Villa, Pancho

[ (pahn-choh vee-uh) ]


A Mexican revolutionary leader of the twentieth century. He was defeated in the struggle for the presidency of Mexico after the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and was eventually assassinated. At one point, Villa raided a town in New Mexico, hoping to embarrass his opposition back home. The United States sent troops under General John Pershing in pursuit of Villa, and the United States and Mexico nearly went to war.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.