Didn’t quite make it: Juan Carlos Caballero

Sad new.  Juan Carlos Caballero, Pancho Villa’s former chauffeur, whom I wrote about in last June, passed away.  Don Carlitos — one of the last veterans of the Revolution still lucid enough to give interviews — was interviewed by EFE on his 109th birthday:

By all means, “I hope that God allows me to arrive at the centenary of the Mexican Revolution”, which begins 20 November 2010. Caballero, born 24 June 1900 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, joined Villas Division de la Norte at the age of 14, bringing himself to the Centaur of the North’s attention with his honesty. Asked why he wanted to join the army, young Juan Carlos said, “to meet girls.”

In 1914, he was also one of the few people around who knew how to drive, let alone how to repair an engine(his father’s had one of the few mechanized farms in Chihuahua at the time, and like a lot of farm boys, Juan Carlos learned to handle heavy equipment at a very young age) and he could shoot. Both of which he faithfully did on behalf of Villa and the Revolution for about two years, returning home in late 1916 as Villa’s political and military clout was evaporating.  He later moved to the United States where he worked as a mechanic for many years and raised a family before returning to Mexico.

As he said during last June’s interview, and after, Don Carlitos remained willing to return to the fray and to fight injustice wherever it appeared. As the last survivor of the Columbus, New Mexico raid of 16 March 1916, maybe people on the other side of the border can sleep easily tonight hearing today’s news.

D.E.P. Don Carlitos

Photo: Gustavo Mendoza in Milenio