Smith: The Cabalgata Binaciónal Villista

The plan was to cross the border at Palomas, Mexico, drive south and then intercept riders who were coming north to Palomas for the night. Given the turmoil between our two countries, I wanted to see how these Mexican horsemen and horsewomen would react to an American attempting to interview and photograph them.

This was the Cabalgata Binaciónal Villista or Binational Villa Cavalcade, an event I first attended in 2014 and one that may be in danger of extinction.

It takes place every year on the Saturday closest to March 9, the day in 1916 when Pancho Villa’s troops attacked tiny Columbus, New Mexico. Villa had been a friend of the US and had met with General John F. “Black Jack” Pershing at Fort Bliss but when President Woodrow Wilson supported his rival, Venustiano Carranza, he turned against the US. And he was also hoping to capture needed horses. The result of the raid was the loss of 18 Americans, about 80 of Villa’s troops, and some 100 horses and mules plus Pershing’s pursuit of him with thousands of troops with, for the first time, trucks and planes.

Pershing and his aide, George S. Patton were unsuccessful in their chase but gained valuable experience for their military futures in both world wars.

Villa is still a powerful influence in the area with the Pancho Villa State Park on the edge of Columbus and the beautiful statue of Villa in front of the municipal building in Palomas.

My plan to interview some of the riders was a flop. The weather was brutal – high winds and thick dust. The riders were gathered some five miles south of Palomas – a chaotic scene of trucks and horse trailers, horses and riders, police escorts with flashing lights. There was no way to stop my car, and I was lucky to work my way through this crowd and drive back to Palomas.

The usual ceremony there was shortened as riders scattered for cover from the weather. As I was leaving the town, however, I spotted a “Pancho Villa” look-alike and found him having a meal in the Pink Store with a group of riders. He greeted me like a long-lost friend; maybe we had met during an earlier Cabalgata. He posed for photos, then suddenly pulled out a big pistol and fired a blank, causing all of us to duck for cover.

This was Edgar Portillo who, unfortunately, did not have the right papers and would be unable to cross into the US on Saturday and ride with the cavalcade to Columbus where there would be speeches, dances and booths selling toys and food. He is an avid “Villista”, however, and you can Google “Edgar Portillo Pancho Villa” and see several videos he has made.

Saturday was also brutally cold. The US riders, many of whom had spent the night in Columbus, saddled up and rode the three miles to the US side of the border with Palomas. In earlier years, they would be met by dozens of Mexican riders but that is no longer the case. According to Columbus Mayor Philip Skinner, the USDA wants $10,000 to process the Mexican horses and the horses also have to be quarantined for a week before being able to enter the US.

Given the cultural significance of this event, it seems that these issues could be worked out.

The cavalcade on the US side was led by another “Pancho Villa” and was a beautiful sight coming up along the road to Columbus. But it was dramatically smaller than in past years, being composed almost entirely of riders from places like Deming, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. They can truck their horses to Columbus whereas many of the Mexican riders come from towns far to the south of the US border. For example, one of Portillo’s companions said that Portillo had ridden all the way from near the city of Chihuahua, almost 400 miles away.

At the highest levels of our two governments, we’re in conflict, unnecessarily so, in my opinion. The border is largely under control, and Mexico’s recently elected President, Claudia Sheinbaum has done more to combat the drug cartels in her first six months than her predecessor did in six years.

We should be working together to resolve the issues of drug smuggling and immigration. It always seems, however, that these riders, mostly from Mexico are better at demonstrating a spirit of cooperation and reconciliation than our national leaders. This seemed more evident than ever as I watched them mount their horses south of Palomas and surge northward into the bitter wind and thick dust.

What happens next? How long will this unique tradition be able to continue without a way for the Mexican riders to cross the border and join their American counterparts? Will any political leader on the US side intercede on behalf of these riders? In this time of bi-national conflict, we need the example they have set.

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Morgan Smith, a writer who travels to the border at least monthly to document conditions there. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.

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