THE
INSURGENCE of CHAN SANTA CRUZ
THE FIRST of the BOOKS of CHANGE
Over
the first two decades of the 20th century, the only successful Native American
insurgence on the North American continent was waged in Mexico’s Yucatan. President Porfirio
Diaz’s ambitious commissioning of General Ignacio Bravo to seize and hold Chan
Santa Cruz, capital of the revolted Maya, succeeded… but the forces of
occupation found themselves surrounded by patient, implacable rebels and their
equally implacable monte.
In
this sixth book (of 10), strong winds of change are blowing over the Republic;
the gente decente
experiencing fear or opportunity or, perhaps, the both. Some of the younger generation,
contemporaries of the Macias brothers, now openly support strange little
Francisco Madero, despite his loss to Diaz in electoral and military combat and
subsequent exile in Texas. Rigoberto, a
supporter of the dandy General Reyes whose bid to replace the corrupt Vice
President Corral has failed, now enlists in an even more daring enterprise… the
secession of the southeast states and the territory of Quintana Roo and either independence or union with the United
States. As revolutionary armies under
Orozco, Villa and Zapata gain territory and support, the iron fist of the Porfirismo begins to rust under the baleful influence of
Halley’s Comet, overhead.
In
the territory, Jose Macias contends with a slovenly regime under a nonagenarian
General who is going slowly mad. Beset
by his concubine and the sinister wizard Chankik, and
mindful of the ill winds circulating in the Capital, he begins to gather his
wealth as Madero returns, forcing Diaz and Corral to resign and assuming the
Presidency. Cleaning the stables, so to
speak, he orders Bravo replaced by an even older loyalist whose march from
Merida to Santa Cruz encounters resistance from shadowy quarters. General Rivera’s eventual arrival in the
capital, however, impels Bravo and Jose to entrust their wealth to the brutal
prison overseer, El Chacol, to convey it to the coast
– where it can be transported overseas.
This
proves an unwise decision.
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JULY 17, 2017 |
JULY 24, 2017 |
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