Chapter 26: Madero and the Liberal Indictment of the Porfiriato PDF

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 26...

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 26 MADERO AND THE LIBERAL INDICTMENT OF THE PO RF. IRIA~O THE LIBERAL LEADERSHIP The opening of the twentieth century found Mexico a far different place from what it had been only twenty-five years earlier ll would be sheer folly to gainsay the tremendo mate- rial benefits that bad accrued in the industrial, commercial, and mining fields. Al 11,}e same time, it is easily argued that the successes of modernization created the envir~ent for disre sen talion.._ Th 120 delegali's in anendance. follO\\!U)glhe lead of Abraham Conzalez and his.Ch ihuahua colleagues, officially nominated ttdero for the presidency. TI1e convention chose as his running mate Dr. Francisco Vasqua C6mez, a distinguL~hed physician but a Jukgwann lfberal at besL ii'he philosophy of the anti-reelectig_nist party ca me out gradually during the campaign that carried the candidate to Iwenty lWO of the twenty-seven Mexican states. Meximn presi- dents, Madero argued, should s~nly a single term, focusing not on lhe nex1 election but on the next generation. Political reform, predica1ed upon f-ree and honest elections. was basic 10 the entire program. Social bene6ts might then accrue. but democracy was the one imperative. During a campaign speech in San Luis Potosr. Madero was interrupted by a question voiced from the audience asking why he did noLbreak up his own haciendas. Madero's answer epitomized his philosophy. The Mexican people. be responded, did not want bread; they w.1n1ed Ubeny. Not long thereafter, the Dlu adtninist ration began arresting anri-reelectionist leaders, including Madero himself. Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permiuion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  MlUllJlt ""'' 1/1d.iMaI /nJ;amenr of t/v. p,,rfina@ 36 7 On election day, June 21, 1910, wi th Madero in prison in San Luis Pou)Sf and thousands of his anti-ceeleaionist colleagues in jails throughout the republic, Diaz and Ram6n Corral declared an overwhelming victory for still another term. I lis family arr-anged for Madl!rO's release on bai l with the proviso that he confine himself 10 Lhe city of San Luis PomsC I le remained in the city for several months. bm in early Oaober. he manJged to board a north bound train lo disguise and escaped 10 Lhe United States. THE LAST HURRAH Soon after the elcaion Df.iz began preparations for his final =~ tZ.L In September he would celebra te his eightieth birthde in shiny new mot.orcars on well-,Paved scree1S in the center of the city. mud andlifitl' engulfed barrios of the working pqllr aod unen1ployed. lo September I 910 Mexico appeared to many to be enjoying iu Ii.pest hour. A m:uk for the millions living in poverty, this showy fa(.ade would be shon-l~d. THE PLAN DE SAN LU IS POTOS for years Francisco Madero had resisted the prodding of liberals who exhorted that Diaz must be overthrown by force. But when he escaped from San Luis Potosf and made nis way north to the sanctuary of the US border, he realized that it was no longer possible to unseat the dictator by constitut.ionnl means. In the middle of October 1910, he began drafting a revolutionary plan in San Antonio, Texas. To avoid any possible international complications with the United Stales, he dated the plan Ortober S, his Inst day on Mexkan soil, and c.1lled it the Plan de San Luis Potosi. Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced OJ' trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be p!'OleCUted.  368 TIU REVOLUT I ON' OJ' 19t 0.