time inspiring less fear of danger in the enemy soldier. He who commits brutalities acts frequently under the impulse of fear or apprehension that he himself will be attacked, since this is one form of action in guerrilla warfare.

Contacts between separated forces, mess ages to the exterior of the lines, even to the exterior of the country; also objects of considerable size, such as bullets, are transported by women in special belts worn beneath their skirts. But also in this stage a woman can perform her habitual tasks of peacetime; it is very pleasing to a soldier subjected to the extremely hard conditions of this life to be able to look forward to a seasoned meal which tastes like something. (One of the great tortures of the war was eating a cold, sticky, tasteless mess.) The woman as cook can greatly improve the diet and, furthermore, it is easier to keep her in these domestic tasks; one of the problems in guerrilla bands is that all works of a civilian character are scorned by those who perform them; they are constantly trying to get out of these tasks in order to enter into forces that are actively in combat.

A task of great importance for women is to teach beginning reading, including revolutionary theory, primarily to the peasants of the zone, but also to the revolutionary soldiers. The organization of schools, which is a part of the civil organization, should be done principally through women, who arouse more enthusiasm among children and enjoy more affection from the school community. Likewise, when the fronts have been consolidated and a rear exists, the functions of the social worker also fall to women who investigate the various economic and social evils of the zone with a view to changing them as far as possible.

The woman plays an important part in medical matters as nurse, and even as doctor, with a gentleness infinitely superior to that of her rude companion in arms, a gentleness that is so much appreciated at moments when a man is helpless, without comforts, perhaps suffering severe pain and exposed to the many dangers of all classes that are a part of this type of war.

Once the stage of creating small war industries has begun, the woman can also contribute here, especially in the manufacture of uniforms, a traditional employment of women in Latin American countries. With a simple sewing machine and a few patterns she can perform marvels. Women can take part in all lines of civil organization. They can replace men perfectly well and ought to do so, even where persons are needed for carrying weapons, though this is a rare accident in guerrilla life.

It is important to give adequate indoctrination to men and women, in order to avoid all kinds of misbehavior that can operate to hurt the morale of the troops; but persons who are otherwise free and who love each other should be permitted to marry in the Sierra and live as man and wife after complying with the simple requirements of the guerrilla band.

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Speaking AS a woman, I think it's a perfectly decent view of women in general.

Quite empowering, actually; Che's not talking about putting women into the "barefoot and pregnant" category at all - I doubt very much that he meant to say, "Regardless of what women are good at, they should be put in a role of sewing uniforms, etc." - rather, he simply pointed out that the 'overall' female culture at that time (in that area) had a strength in those sorts of areas, and should be encouraged to continue what they're good at, knowing it would help the cause to have effective workers. I would consider that a compliment, personally.

At not one point did he actually say a woman could not be a guerilla soldier, whether out of anyone else's sexist wishes or their supposed "lack of strength". He claimed they were quite well-equipped both emotionally and physically to be in such a combatant position, and matter-of-factly knocked down the old ideal that women would be a negative influence upon the rest of the troops.

I give Che full credit for being so honest and knocking down the old ideals.