Biographical/historical note:  Born in Madrid 1897, died in Paris 1975; construction worker; anarchist; participated in the anarchist uprising in Saragossa in 1933; directed in 1936 the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) strike to protect the Popular Front government; militia leader & army commander in the Spanish Civil War; participated in the battles of Madrid, Guadalajara & Brunette; joined the 'Casado revolt' & broke the communist resistance against the National Defence Council in 1939; arrested in Algeria & imprisoned for seven years; went to France, where he was active in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) in exile.  I had met ... the veteran Cipriano Mera, who played an important role in the first phase of the Resistance & who had been in the forefront of the battle of Guadalajara. The legendary Mera died in 1975, to such an impressive turn out in Paris of anarcho-syndicalist veterans that even British TV featured it... — Miguel Garcia  In March of 1937 a new offensive on Madrid was initiated by the Italian fascists. They based the attack in Guadalajara, about 25 miles from the Capital. This time the fascists confronted the 14th division, along with other shock troops of the Republic.  Cipriano Mera was the CNT commander of the central forces. A great organizer, disdainful of the military `experts' & wise to the tricks of the Communists, he announced that his troops would decide the moment of attack. He wanted to avoid another carnage like Jarama.  When Mera saw the Russian tanks advancing & Lister & El Campesino launching their attacks, the anarchists in an irresistible charge, terrorized the Italians. "THE POLITICS OF BETRAYAL: Part Two of Life in RevolutionaryBarcelona" by Manolo Gonzalez, Anarchy: a journal of desire armed. #36, Spring 1993 http://www.spunk.org/library/pubs/ajoda/36/sp001378.txt LIBERTARIAN COMMUNISM by Isaac Puente First published by the CNT in Spanish as a widely distributed pamphlet in 1932, with many subsequent editions. - The firstenglish translation appeared in 'The Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review' #6 Orkney 1982.  In December 1933, Puente, Cipriano Mera & Buenaventura Durruti constituted the committee that organised the uprising in Aragon. A comrade who took part, Miguel Foz, has described events succinctly...http://flag.blackened.net/liberty/libcom.html  Click on the following images for larger versions:     http://www.iisg.nl/archives/en/files/m/10764268.php http://www.spunk.org/library/places/spain/sp001780/chap7.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipriano_Mera  Resources, links on the Spanish Revolution. In Spanish, see: http://www.arrakis.es/~corcus/losantos/losnuestros/mera.htm http://www.ruedoiberico.org/libros/autores.php?id=65/a> http://www.terra.es/personal/cgtussam/mera.htm  raforum.info/spip.php?article377 http://www.guerracivil.org/BRIGADAS/BIgeneral.html  In French, see http://increvablesanarchistes.org/articles/1936_45/36defense_madrid.htm  Page created March 2001; updated 2002, March 2006 [links fixed, more added]; April 2009