L.A. daily La Opinión (August 3, 1936).
Mexico’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War. The circumstances surrounding this stark difference were a direct result of the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
Graduate Award Carlos Nava “The Mexican-American Press and the Spanish Civil War” is one chapter of a larger thesis that examines how the Spanish Civil War affected several diverse Hispanic communities in the United States. Utilizing a transnational approach, this essay explores the unique position of the Mexican exiled press in the American Southwest. Unlike their Spanish language counterparts in the Eastern United States who favored the Spanish Republic, the Mexican expatriated press overwhelmingly leaned in favor of the Spanish Nationalists and were critical of
Before the revolution, the Mexican expatriated press in the United States was a vastly liberal institution enmeshed in revolutionary ideas. During the regime of Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, the open border between the U.S. and Mexico allowed revolutionary writers to seek refuge in the United States. Between 1885 and 1910, several Mexican revolutionary publications relocated to the American Southwest. However, by the 1930s the conflict in Mexico was over and the Mexican revolutionary press in the Southwest had dwindled. Yet, the fall of the Diez regime did not mark the end of the Mexican origin press in the United States. Between 1900 and 1930, one million Mexicans crossed the border into the United States. Many were refugees and political exiles, including Mexican conservative writers who resettled in the United States and established the Mexican exiled press. They represented the exiled conservative elite of Mexican society. Along with other conservative publications in Mexico, they repeatedly criticized the domestic and foreign policies of Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas, including his administration’s support for the Spanish Republic, and some regularly published pro-Nationalist editorials during the Spanish Civil War.
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Recovering Plundered Real Estate from the Franco Family By Robert S. Coale
From 1939 to 1975 a manor located in the province of La Coruña, Galicia, was used as a summer residence and office by the dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco. For the last fifteen years, a diverse group of activists has put the spotlight on the questionable claim of ownership by descendants of the dictator. In September, the regional judge Marta Canales ruled in favor of the State in a 370-page decision which now requires the grandchildren of Franco to relinquish the property called the “Pazo de Meirás.” Although legal representatives for the defendants have announced an appeal, the ruling is the first step towards putting an end to 82 years of Franco family presence in the manor.
T
he manor or “pazo,” the Galician term for this type of structure, was built between 1893 and 1900 for one of the region’s most renowned writers, Emilia Bardo Bazán, (1851-1921), whose book collection is still housed in its library. The key point of contention concern-
ing ownership of the property dates to the Spanish Civil War. In early 1938, a group of business leaders from La Coruña proposed a residence for the new “Caudillo” as a way to ingratiate the regional capital once the war ended. With his seasonal presence, the ensuing cabinet meetings
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