Meet Wenceslao Moguel: a man who literally stared death in the face and survived. On March 18, 1915, during the Mexican Revolution, Moguel, who was serving as a soldier under famed revolutionary Pancho Villa, was captured by Constitutionalist forces and sentenced to death without a trial.

At one time a Constituitonalist General against Huerta’s Federalists; Villa split with fellow revolutionary leader Carranza (for many reasons but in part because of Villa’s stance on land reform and Carranzo’s status as a notable landowner).

Wecneslao’s execution comprised a nine-man firing squad unleashed a volley of bullets, followed by the coup de grâce - a final, point-blank shot to the head was intended to ensure his ordeal was fatal. By rights Moguel should should have found himself in a mass grave in Yucatán.

By some miracle, Moguel survived. He eventually crawled to the nearby Church of St. James Apostle, where he was hidden and nursed back to health. He lived until 1976, carrying the deep, concave scars of that morning on his face for 60 years.

Wenceslao Moguel has been lionised for his bravery in the face of brutal repression. To revolutionaries who know his story, his ordeal is a romantic motif of resistance. Indeed, he has subsequently become known as El Fusilado. He shares this monicker with the title of the Chumbawamba song released in 2008.

The song El Fusilado typifies Chumbawamba’s political music which combines punk, folk, rock, and often addresses topics of political and social injustice.

Certainly, Moguel’s story, whilst horrific, has taken on a new cultural meaning for those committed to achiveiveng a fairer, more just worldl; no matter the cost.