-\quiles Senlin and his family in Puebla A pnnt by Fttnando Ca.mo Pach«o. reoples. in their constant effons lar tl1e triumph of the ideals of liberty andjystice. find it necrssary ctJUin hiSlortcal rnoJ',en1s 10 make the gre.m,st sacrifices Oui:.bdoved father- l.md lw reached one uf thos~ moment5.. this v10len1 and.illegal S}'Stem can no longer exisL.. I lledal\; tlie last election ille gal nnd.1ccordingl~ the rrpublic. being w1thou1 rulers, I ;u,um tb.il,provisioru.l preoidency o( lhe republic until ~e people designate their ruleis pucsuanuo the law.... I have_ d1?signa1ed Sunday, the 20tl1 d,y or next No'°""ber, for.ill the towns in the re public tori m arms after 6 o 'clock t'.M.1 rhe Plan de San Luis Potosi, like LIi s11cesici11 preside11cial e11 1910 before it, reReaed pri- martly 'J)Olitic31 concerns with a few vague 311d· ill conceived references 10 Mexico's social maladies. Yet me boldness of me stat~t~nd me self-confidence it projected struck a n:,ponsive chord The leaders who had previously worked for me a nti-reelectionist party began preparing for November 20. The revolution actually began two days prematurely in the town of Puebla. There the local liberal leader, Aquiles Serdan, had stored arms and am- munition In his home. An infoi n,ant notified the police, and Setand t-eachers, engineers and day laborers, the borecl and the overworked. the aggrieved ~d the adventuresome. Some were atttacted by c6mmitment to the cause and some biJ;'e promise of spoils; some joined impulsively and others with careful forethought. Some preferred Flores Magoo radicalism and some Madero liberalism; many had heard of nefth-;r. Even among the politically astute some viewed the November movement as a fight against bacendados, others decided to offer their lives to oppose local jefes polfticos, while stiU others saw the revolution as a chance to recapture Mexico from the foreign capitaiisLS. But they all shared the conviction that oraz symbolizedf all of Mexico's ills and that any change would be better. Thus, they were willing to strap cartridge belts on their chests; find, buy, or steal rifles somewhere; and become guerrilleros. Indifferently armed, without uniforms, with no notion of military discipline. the disparate rebel bands lived off the land and attacked local authorities and small f-ederal outposts in tiny pueblos. They enjoyed a dormant but fortuitous asset- lhe cooperation of much of Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae Cllll.y. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  370 TIU REVOLUT I ON' OJ' 19t 0 rural Mexico. Madero's communicaLions ne1wo1k began LO inform him 1ha1 his rerenL effons had not been in vain. ·n,c Dfa2 regime di,patchcd army units and corps of rurales on seanercd missions in Mexico's ten military zones, and slowly they began to runai I the spread of tbe rebellion. Only in Chihuahua d id Madero's movement continue to grow. The mi litaiy leadership there had dl!\JOlved upon Pascual Oroz.co, Jr., a tall, gaunt mule skinner whose business had suf- fered because be did not enjoy the favor of the Terrazas-Creel madiine. Working with Abra- ham Conz.ilcz. the leader orrhe an11-reeleaionis1S m 1hes1a1e, Oro,.co bq3n recruitment ,n the Guerrero dlslria. Conzalez supplied some modest funds and a few weapons. By Novem- be~ 20, Orozco had attraaed about 40 men Lo Lhe cause. During the next two weeks, striking rapid ly from the almost inaccessible j/etr,u of' wesLern Chihuahu.1 he garnered more victo- ries. Pancho Villa, Jose de la Luz Blanco, and olher local leaders placed themselves under his command, and 1he Orozco.,rmy increased twentyfold On Ja1 ullry 2, I !>I I, 1he Chihu,1hua rebels ambushed and almost totally destroyed a large k-deraL onmy sent 10 pursue them. Now cocksure, Orozco stripped lhe dead soldiers or their umfom1S, wrapped up the articles or cloLhing. and senL them LO Don Porfirio w11h a graplpy descriptive 1.1um: Ahf re""" /,is hojas; ,ntindnme mtiJ wnralts (llere are thewrappem se1rd me some more tamales). Soon the insurrection began 10 hear rruiL in Sonora, Coahuila, Sina loa, Vcr.1rruz, Z.'\ca1e- cas, Puebla. Guerrero, and Morelos. ln Baja Cnlifomia the Flores Mag6n broLh ers and iheir followers had the government on the run Pi'cking their own ground and their own' time of banle, small rebel coming.:nts 1brougho111 the country kept the uncoordinn1td ':Ind poorly supplied federals constantly off b~ce.. The rebels, on the other band. moved in smaller units, lived off the l.111d, anJ gen9"ally enjoyed the sympalhy and coaetta1ion of the IOCII populace.. They found ii t'3Sier to smuggle in ammunitlon from the Unued States than fed- eral commanders did 10 n:quisition it from Mexico Cicy. In Lhc late spring of 1!