Tecos (far right)

Mexico's far-right forces are rooted in the conservative Catholic movement of the 1920s Kristeros . In that conflict, the bourgeois-liberal government defeated the feudal clerical forces. The long-term rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ) formed a kind of social ideology in which revolutionary traditions occupied an important place ^[1] .

This ideology was noticeably reflected in all the political forces of Mexico, including conservative and right-wing radicals. They spoke under the slogans of the struggle against the dictatorship of the left , for social and religious freedom, defended the violated rights of "church and civil corporations." Mexican right-wing radicalism began to take shape in the 1930s, as a reaction to Lazaro Cardenas' left- reformist course and the strengthening of Stalinist and Trotskyist communist organizations. Back in 1913 , during the Mexican Revolution, a Jesuit of French origin Bernardo Bergend created the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth ( ACJM ) ^[2] , which became the foundation of the right-wing Catholic movement, including Tecos.

University Center

The first field of confrontation was the educational system. Right-wing circles strongly opposed its construction in a socialist and pro-communist spirit, which was characteristic of public policy. The milestone of the Mexican ultra-right was March 3, 1935 . A group of young anti-communists established the Autonomous University of Guadalajara ( UAG ), Mexico's first private university. The founder group was led by a 23-year-old lawyer Carlos Cuesta Gallardo ^[3] However, the real leadership soon passed to the entrepreneur Antonio Leagno Alvarez del Castillo , a representative of the UAG family of owners ^[4] .

In the worldview of Leagno and Gallardo, Mexican traditionalism kristeros, orientation towards Spanish Francoism were intertwined with sympathies for Nazism , racism and anti-Semitism ^[5] . Subsequently, Gallardo visited the Third Reich , in contact with Hitler and Rosenberg . According to some reports, he planned to create Mexican pro-Nazi formations against the United States on the Rio Grande ^[6] .

From the very beginning, the UAG in Guadalajara has become a center of consolidation of the extreme right-wing forces of the country. The ideology generated here combined diverse, sometimes mutually exclusive principles: free enterprise and corporatism , university autonomy and authoritarian rule, Catholic traditions and hostility to the Vatican . Such contradictions were removed on the basis of extreme anti-communism, which was the core of ideology and politics. Despite the traditional motifs of anti-Americanism in ideology, Tecos maintained close ties with the right-wing circles of the United States ^[1] .

Guadalajara is one of the largest cities in Mexico, the capital of the state of Jalisco , an important industrial and financial center. Right-wing radicalism here was actively supported by the Catholic, intellectual and business circles, military and civilian anti-communists. These forces were worried about the growth of communist influence and believed that the ruling PRI consciously condones the communists. Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba as a special incentive. The Cuban revolution was seen as a dangerous precedent that directly threatened Mexico ^[7] .

Ambiguous name

Already in the 1930s, the term Tecos ( Tecos ) appeared to denote ultra-right activists: abbreviated from Tecolotes - owls , owls , in the broad sense - night ones , sometimes police officers ^[8] .

One of the university’s most amusing counterarguments was that the word texos (owl) refers to the student’s habit of staying up until late at night. This explanation made the daughter of one of the tecos members laugh. “Of course, texos are owls with red eyes. They do not sleep at night, trimming their affairs ” ^[6] .

There is another, abbreviated reading of Tecos: Tarea Educativa y Cultural Hacia el Orden y la Síntesis - Education and culture as the creation of order and synthesis ^[9] , but it is rarely used.

In Mexican Politics

Tecos was not an officially structured organization. The movement was an informal network of autonomous cells ^[6] . More often legal, sometimes clandestine, these cells were connected by the unity of the far-right integralist ideology, the university base and the indisputable leadership of the leading group of administrators and teachers of UAG. The informal UAG discipline was actually harder than the party.

Large student and political organizations - the University Movement of the Renewal Orientation ( MURO ), the University Anti-Communist Front ( FUA ) ^[10] , the Jalisco Student Federation ( FEJ ), the Christian Nationalist Movement ( MNC ) ^[7] - were under significant influence from Tecos. The Tecos' organization base was also provided by the Popular Anti-Communist Front of Mexico ( FPAM ), led by veteran right-wing Catholic movement Jorge Prieto Laurens , who had previously led the National Cooperative Party ^[11] . FPAM was intermediate between the PRI and the opposition right-wing National Action Party ( PAN ). The organization advocated the democratization of the political system, but also for a tough opposition to communism and the USSR ^[7] . In May 1954, Prieto Laurence organized a congress of anti-communist organizations in Central America in Mexico City . This forum played a significant role in the consolidation of the right-wing forces of the region and the overthrow of the left-wing president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz ^[12] .

Originally Tecos, they continued the conservative Catholic tradition. But since the 1950s, it began to be replaced by the ideology of neo-fascism . This was facilitated by the involvement of young activists from the student, military and entrepreneurial circles, whose typical representative was the closest ally of Gagliardo - UGA lawyer Raimundo Guerrero . September 29, 1968 Gallardo and Guerrero created the Federation of Mexican Anticommunists of the West ( Federación Mexicana Anticomunista de Occidente , FEMACO ) - to actively counter the Soviet-Cuban and Chinese expansion in the Western Hemisphere. FEMACO - chaired by Guerrero, with a center in Guadalajara and UAG - has grown into the organizational core of a ramified anti-communist coalition. Under the influence of Tecos, especially in Jalisco, there were dozens of organizations ^[13] . They were joined by anti-communist PAN activists, the military, landowners and industrialists, clergy and Catholic leaders.

