--- title: 'Calaveras: revelación de ultra tumba del espíritu de Francisco Villa (Skulls: Revelation from Beyond the Grave of the Spirit of Francisco Villa)' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/calaveras-espiritu-de-villa-vanegas-arroyo-1923/ description: A commercial broadside of verse framed in a border of skeleton figures, headed 'Revelation from beyond the grave of the spirit of Francisco Villa'… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) [![Calaveras: revelación de ultra tumba del espíritu de Francisco Villa (Skulls: Revelation from Beyond the Grave of the Spirit of Francisco Villa)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/calaveras-espiritu-de-villa-vanegas-arroyo-1923.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/calaveras-espiritu-de-villa-vanegas-arroyo-1923.jpg) # Calaveras: revelación de ultra tumba del espíritu de Francisco Villa (Skulls: Revelation from Beyond the Grave of the Spirit of Francisco Villa) A commercial broadside of verse framed in a border of skeleton figures, headed 'Revelation from beyond the grave of the spirit of Francisco Villa', prints a bust portrait of Villa in a hat at its centre. Its stanzas, said to be dictated by Villa's spirit to a medium, recite his alleged crimes ('thieves, inhuman murderers, rapists, highwaymen and rogues'), say that victims and foreigners of many nations pursue him, and describe eternal punishment. The tells are the run of accusatory labels and a ledger made up only of harms, with no counter-entry. - **Date:** 1923 - **Period:** [Interwar](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=interwar) - **Made by:** A. V. Arroyo (Vanegas Arroyo firm), commercial broadside printer, Mexico City - **Region:** [Latin America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=latin-america) - **Country:** [Mexico](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=mexico) - **Medium:** [Print](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=print) - **Issuer type:** [Corporation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=corporation) - **Regime:** [Obregon Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=obregon-government) - **Leader:** [Alvaro Obregon](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=alvaro-obregon) - **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public) - **Purpose:** [Demonize](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=demonize) - **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Religion](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=religion) - **Event:** [Mexican Revolution](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=mexican-revolution) - **Techniques:** [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/) - **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are - **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/99615835/), retrieved September 29, 2026 - **Rights:** Public domain (published ca. 1923, before 1931; LoC: No known restrictions on reproduction in the U.S.) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, PGA - Vanegas, no. 75 (LC-DIG-ppmsc-04523) ## Text on the object Original (Spanish) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` CALAVERAS REVELACION DE ULTRA TUMBA DEL ESPIRITU DE Francisco Villa De espíritus inundado El espacio ven algunos, Y no faltan importunos Que ya con Villa han hablado; El infeliz se ha quejado De lo que sufre hoy en día Pues que se halla en compañía De aquellos que asesinó, Y eso lo comunicó A un medium que conocía No sé si será verdad O me digan desaciertos, Pero el que habla con los muertos Me habló por casualidad Y dijo: "En la eternidad Villa hoy paga sus delitos, Pues sus víctimas juntitos Una paliza le han dado, Y hoy se encuentra derrengado Pidiendo perdón a gritos.. "Aquí bendicen a Salas El que mató a Pancho Villa, Pero aun para él hay cuchilla Que le recorte sus balas...; Aquí llega la de malas Pues que de Dios la justicia Jamás la envuelve malicia Pues el que la hace la paga Y todo aquel que mal haga Su suerte será impropicia! "Esos que buscan dinero En la vida, tengan cuenta, Que aquí no hay nada de venta Y es todo imperecedero... Que hasta el millonario artero En la tierra deja el modo, Y hasta el pedazo de lodo, Con que el Creador lo formó, Y su alma sola voló Dejando en la tumba todo..." "Todos demuestran encono Contra Villa y sus secuaces, Y lo maltratan tenaces En su tortuoso abandono; El nadie tiene en su abono, Pues Salas B. lo mató Porque su mano la armó La Providencia en sus juicios, Para castigar perjuicios Que causó fuera de tono... Lo persiguen alemanes, Gringos, chinos mexicanos Frailes, monjas, sacristanes; Españoles y australianos.. Todos juzgan sus desmanes Por el demonio inspirados; Y a más de diez mil soldados Que le sirvieron a Villa Los persigue una pandilla De espíritus indignados... "Hay muchos que fueron ricos Y los dejó en la desgracia, Y otros que por democracia Hizo su poder añicos; Por todas partes a picos Y picotones lo acozan... Y por doquiera rebozan Espíritus que con maña Yracundos y con saña A los villistas destrozan... "Los acusan de ladrones, Asesinos inhumanos; De estupradores villanos, Salteadores y bribones; Aquí pierden los calzones De que alardeaban en tierra, Y ya les dan tanta guerra A Pancho Villa y secuaces Que lo que fueron de audaces Aquí los pasma y aterra... "No hay aquí perdón de Dios, Pues el castigo es eterno Y viven en duro infierno Y en un sufrimiento atroz; Y hay una potente voz Que donde van los persigue Y donde quiera los sigue Sus maldades repitiendo; Y otros los van maldiciendo Sin que nadie los ostigue... "Y como Villa y Carranza A otros muchos redentores Mil maldiciones mayores Cada víctima les lanza... Y aquí sí no hay esperanza De dinero y de valer; Aquí se acabó el poder De reunir tontos en bola... Aquí hay una sopa sola Y la tienen que comer... De Villa el alma contó Al medium espiritista Lo que aquí como copista Estoy escribiendo yo... Y dicen que suplicó Perdón de los que dañara Y que a su Dios se rogara Que minorara su pena Confiando en la gente buena Que su maldad perdonara Y yo a su ruego y encargo El perdón pido para él Que ha pasado el trance aquel Que me dicen es amargo... Dios lo juzgó sin embargo Y su cuerpo se halla inerte, Pues que después de la muerte Ya terminó su misión... Y buena o mala su acción Que se conforme a su suerte. 