August 21, 2008

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Consulate to commemorate Mexican Revolution

(Nov. 17, 2004)--The Consulate General of Mexico, UTSA and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) commemorate the 94th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution with a ceremony at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 20 at the UTSA Downtown Campus Buena Vista Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

Following the ceremony, is a symposium, "Francisco I. Madero: A Presence Remembered," featuring historians from UTSA and the state of Coahuila, Mexico.

For more information, contact Terry Camacho at (210) 227-9145, ext. 231.

--Stephanie Mota

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Bio: Francisco I. Madero

According to Wikipedia, Francisco I. Madero, 1873-1913, was a revolutionary who served as president of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. He was born in Parras, Coahuila, to one of the richest families in Mexico, of Portuguese descent. Madero was educated in Baltimore, Versailles and at the University of California, Berkeley.

Affected by the plight of the poor under the dictator Porfirio Diaz, in 1904 Madero became involved in politics as a liberal capitalist who feared that the existing regime under Diaz would inevitably breed true social revolution -- a fear that proved accurate with the subsequent rise of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa.

Madero proposed that Diaz offer concessions to peasants and the proletariat to promote a climate of order and stability from which both foreign and domestic elites would benefit. Madero also hoped such concessions would curb the growth of radical ideas.

Madero ran for the Mexican presidency in the early 1900s, while Diaz was in power. He didn't back down from Diaz during the election, and was elected as candidate for the anti-reelectionist movement. He wanted Diaz to share more power with the Mexican elite, but Diaz refused. As a result Madero became radical and opened the door for other leaders, such as peasants, to run for election. He was arrested in June but released conditionally in July.

An improbably massive majority declared Diaz president in October of 1910. Madero refused to recognize the result and assumed the provisional presidency, designating Nov. 20 for the start of what was later called the Mexican Revolution. When government discovered this action was being prepared, Madero fled to San Antonio, Texas. However, the Revolution had already spread, with Francisco Villa occupying Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez.

The overthrow of Diaz was accomplished May 17, when Madero signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez, in which he demanded the resignation of Diaz as a condition for an armistice. Diaz resigned May 25, 1911. Madero appointed Francisco Leon de la Barra as interim president. De la Barra was strongly conservative and acted to neutralize the more radical ideas of the revolution. Madero was called a traitor and Emiliano Zapata abandoned him.

When Madero won the presidential election in October 1911, the division among the revolutionaries was enormous. Both the Zapatistas and the conservatives became disenchanted with Madero's handling of agrarian problems.

In early 1913, Victoriano Huerta, the commander of the armed forces, conspired with Felix Diaz (Porfirio's nephew) and U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson. Following their coup d'etat Feb. 18, 1913, Madero was forced to resign. After a brief term of office by Pedro Lascurain, Huerta took over the presidency later that day.

Madero was executed four days later at age 39, along with his brother, Gustavo A. Madero. The Huerta government later said that their supporters ordered them killed after a failed rescue attempt.