Biografia De José De La Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori

José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (1830-1915) was a Mexican general, President, politician and dictator. He ruled Mexico with an iron fist for 35 years, from 1876 to 1911. His period of rule, referred to as the Porfiriato, was marked by great progress and modernization and the Mexican economy boomed. He was born into extreme poverty and never even reachedcomplete literacy. He dabbled in law, but in 1855 he joined a band of liberal guerrillas who were fighting a resurgent Antonio López de Santa Anna. He soon found that the military was his true vocation and he stayed in the army, fighting against the French and in the civil wars that wracked Mexico in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. He found himself aligned with liberal politician and rising starBenito Juárez, although they were never personally friendly.
The Battle of Puebla:
On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a much larger and better-equipped force of invading French outside the city of Puebla. This battle is commemorated every year by Mexicans on “Cinco de Mayo.” One of the key players in the battle was young general Porfirio Díaz, who led a cavalryunit. Although the Battle of Puebla only delayed the inevitable French march into Mexico City, it did make Díaz famous and cemented his reputation as one of the best military minds serving under Juarez.
Díaz and Juárez:
Díaz continued to fight for the liberal side during the brief rule of Maximilian of Austria(1864-1867) and was instrumental in reinstating Juarez as President. Theirrelationship was still cool, however, and Díaz ran against Juarez in 1871. When he lost, Díaz rebelled, and it took Juarez four months to put the insurrection down. Amnestied in 1872 after Juarez died suddenly, Díaz began plotting his return to power. With the support of the United States and the Catholic Church, he brought an army into Mexico City in 1876, removing President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada andseizing power in a dubious “election.”
Don Porfirio in Power:
Don Porfirio would remain in power until 1911. He served as President the entire time except for 1880-1884, when he ruled through his puppet Manuel González. After 1884, he dispensed with the farce of ruling through someone else and re-elected himself several times, occasionally needing his hand-picked Congress to amend the Constitutionto allow him to do so. He stayed in power through deft manipulation of the powerful elements of Mexican society, giving each just enough of the pie to keep them happy. Only the poor were excluded entirely.
The Economy Under Díaz:
Díaz created an economic boom by allowing foreign investment to develop Mexico's vast resources. Money flowed in from the United States and Europe, and soon mines,plantations and factories were built and humming with production. The Americans and British invested heavily in mines and oil, the French had large textile factories and the Germans controlled the drug and hardware industries. Many Spanish came to Mexico to work as merchants and on the plantations, where they were despised by the poor laborers. The economy boomed and many miles of railway track werelaid to connect all of the important cities and ports.
The Beginning of the End:
Cracks began appearing in the Porfiriato in the first years of the 20th century. The economy went into a recession and miners went on strike. Although no voices of dissent were tolerated in Mexico, exiles living abroad, primarily in the southern United States, began organizing newspapers, writing editorials againstthe powerful and crooked regime. Even many of Díaz' supporters were growing uneasy, because he had picked no heir to his throne, and they worried what would happen if he left or died suddenly.
Madero and the 1910 Election:
In 1910, Díaz announced that he would allow fair and free elections. Isolated from reality, he believed that he would win any fair contest. Francisco I. Madero, a writer and...