An interview with a descendent of Mexican folk hero and revolutionary, Catarino Garza

Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - Harlingen resident Federico “Fred” Garza delivered a handwritten note to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador when he met him in Matamoros last Monday.

Asked what he wrote in his note, Garza said: “I basically just thanked him for having made all the effort to finally recognize Catarino Garza, my great-great-uncle. I gave him a little note thanking him and telling him, it has taken 131 years but thanks to you, it happened.”

President López Obrador, otherwise known as AMLO, was in Matamoros to commemorate one of his heroes, Catarino Erasmo Garza Rodriguez, a Mexican revolutionary who fought to overthrow Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz. AMLO unveiled a monument to Catarino Garza, and also had the remains of Garza’s body returned to Mexico from Panama.

Catarino Garza, a former Mexican Consul in Missouri, was born in Matamoros on Nov. 25, 1859. He died in combat in Panama on March 8, 1895. He lived for a time in Brownsville. He is described in Wikipedia as a journalist, folk hero and revolutionary.

Catarino Garza was Fred Garza’s great-great-uncle. Catarino Garza’s brother, Encarnación, was Fred Garza’s great-grandfather. Catarino and Encarnación Garza fought together against Díaz’s army and the Texas Rangers.

The Rio Grande Guardian secured an exclusive audio interview with Fred Garza following the unveiling of a plaque for Catarino Garza last Wednesday at the old city cemetery in Brownsville. Mexico’s Consul in Brownsville, Judith Arrieta Munguia, gave the keynote speech at the event. This was immediately followed by the showing of a documentary about Catarino Garza that had been commissioned by the Mexican government. Fred Garza is featured in the documentary at the Harlingen gravesite of his great-grandfather. The documentary was shown at the Brownsville Historical Museum.
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