Of the PAN members, the extreme right adjoined Tecos, dissatisfied with the moderate position of the party leadership. Among business circles, there are proponents of economic liberalism who reject government statist policies. From the Catholic milieu there are traditionalists who disagree with the renovation decisions of the Second Vatican Council .

An important reason for the split in Mexican Catholic society was that the Second Vatican Council left only the function of spiritual communication for church parishes, while the right-wing forces regarded them as an instrument of “Catholic action” - civil and political ^[14] . Tecos did not stop at an open conflict with the Archbishop of Mexico Dario Miranda, accused the Vatican of “complicity with communism” and opposed the ideas and principles of Marcel Lefebvre ^[7] . The Pope Paul Paul VI was subjected to sharp attacks, although with proper decorum , for his "condescension" to the theology of liberation . The spiritual leader of Tecos was the traditionalist priest and sedevacantist Joaquin Saens Arriaga . For his speeches, he was excommunicated, but Tecos did not recognize this act ^[1] . A fierce struggle, including the physical one, was waged by Tecos against another far-right Catholic organization - the El Yunque ( “Anvil” ) movement, which was ideologically almost identical, but recognized the primacy of the Vatican and the Pope ^[15] . On the other hand, there are speculations about the secret connections between Tecos and El Yunque ^[16] .

The main method of activity of Tecos was the intensive propaganda and the creation of cells of cultural and political influence. Since 1967, Tecos has been publishing the influential Replica Magazine ^[13] - with the first editorial announcing "an implacable confrontation with the international communist conspiracy encroaching on the freedom and independence of peoples." The publication maintained contact with Aginter Press and actually acted as a “collective organizer” of the ultra-right. Tecos actively penetrated the legal opposition PAN. The result was a peculiar internal split in the PAN between conservative veterans and young ultra-right radicals-Tecos ^[8] .

The Tecos system included both public structures and the “shadow” part. Of the student athletes who sympathize with the military and criminal youth, street militia units were formed. A large force action by Tecos took place in Guadalajara on May 27, 1958 : armed students of the UAG defeated the technical institute ITESO , which was considered the stronghold of the left ^[17] . The Tecos militants supported President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz in the 1968 clashes. ^[10] A system of training young people in martial arts was established, a number of force actions were carried out.

The public political leader of Tecos was Raimundo Guerrero. Carlos Cuesta Gallardo was the main ideologist and strategist. Financing and organizational structure was supervised by Antonio Leagno Alvarez del Castillo, the main owner of UAG. Operational coordination was carried out by Jorge Prieto Laurens. The propaganda system was led by the famous journalist Rafael Rodriguez Lopez ^[7] .

In international anti-communism

In the first half of the 1950s, Gallardo actively worked on establishing the organizational and political ties of UAG with other universities in Latin America. Particularly close cooperation was established with the far-right structures of Argentina . Despite the anti-American elements of his ideology, Gallardo managed to establish contacts with US financial institutions and attract large funds from the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation to the UAG budget. The unifying platform here was anti-communism ^[5] .

On November 7, 1966, the World Anti-Communist League ( WACL ) was established. The formation of WACL structures in Mexico was undertaken by Tecos ^[14] . The influence of Tecos has reached such proportions that the VI WACL 1972 conference was held in the Mexican capital Mexico City (for the first time outside the Asian continent). The Latin American Anti-Communist Confederation ( CAL ) was established - a regional structure of the WACL, chaired by Guerrero ^[18] . In 1974 , a congress of the World League of Anti-Communist Youth was held in Guadalajara ^[9] . A large number of international students at UAG contributed to international contacts.

As part of the CAL, Tecos has established close operational ties with the Central American ultra-right and death squads - the Guatemalan National Liberation Movement , the Salvadoran Nationalist Republican Alliance , and the Costa Rica Freedom Movement . Tecos also maintained allied relations with the Anti-Communist Alliance of Argentina , the Taiwanese Kuomintang , and the Cuban émigré organization Alpha 66 ^[1] .

Tecos was considered as a unit of Operation Condor and Operation Gladio ^[19] . Raimundo Guerrero was seen as the Mexican counterpart to Mario Sandoval Alarcon and Roberto d'Aubusson . Tecos fully embraced the principle characteristic of the WACL principle of "white partisanism" ^[5] - a tough violent rebuff to the "red" communists and the left. The point of confrontation - in political struggle, journalistic criticism, street clashes - was directed against the Mexican Communist Party ^[13] .

Shadow component

In Tecos, there was a “National Operational Command” structure responsible for power actions. Its leaders were Antonio Leagno Reyes (son and successor of Leagno Alvarez del Castillo) and UAG functionary Umberto Davalos Herrera . A paramilitary organization was also created in 1971 by Jorge Prieto Laurens ^[11] .

