Mano Negra - Name

Name

The name "La Mano Negra" (English: "The Black Hand") was a supposed secret and violent anarchist organization that was founded in Andalusia, Spain, at the end of the 19th century. The Spanish National Police accused most of the Spanish anarchists of being part of the organization. In the 1880s, Andalusia had experienced a severe economic crisis. Due to the resulting misery and famine, farm workers revolted, burning and looting bakeries and numerous orchards. This led to the authorities' carrying out mass arrests and public executions. Despite the debates that took place, for years, about the existence of this organization, it is now widely recognized in academic circles that it was a type of "false flag" invention, by the Sagasta government, in order to suppress peasant revolts in the south of Spain. Chao's parents were political exiles from Spain who moved to France, escaping persecution from the dictatorship of Franco.

"La Mano Negra" is also a common expression in Spanish to say, "Aquí hubo mano negra" ("There was a black hand here") to say that someone with authority, in a particular event, manipulated things illegally for its benefit. The expression is also used sometimes as a name for illegal employment.

However, it was in reading a comic Dominique Rousseau that the idea came to the group. "Mano Negro" was the name of a band of guerrillas in South America, and the band liked the black-hand symbol.