MEXICO: Where Once a Furrow Was

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No one can be sure exactly how many men, women and children have been shot, stabbed or beaten to death since the villages of San Simón (pop. 900) and El Guarda (pop. 600) declared war on each other, but the death toll is greater than the present population of either village. So deep-rooted has been the hatred between the two communities (64 miles northwest of Mexico City) that they continued their private war even while the Revolution raged around them.

The war started in 1891, when San Simón purchased 350 acres of government land that El Guarda was squatting on. Outraged, the El Guardians hastily plowed a big furrow around "their" property, challenged the San Simonites to cross. The men of San Simón accepted the challenge. On bloody raids they smashed and burned, attacked El Guardians. Naturally, the El Guardians retaliated in kind. Once, after a San Simon boy trespassed in El Guarda and was spanked, the resultant raids and counter-raids of vengeance wiped out four complete families in one afternoon.

So it has been through the years; last year alone the feud took 40 lives. Recently, however, Mexico State Governor Salvador Sánches Colin proposed a solution: the state will pay San Simón 50,000 pesos for the 350 acres and cede the land to El Guarda. With a sigh, the elders of both villages agreed.

The San Simonites lined up on their side of the border and the El Guardians on the other. Solemnly, the Governor marched between them to the end of the line, then waved a signal. A band played the national anthem and enemies rushed forward to embrace enemies. "Viva San Simón," shouted the people of El Guarda. "Viva El Guarda," responded the people of San Simón, and they hugged and kissed, and trampled smooth the earth where the furrow had been.