Porfirio Diaz: Mexico’s Gentleman Dictator (Kan 2024)
Porfirio Díaz, (født 15. september 1830, Oaxaca, Mex. — døde 2. juli 1915, Paris, Frankrig), soldat og præsident for Mexico (1877–80, 1884–1911), der etablerede en stærk centraliseret stat, som han holdt under fast kontrol i mere end tre årtier.
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Hvad var Porfirio Díaz kendt for?
Porfirio Díaz var kendt for sit årtier lange præsidentskab og sin stærke centraliserede stat i Mexico. Hans elitistiske og oligarkiske politik favoriserede udenlandske investorer og velhavende jordsejere, der kulminerede med en økonomisk krise for landet. Han blev fyret i 1911 under den mexicanske revolution.
Hvordan kom Porfirio Díaz til magten?
Porfirio Díaz blev valgt til præsident for Mexico i 1877 efter at have ført en oprør mod præsident. Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. Når han var ved magten, opretholdt han kontrollen ved at catering til separate grupper og spille den ene interesse mod den anden. Blandt modtagerne af hans regime var mestizos, de privilegerede kreolske klasser og den romersk-katolske kirke.
Hvornår var Porfirio Díaz ved magten?
Porfirio Díaz var præsident for Mexico fra 1877 til 1880 og fra 1884 til 1911. Han løb ikke til genvalg i 1880, men håndplukkede sin efterfølger, Manuel González. Tilfredse med González løb Díaz for præsident igen i 1884. Han vandt og forblev ved magten, indtil han blev tvunget ud under den mexicanske revolution.
Hvordan blev Porfirio Díaz styrtet?
Francisco Madero, der havde forsøgt at løbe mod Porfirio Díaz i valget i 1910, førte en oprør, der fyrede op for den mexicanske revolution. I maj 1911 erobrede revolutionære styrker Ciudad Juárez og tvang Díaz til at kapitulere og flygte i eksil.
A mestizo (part Indian), Díaz was of humble origin. He began training for the priesthood at age 15, but upon the outbreak of war with the United States (1846–48) he joined the army. An illustrious military career followed, including service in the War of the Reform (1857–60) and the struggle against the French in 1861–67, when Maximilian became emperor. Earlier (1849) Díaz had studied law with the encouragement of the Liberal Benito Juárez, who first became president in 1858.
Díaz resigned his command and went back to Oaxaca when peace was restored but soon became dissatisfied with the Juárez administration. He led an unsuccessful protest against the 1871 reelection of Juárez, who died the following year. Díaz continued his protests in an unsuccessful revolt against Pres. Sebastían Lerdo de Tejada in 1876, after which he fled to the United States. Six months later, however, he returned and defeated the government forces at the Battle of Tecoac (November 1876), and in May 1877 he was formally elected president.
During his first four years in office, Díaz began a slow process of consolidation of power and built up a strong political machine. His administration achieved a few public improvements but was more noted for its suppression of revolts. Having opposed Lerdo’s reelection, he decided not to run for another term himself but handpicked his successor, Gen. Manuel González, who also soon dissatisfied him. Therefore, in 1884 Díaz ran for the presidency again and was elected.
Over the course of the next 26 years Díaz produced an orderly and systematic government with a military spirit. He succeeded in destroying local and regional leadership until the majority of public employees answered directly to him. Even the legislature was composed of his friends, and the press was muffled. He also maintained tight control over the courts.
Díaz secured his power by catering to the needs of separate groups and playing off one interest against another. He won the mestizos’ support by supplying them with political jobs. The privileged Creole classes were cooperative in return for the government’s noninterference in their haciendas and for positions of honour in the administration. The Roman Catholic Church maintained a policy of noninvolvement in return for a certain degree of freedom. The Indians, who formed a full third of the population, were ignored.
When Díaz came to power, the Mexican government was in debt and had very little cash reserves. Therefore, he enthusiastically encouraged investment by foreigners. Conditions were made so advantageous to the suppliers of capital that Mexican industries and workers alike suffered. Díaz was no economist, but his two principal advisers, Matías Romero and José Y. Limantour (after 1893), were responsible for the influx of foreigners to build railroads and bridges, to dig mines, and to irrigate fields. Mexico’s new wealth, however, was not distributed throughout the country; most of the profits went abroad or stayed in the hands of a very few wealthy Mexicans. By 1910 the economy had declined and national revenues were shrinking, which necessitated borrowing. With wages decreasing, strikes were frequent. Agricultural workers were faced with extreme poverty and debt peonage.
On Feb. 17, 1908, in an interview with a reporter for Pearson’s Magazine, Díaz announced his retirement. Immediately opposition and progovernment groups began to scramble to find suitable presidential candidates. Then, as plans were being formalized, Díaz decided not to retire but to allow Francisco Madero, an aristocratic but democratically inclined reformer, to run against him. Madero lost the election, as was expected, but when he resorted to a military revolution the government proved surprisingly weak and collapsed. Díaz resigned office on May 25, 1911, and went into exile.