5 cts. TIP. DE A. V. ARROYO-MEXICO CALLE DE STA. TERESA 40 ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` SKULLS (CALAVERAS) REVELATION FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE OF THE SPIRIT OF Francisco Villa With spirits flooded Some see the space, And there is no lack of pests Who have already spoken with Villa; The wretch has complained Of what he suffers nowadays For he finds himself in the company Of those whom he murdered, And he passed that on To a medium whom [the writer] knew I do not know if it will be true Or whether they tell me nonsense, But he who speaks with the dead Spoke to me by chance And said: "In eternity Villa now pays for his crimes, For his victims, all together, Have given him a beating, And today he is worn out Begging forgiveness with shouts.. "Here they bless Salas The man who killed Pancho Villa, But even for him there is a blade To trim his bullets...; Here the bad times come For God's justice Is never wrapped in malice For he who does it pays for it And everyone who does wrong His luck will be unfavourable! "Those who seek money In life, take note, For here nothing is for sale And everything is imperishable... For even the crafty millionaire Leaves the [trappings] on earth, And even the lump of mud With which the Creator formed him, And his soul flew off alone Leaving everything in the tomb..." "All show resentment Against Villa and his followers, And they ill-treat him tenaciously In his tortuous abandonment; No one speaks in his favour, For Salas B. killed him Because his hand was armed By Providence in its judgments, To punish the harm That he caused out of tune... Germans pursue him, Gringos, Chinese, Mexicans Friars, nuns, sacristans; Spaniards and Australians.. All judge his excesses As inspired by the devil; And more than ten thousand soldiers Who served Villa Are pursued by a gang Of indignant spirits... "There are many who were rich And he left them in misfortune, And others whose power He smashed to bits for democracy; On all sides with beaks And pecks they harass him... And everywhere there overflow Spirits who cunningly Wrathful and furious Tear the Villistas apart... "They accuse them of being thieves, Inhuman murderers; Of rapists, villains, Highwaymen and rogues; Here they lose the breeches They boasted of on earth, And they already give so much war To Pancho Villa and his followers That what they were of daring Here astonishes and terrifies them.. "There is no pardon of God here, For the punishment is eternal And they live in a hard hell And in atrocious suffering; And there is a powerful voice That pursues them wherever they go And follows them wherever Repeating their wickedness; And others go cursing them Without anyone urging them on... "And like Villa and Carranza Many other redeemers A thousand greater curses Each victim hurls at them... And here there is no hope Of money and of influence; Here the power is over To gather fools in a mob... Here there is one plain soup And they have to eat it... Villa's soul told The spiritist medium What I am writing down here As a copyist... And they say he begged Forgiveness of those he harmed And that he prayed to his God To lessen his punishment Trusting in good people To forgive his wickedness And at his request and charge I ask forgiveness for him Since he has passed that ordeal Which they tell me is bitter... God judged him nonetheless And his body lies lifeless, For after death His mission has ended... And good or bad his action Let him be content with his fate. 5 cents. PRINTED BY A. V. ARROYO, MEXICO, STA. TERESA STREET 40 ``` Read from the full-resolution LOC master file. The blocks run in columns: two stanzas top left, two top right, then four columns of two stanzas each at the foot; they are transcribed here in that order. A few letters are worn or blotted; spelling and punctuation follow the print (for example 'estupradores'). Translation is literal and rough because several lines are colloquial or elliptical. [← As duas imprensas (The Two Presses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/as-duas-imprensas-o-malho-1922/) [Call for Freedom and Independence with Support for Saad and Safiya Zaghlul (al-Siyasa al-Musawwara) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/wafd-zaghlul-cartoon-siyasa-musawwara-1923/) ## Using the same techniques - [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling) - [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [Sans-Culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sans-culottes-bread-of-liberty-gillray-1793/) (Jan 12, 1793 · Fear appeal, Name-calling) - [Exit Liberté a la Francois! or Buonaparte closing the Farce of Egalité, at St. Cloud (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/exit-liberte-buonaparte-gillray-1799/) (Nov 21, 1799 · Name-calling)