Hollister
– Ernesto Villa Nava ate and spoke with members of the League of
United Latin American Citizens during their annual Christmas dinner
Friday as a living reminder of Mexico’s history and heritage.
Hollister – Ernesto Villa Nava ate and spoke with members of the League of United Latin American Citizens during their annual Christmas dinner Friday as a living reminder of Mexico’s history and heritage.
Nava is the 14th son of the legendary Mexican Revolution leader Gen. Francisco “Pancho” Villa.
Mickie Luna, president of LULAC, said Nava previously visited Hollister for Cinco de Mayo. Nava’s presence at the LULAC dinner was special, Luna said.
“He’s very special to LULAC,” Luna said. “He’s part of a legend and Mexican history. We encourage our young people: Don’t ever forget where you’re from.”
When Nava was 8 years old, he said, his mother made him promise to keep a secret.
Four years ago, Nava, now 91 and residing in Hayward, told his family the long-held secret about who his father really was.
“I wanted to say something but I couldn’t,” Raúl Villa Nava translated from his father’s Spanish. “And I kept that secret for 80 years.”
Nava’s mother, Macedonia Ramirez, told him in 1923, the year of Pancho Villa’s death, that he was Villa’s son. But because she feared retaliation from Villa’s political enemies, she made the young Nava promise to keep his true identity a secret, said Raúl Villa Nava, Nava’s son and 15th child.
“Can you imagine having your whole life and not being able to say who you are?” Raúl Villa Nava said. “So now he can publicly say who he is.”
Since his announcement, Nava has received an outpouring of respect and recognition from communities throughout the Bay Area.
“I appreciate the people like family,” Nava said. “That’s how it is. I don’t distinguish race.”
Nava has been recognized in Cinco de Mayo and Mexican independence day celebrations. He was made the grand marshal for the San Jose Cinco de Mayo parade, Raúl Villa Nava said.
“In San Jose I felt like my heart was going to jump out,” Nava said.
For Nava, being a link to the past fills him with great joy.
Doroteo Arango Arámbula took the name Pancho Villa after he went into hiding in the mountains, where met a dying man named Francisco Villa, Nava said. Pancho is short for Francisco.
Villa soon became the most famous general in the Mexican Revolution. The revolution against the Porfirio Diaz government and hacienda owners on behalf of the peones and campesinos, or farmers and sharecroppers, began in 1911 and was based out of the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Nava spoke of Villa and Emiliano Zapata’s famous march into Mexico City in 1914.
“He and Zapata went into Mexico City with all those people to change for justice,” Nava said.
Villa continued his revolution against sitting presidents of Mexico until 1920 when he negotiated peace with President Adolfo de la Huerta. In 1923, he was assassinated in his car while in Parral, Chihuahua.
Raúl Villa Nava said Pancho Villa was a hero.
“He fought for justice, for freedom, for the underprivileged people,” Raúl Villa Nava said. “He defended the people who couldn’t defend themselves.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mv*********@fr***********.com.
