Mexican reformer and activist Ricardo Flores Magón was instrumental in disseminating the beliefs and principles that led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, and he did so from the U.S. After fleeing Mexico in 1903 following his third arrest for opposing President Porfirio Díaz — who ruled the country under a dictatorship that limited personal liberties and the free press — and after surviving an assassination attempt in Texas, Flores Magón set his sights on St. Louis.
“St. Louis was essentially a sanctuary for him,” said historian and Mex Stl researcher Francisco Perez. “St. Louis was far enough from the reach of the dictator, but it also had the radical politics that aligned with his views to defend democracy and the working class.”
That sanctuary wouldn’t last long. In 1907, Flores Magón fled St. Louis to evade capture by private detective Thomas Furlong, who was hired by the Mexican government with the hope of extraditing him to Mexico. But the nearly two years Flores Magón lived in St. Louis were pivotal to shaping his views.
“Flores Magón was radicalized by other St. Louisans and the St. Louis labor [movement],” Perez said, adding that Flores Magón met political activist Emma Goldman, labor union leader Samuel Gompers and suffragist Jane Addams during that time. “Here, Ricardo Flores Magon began to question all kinds of power, and here, he understood the importance of building a people-powered movement.”
It was from his St. Louis apartment in Midtown that Flores Magón wrote and distributed the newspaper Regeneración. Copies were smuggled to 20,000 readers throughout Mexico and the U.S. via envelopes hidden on cargo trains. The leftist publication raised awareness of growing wealth inequality, labor exploitation and political corruption in both countries.
“He connected the struggles of the American working class with that of the Mexican working class,” Perez said. “St. Louis was this link for an international labor movement at that time — for workers to fight for their rights to form unions [and] to speak up against exploitation.”
In 1905, Flores Magón established the Mexican Liberal Party and became its most visible leader.
Flores Magón left St. Louis in 1907. Although detective Furlong caught him in Los Angeles soon after, the Mexican government was not able to secure his extradition. In the following years, Flores Magón was jailed multiple times for conspiracy under U.S. neutrality laws, though he still managed to smuggle his writings for publication.
“He said, and I quote, ‘Let paper be my greatest weapon,’” Perez said.
In 1911, President Díaz resigned and went into exile following armed uprisings in Mexico.
Flores Magón remained in the U.S. during the Mexican Revolution. In 1918, he was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917, the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and mailing indecent material. In 1922, he was found dead in his cell at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.
Perez said Flores Magón’s legacy is still remembered by Mexicans today.
“Some even say that the revolution continues,” he said. “The fight for democracy continues today. Mexicans still resonate with his messaging — with his vision for an equal, democratic Mexico.”
This week, Perez will bring Flores Magón’s story to a St. Louis audience as part of the Missouri History Museum’s Saturday Speaker Series. He said the revolutionary’s life and work is important to understanding St. Louis' international connections throughout history — and the contemporary issues both Americans and Mexicans face today.
“Americans and Mexicans have come to grapple [with] the following questions: What does it mean to be an American? What is democracy? What should it look like? Who should be included?” he said. “We're grappling with these questions again, as we did in the late 19th century and the early 20th.”
To learn more about how Flores Magón connected the struggles of the American working class with that of the Mexican working class, how St. Louis' labor movement shaped Flores Magón’s worldview and why, more than a century later, the activist’s politics still resonate, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Revolution from Exile: Ricardo Flores Magón in St. Louis
When: 9:30 a.m. Jan. 31
Where: Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
