Addressed to the people of Puebla after two weeks of fighting, this broadside denounced Gómez Farías and accused the government of jailing innocent citizens.
Dissolution of the Congress
[Price: one cuartilla.]
How sad it must be for those who love liberty to see the state to which the city has been reduced. The most injurious and opprobrious dictatorship weighs upon us, carried out by a man who far from deserving our esteem will be known in Puebla only by his infamy. We are not exaggerating. Article 4 of the plan proclaimed by the garrison and with the Governor's consent, have made it such that the power over our people and interests are in the hands of Don Manuel Arteaga.
The honorable congress lacks the freedom to deliberate, for there can be no freedom when there are threats and when what needs to be carried out is prevented. It has found itself surrounded by enemies; it has seen the rebels' plan beforehand, prepared by the government and even written by the secretary himself; and it has recognized that there was hidden a farcical attack against its sovereignty. Thus, the audacity of an upstart has deprived us of the only center of unity and sole director that we had left. The Governor who should be the one to protect the honorable legislature, using the National Guard, has abdicated his power in order to play the vile role of humble servant to the military authority. In agreement with it he arranged this ridiculous insurrection; he dared to address the people's representatives, and proposed in congress that they demand an explanation from the General Commander-in-Chief about Article 4 of a plan that they had devised and agreed upon. What kind of government is this that has debased itself to the point of asking a soldier what orders he wants so that he will obey? What a degrading situation we find ourselves in, where the master asks the servant for orders! A government that has done such things has no morality; rather, hypocritical and low, it has put itself in a position inferior to that of the porter that stands at his master's door.
And we have already begun to feel the effects of this disorder. The National Guard, firm supporter of Republican institutions, has also been attacked by the military authority in power. It has been disarmed by brute force, some of its officials have been imprisoned, and its dissolution is an unequivocal sign of our enslavement. And it has been subject to such offenses because by faithfully representing public opinion it wanted to fulfill its duty defending our privileges that have been trampled on by the most injurious despotism. Peaceful citizens are thrown into prison or persecuted; their houses are raided without a judicial order, and we should all tremble so that the new sultan will not disturb the peace in our own households. [1] This outrage to the people of Puebla would irritate and inflame even the less ardent spirits.
And who is carrying this out, and for what reason is this opprobrious tyranny being pursued? To our detriment, he who has the undefeated city in his hands and under his domain, is an upstart to whom we do not owe any favor, other than the glorious military feat of Analco, and who is determined to defend an administration that is expiring and cursed by all. We appeal to our fellow citizens, to tell us in good faith, if at any time we have found ourselves in a situation as sad as the present one; the honorable legislature dissolved, the governor serving as a slave to a soldier, the National Guard disarmed, and individual safety in danger. We will not be able in the future to remember this shameful period without blushing; our children will not believe that we the people of Puebla were so deaf to the call of duty, that one single man, detested by all, carried out an absolute dictatorship, in the midst of a large population that is ardent and full of enthusiasm. They will not believe such ignominy; they will not be able to fathom the suffering of those who have resisted numerous brave troop divisions; those who by their valor have made their city the arbitrator of the issues that have violently agitated the republic; those who, hearing the call of the homeland, have been among the first to defend the national liberties. Will the people of Puebla, asleep and having forgotten their former exploits, allow themselves to be dominated by a single man, thus tarnishing the brightness of their glories? PEOPLE OF PUEBLA! You are hereby called to defend two very sacred causes, religion and freedom. Will the magnitude of these things not move you, you who are so religious and such good patriots? This is not about resisting a rational enemy in a different time, it is not about opposing the will of a powerful dictator, all of which you have done; it is simply about not enduring a little tyrant who, as unbelievable as it may seem, does not respect anything. Let us unite and OVERTHROW the one that reviles and humiliates us; the one who believes that the people of Puebla are unworthy of bearing the nation's arms, the one that crushes the national sovereignty like a beetle and the one that violates everything to put the stamp of slavery on your forehead.
BRAVE PEOPLE OF PUEBLA! LONG LIVE LIBERTY.--March 7 of 1847
[1] The honorable citizen Mr. Francisco Blanco, without a judicial order, without being accused of any crime and without due process, has been taken to a dark dungeon. Mr. Márquez has been apprehended as well; many young men of the National Guard have fallen to the same fate, among them one of Deputy Zamacona's sons, perhaps because through the son they want to avenge the strong and decided opposition the father has manifested towards the administration's abuses. The tobacco coffers have been broken open by the armed forces, and Mr. Nieto's house searched without proper sanction. If the city were to be declared under a state of siege, we are sure that the Mayor de la Plaza would not take such liberties.