>11 Orouo and VIiia convinced Madeh),{who hJd no miliLary ex penise) that the norlh~ rebels should expend all their eoer_gy on capturing Ciudad Juarez. the border city across the Rio Grande from E.I Paso, Tuitas. 13y early May, with lhe most seasoned reb1,rroops congregated on the outSl1in. U nlvcr,111y ofT-., Pres.,, 1968. Crttlman, lames. Diaz.: MaJll'T of M ~ w York: D. AppleJon and Comp.my. 1916. Cumbctl nd, Clwin C. Maland t-eachers, engineers and day laborers, the borecl and the overworked. the aggrieved ~d the adventuresome. Some were atttacted by c6mmitment to the cause and some biJ;'e promise of spoils; some joined impulsively and others with careful forethought. Some preferred Flores Magoo radicalism and some Madero liberalism; many had heard of nefth-;r. Even among the politically astute some viewed the November movement as a fight against bacendados, others decided to offer their lives to oppose local jefes polfticos, while stiU others saw the revolution as a chance to recapture Mexico from the foreign capitaiisLS. But they all shared the conviction that oraz symbolizedf all of Mexico's ills and that any change would be better. Thus, they were willing to strap cartridge belts on their chests; find, buy, or steal rifles somewhere; and become guerrilleros. Indifferently armed, without uniforms, with no notion of military discipline. the disparate rebel bands lived off the land and attacked local authorities and small f-ederal outposts in tiny pueblos. They enjoyed a dormant but fortuitous asset- lhe cooperation of much of Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae Cllll.y. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  370 TIU REVOLUT I ON' OJ' 19t 0 rural Mexico. Madero's communicaLions ne1wo1k began LO inform him 1ha1 his rerenL effons had not been in vain. ·n,c Dfa2 regime di,patchcd army units and corps of rurales on seanercd missions in Mexico's ten military zones, and slowly they began to runai I the spread of tbe rebellion. Only in Chihuahua d id Madero's movement continue to grow. The mi litaiy leadership there had dl!\JOlved upon Pascual Oroz.co, Jr., a tall, gaunt mule skinner whose business had suf- fered because be did not enjoy the favor of the Terrazas-Creel madiine. Working with Abra- ham Conz.ilcz. the leader orrhe an11-reeleaionis1S m 1hes1a1e, Oro,.co bq3n recruitment ,n the Guerrero dlslria. Conzalez supplied some modest funds and a few weapons. By Novem- be~ 20, Orozco had attraaed about 40 men Lo Lhe cause. During the next two weeks, striking rapid ly from the almost inaccessible j/etr,u of' wesLern Chihuahu.1 he garnered more victo- ries. Pancho Villa, Jose de la Luz Blanco, and olher local leaders placed themselves under his command, and 1he Orozco.,rmy increased twentyfold On Ja1 ullry 2, I !>I I, 1he Chihu,1hua rebels ambushed and almost totally destroyed a large k-deraL onmy sent 10 pursue them. Now cocksure, Orozco stripped lhe dead soldiers or their umfom1S, wrapped up the articles or cloLhing. and senL them LO Don Porfirio w11h a graplpy descriptive 1.1um: Ahf re""" /,is hojas; ,ntindnme mtiJ wnralts (llere are thewrappem se1rd me some more tamales). Soon the insurrection began 10 hear rruiL in Sonora, Coahuila, Sina loa, Vcr.1rruz, Z.'\ca1e- cas, Puebla. Guerrero, and Morelos. ln Baja Cnlifomia the Flores Mag6n broLh ers and iheir followers had the government on the run Pi'cking their own ground and their own' time of banle, small rebel coming.:nts 1brougho111 the country kept the uncoordinn1td ':Ind poorly supplied federals constantly off b~ce.. The rebels, on the other band. moved in smaller units, lived off the l.111d, anJ gen9"ally enjoyed the sympalhy and coaetta1ion of the IOCII populace.. They found ii t'3Sier to smuggle in ammunitlon from the Unued States than fed- eral commanders did 10 n:quisition it from Mexico Cicy. In Lhc late spring of 1!>11 Orouo and VIiia convinced Madeh),{who hJd no miliLary ex penise) that the norlh~ rebels should expend all their eoer_gy on capturing Ciudad Juarez. the border city across the Rio Grande from E.I Paso, Tuitas. 13y early May, with lhe most seasoned reb1,rroops congregated on the outSl