Post independent Mexico was a place filled with long-term political squabbles between the liberals and the conservatives; it was also a country that enjoyed electing previous war heroes into political office. Sometimes these men of great stature turned away from looking after the best interests of the people and became generally hated over time. One President, Porfirio Diaz, was just such an ex-military man, who was elected into office, but who created such havoc over his 30 year reign, that the end of his presidency culminated with the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1911. Were did Mexico go wrong and what led to revolutionary activity?
By 1871, Diaz had established himself as a military genius, and he was immensely popular with the public when he was eventually elected President in 1876. Cunningly, he only served one term, while his son Raffah created a powerful manipulation machine which held the Mexican public in its thrall. Civil protests were suppressed, opponents assassinated, and votes falsified. But instead of running for re-election, Porfirio handpicked a successor, Manuel Gonzalez and sat back as the next four years became notorious for governmental corruption, incompetence, and terror.
Because of this, Diaz's announcement that he would run for office again in 1884 was very popular with the public. When he won again, he amended the constitution, removing the Presidential limits on re-election. Porfirio was an excellent politician, skilled at manipulating the public to his advantage, and he brought in his military allies to create a coalition government. The people had a choice of willingly accepting this new regime or facing violence and death if they protested. He had the media in his pocket, controlled the courts, and dissolved all notions of federalism in Mexico, controlling the country with military precision.
As a result of such a dramatic centralization of the government, Diaz was able to strictly control the economy, mostly by disposing thousands of peasants from their land using his countryside police force. He played his people expertly, giving groups like the Mestizos political positions when they looked as if they might rise up against him and, in return, virtually guaranteeing that they would feel obligated to back him up in the future. The lower classes were thrown into horrific poverty, helpless to do anything but watch as their lands were privatized and sold to the wealthy.
Finally, in 1880, Diaz admitted that Mexico was ready to be a democracy again and he announced plans for retirement to allow others to run for President. But as groups began to send their candidates to the capital, Porfirio changed his mind; he would not retire, but would allow an aristocrat, Francisco Madero, to run against him. However, once his opponent's democratic ideals became clear, the dictator just had him jailed instead.
This was the last straw for a public which had been hoping for change after thirty-five years of brutality. Madero, despite his wealth, had garnered quite a bit of support, and the election went ahead despite his arrest. The government announced that Diaz had been re-elected almost unanimously, which was so obviously (and insultingly) fraudulent that it incited anger throughout the country. Francisco called for a revolt against Porfirio, and the people agreed; The past president was forced to flee to Spain in 1911, and he died in Paris within four years time as the Mexican Revolution raged..
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