Jail, intimidation, and spying on the Flores Magón brothers

The movement led by the Flores Magón brothers came to discomfort and destabilize the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Díaz, because, through a free press, it denounced the various social, economic, cultural, and political abuses that the Porfirian government carried out against the lower classes of Mexican society.

The discomfort produced by the publications of Ricardo, Jesús, and Enrique motivated the authorities to imprison them and, consequently, to close any newspaper in which the Flores Magón brothers were involved. Such was the case with Regeneración, a publication that was born in August 1900 under the pen of Ricardo and his older brother Jesús.

The first blow received by the Flores Magón brothers came on May 21, 1901, when the police interrupted the printing press in Filomeno Mata, where the brothers Ricardo and Jesús were being held. Both were arrested, violated, and held incommunicado.

Despite the unjust action of the authorities in imprisoning the two main editors of Regeneración, this weekly continued to publish and denounce the despotic practices in which General Díaz was participating and overlapping with the presidential chair.

For their part, the brothers Ricardo and Jesús set out to expose from jail the arbitrary justice system through various appeals that they presented before the judges of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District, which today are preserved in the fund of the same name in the General Archive of the National Archive of the Nation (AGN).

In these files was recorded a condemnation of the authorities' sordidness and refusal to listen to the convincing evidence of Jesus and Ricardo, both outstanding jurists, demonstrating that they were victims of the Porfirian military dictatorship's censorship, which caused the oppression of thought and the subjugation of the free press as a measure of coercion against all opposition. They also complained about the long legal process they had to go through and the randomness and caprice of the Second Correctional Judge, who wouldn't let them out on bail.

After almost a year, Ricardo and Jesús were released from prison; however, the Porfirian regime maintained constant surveillance over the journalistic activities of the Flores Magón brothers. Ricardo and Enrique in particular, since Jesus had decided to withdraw from the struggle to rebuild his personal life.

On April 16, 1903, Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón, together with other colleagues of the newspaper El Hijo del Ahuizote, were arrested and imprisoned for the alleged crime of insulting the agents of authority. Faced with such unfairness, Ricardo, Enrique, and other prisoners worked together to show First Correctional Judge Gonzalo Espinosa his four responsibilities in the case against them in the Superior Court of Justice for the Federal District.

First, the arbitrary detention suffered by some people who were only in the printing press of the newspaper El Hijo del Ahuizote during the raid Second, the illegal detention was a result of the first correctional judge's lack of diligence toward the detainees. Third, the defendant's rights were violated by "not following the law exactly," and fourth, the prisoners were mistreated and treated inhumanely inside the jail. For example, the judge made it so they couldn't talk to each other, which was a cruel thing to do.

Even though he was accused, Judge Gonzalo Espinosa explained why he did what he did by citing the principles of imperative, prohibitive, and permissive laws. The Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District, on the other hand, only did what was necessary to clear Judge Espinosa of any legal responsibility for his arbitrary actions.

After a few months of unfair imprisonment, isolation, and bad treatment, the two brothers were set free with the warning that they would go back to jail if they continued to publish Regeneración or any other kind of text. They were also told they couldn't work with any printing press in Mexico.

For this reason, Ricardo and Enrique decided to move to the United States, a country that proudly boasted the nickname "Land of Freedom," which soon collapsed for the brothers, as Enrique pointed out that the U.S. authorities began a hostile follow-up on them.

This harassment can be known in detail thanks to the documents kept in the AGN, which show the close collaboration between the North American and Mexican authorities through the Foreign Affairs services, with the Mexican embassies being the points where all information related to the Flores Magón brothers and their activities were exchanged.

Among the practices observed, we can recognize the surveillance and espionage of undercover agents or secret police, who would inform about the main activities of Ricardo and Enrique, as well as of all the members of the Mexican Liberal Party (PLM). The goal of the secret spying was to put together files for upcoming legal cases that the government was already planning against the Magóns.

Another common practice was the interception and creation of copies of the correspondence of the Flores Magón brothers, especially during their stays in prison. Even though the information in the letters was private, that didn't stop the authorities from doing their jobs.

Finally, it can be pointed out that the Flores Magón brothers had an important role in the processes of the Mexican Revolution since they were able to organize and encourage a libertarian movement from the United States that contributed to putting an end to the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Díaz. However, the U.S. authorities were determined to keep General Diaz in the presidential chair and proceeded against Ricardo and Enrique, as well as against any member of the Mexican Liberal Party, who was unjustly accused of the alleged "violation of the neutrality laws."

This situation postponed a process that would be led by Francisco I. Madero years later, but it also led to the development of much more critical and radical thinking by Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón, which aimed not to overthrow a dictatorial government but to establish another with a democratic lining. The Magonistas' thoughts and ideas were focused on looking for a different kind of freedom, one that was more like anarcho-syndicalism in that it was for everyone.