"Although the list of female subscribers of the newsweekly was extensive, from peasants and workers to service workers, not all joined the cultural activities as a form of political protest. But militants such as Balbina Yáñez, Agustina Cantú Garza, Margarita Cendejas, Domitila Acuña, among others, publicly placed themselves in favor of the Party, in favor of the declarations made in Regeneración against the various other political factions of the Mexican Revolution, particularly against Madero’s faction, these women reproached Francisco I. Madero for the arrest of the militant Prisciliano Silva, and did so by saying:
We the undersigned, female workers freed of the stubborn worries that has kept humanity enslaved, applaud the stance that you (Ricardo) have taken against the traitor Francisco I. Madero who dared arrest comrade Silva.
They were women who constantly moved from one city to another and made great tours of propaganda that functioned as cultural events that served as important spaces where anarchist identity and culture was fostered, primarily among Mexicans, using symbols emblematic of their culture. For example, in the various tours women, men and children attended who were tasked with singing the hymn ¡Tierra y Libertad! written by Enrique Flores Magón and published in Regeneración, the singing of the hymn served as one of the main numbers of the tour’s program.
They held fundraisers, sold newspapers, and backed the formation of Regeneración clubs and groups. For example, in February 1911, María Talavera was in El Paso, Texas, where she was asked to back the formation of Club Liberal Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez (Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez Liberal Club), founded solely by women, whose representatives were Refugio Montero and Matilde Mota, subscribers to the newsweekly and party militants.
Regeneración liberal clubs and groups created by women accomplished the same functions as those of the men. The female militants sold the newsweekly, organized fundraisers, gatherings and meetings in Mexico as well as in Southern United States. They were equally persecuted by the police of both countries. Matilde Mota and Basilisa Franco –the romantic partner of Fernando Palomarez– were detained in Juarez City, Chihuahua on December 1912, when they were going to distribute the newsweekly copies:
Then the lackeys read us a stupid decree where it was let known that the distribution of Regeneración was forbidden within the domains of Don Francisco I. Madero. The result: we were expelled from Mexico because it was said that we belonged to God knows what secret society, the expulsion came with a sermon from the outlaws that Madero keeps on a payroll. Infuriated, we returned offense with offense and spat in the face of those wretched people.
The quote above from Matilde Mota and Basilisa Franco shows us that they were foundational in the forming of networks that distributed the newsweekly, as much in Mexico as in the United States. Another militant such as María Talavera, from Los Angeles, was charged with maintaining the registry and exchange of printed material with the Havana paper ¡Tierra! as well as sending its editors the money gained from its respective sale in Los Angeles.
The female militants were not only important in the raising of funds for the party and its propagandistic means, but they also played a foundational role in the spreading and building of PLM’s libertarian culture in the varied and formal social spaces where they held plays, read and wrote anarchist books and poetry, sang revolutionary hymns and songs, encapsulating the new language that they had quickly internalized since their publication in anarchist papers, Regeneración included.
Female management of public spaces was obvious when they gained ground and were seen as an example of strength, feeling confident in that their militant praxis was the way to become free of every form of oppression. At times they were praised, for example, on stage; the presence of Concepción Arredondo, also known as Concha Rivera, 'caused long and prolonged applause, which was repeated throughout the evening every time her name was mentioned.'"
–Gabriela López Ruiz, "After the Traces of the Women Libertarians in Regeneración, 1907-1918" (2024)
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