Ordinary militants recruited mostly from university sports teams. The structure practiced rituals of entry stylized under the Middle Ages, oaths of allegiance to the organization, its principles and leaders ^[9] . Leano Alvarez del Castillo, Leano Reyes and Davalos Herrera were accused of political killings, but were never brought to trial ^[4] .

A US citizen, a former professor at the University of Guadalajara, a Tecos supporter, inadvertently revealed the organization’s inner kitchen. It is about an oath of allegiance, about the pressure exerted on professors of various nationalities to persuade them to become members of a secret society. This professor stated:
- Basically, the university is divided into three areas. These are university administrative staff and professors, graduate students and students who follow each other and determine their political orientation, and, finally, tekos.
“Can Tecos take part in the affairs of the death squads?”
- I do not know. But I will not be surprised if this is so ^[6] .

The mid-1970s was marked by a sharp aggravation of the political situation in Mexico. Radical communist organizations carried out a number of terrorist acts and abductions in 1974-1975, including in Guadalajara. В ответ последовали силовые атаки Текос. Однако эти события не приобрели характера затяжных гражданских войн (как в Гватемале или в Сальвадоре ). Полиция и спецслужбы быстро подавили подобные действия с обеих сторон ^[17] . Правящие круги Мексики, правительство, силовые структуры и PRI не оказывали поддержки Текос, относились к ним скорее враждебно и осуществляли полицейское преследование (этим положение мексиканских ультраправых существенно отличалось от гватемальских и сальвадорских аналогов). Сильный удар по Текос был нанесён в апреле 1970 — полиция ликвидировала штаб-квартиру, изъяла документы и пропагандистские материалы, арестовала несколько сотен активистов. В силовом аспекте Текос не развились до масштабов Mano Blanca или FAR . Однако сами Текос ставили себя в один ряд с этими организациями ^[5] .

30 мая 1984 в Мехико был убит известный журналист-расследователь Мануэль Буэндиа , опубликовавший цикл статей с разоблачениями Текос (в частности, о связях мексиканских ультраправых с ЦРУ ). Первоначально подозрения пали на боевиков Текос ^[14] . Однако впоследствии выяснилось, что Буэндиа погиб в результате заговора правительственных чиновников и спецслужб, недовольных его публикациями.

Главным смыслом деятельности Текос являлся антикоммунизм. Закономерно, что во второй половине 1980-х эта деятельность пошла на спад — Перестройка и распад СССР дезактуализировали коммунистическую угрозу. Симптоматично, что последний, 204-й номер Replica вышел в январе 1987 — незадолго до Пленума ЦК КПСС, взявшего курс на гласность и политическую реформу.

В новых политических условиях — с начала 1990-х — движение Текос заметно снизило активность. Исторические лидеры ушли из жизни либо отошли от политики. Однако активисты Текос участвуют в мексиканской внутренней политике, особенно на уровне штата Халиско. Ректором UAG является Леаньо Рейес, университет остаётся цитаделью крайне правых сил ^[8] . На выборах 2000 Текос поддержали правого кандидата PAN Висенте Фокса (он был избран президентом, прервав десятилетия властной монополии PRI) ^[14] .

Современные Текос участвуют в движении MIRA , которое силовыми методами противостоит сапатистам ^[10] . В середине 1990-х сапатисты временно актуализировали антикоммунистический фактор и способствовали активизации этой традиции ^[20] . Текос яростно враждебны « социализму XXI века », наследию Уго Чавеса , режимам Николаса Мадуро , Эво Моралеса , Даниэля Ортеги . Представителем этих сил в Мексике они считают Андреса Мануэля Лопеса Обрадора ^[21] , избранного президентом Мексики на выборах 2018 ^[22] .

Идеи, политика и кадры Текос присутствуют в национал-корпоративистском Националистическом фронте Мексики ( FRENAMEX ). Идеология FRENAMEX отразила идейную эволюцию Текос. В ней резко усилились мотивы традиционализма, консерватизма и даже монархизма . Прославляются Первая Мексиканская империя Итурбиде и Вторая Мексиканская империя Максимилиана , исторические деятели типа Мигеля Мирамона и Томаса Мехиа . FRENAMEX требует аннулировать договор Гуадалупе-Идальго , вернуть территории, отошедшие от Мексики к США в результате американо-мексиканской войны . Выступая с позиций крайнего национализма , FRENAMEX добивается запрета иммиграции в Мексику и депортации из страны гаитянских и африканских мигрантов ^[23] .

С другой стороны, Текос смыкаются с национал-синдикалистским и нео фалангистским движением мексиканских синархистов — католическим интегралистским движением DHIAC и женской традиционалистской ассоциацией ANCIFEM . Главными продолжателями традиции Текос в современной Мексике воспринимаются ректор UAG Антонио Леаньо Рейес и председатель FRENAMEX Хуан Карлос Лопес Ли .

В историческом аспекте Текос рассматриваются как пример ультраправого радикализма, порождаемого католической средой, отличающегося особой жёсткостью и догматизмом ^[24] .