Porfirio Diaz

DÐ"­az, Porfirio (1830-1915)

by Donald J. Mabry

The future dictator of Mexico, JosÐ"© de la Cruz Porfirio DÐ"­az (always called Porfirio DÐ"­az), was born on or before September 15, 1830 in the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca in modest circumstances. His parents, JosÐ"© de la Cruz DÐ"­az and Patrona Mori de DÐ"­az, operated a small inn while the father also worked as a veterinarian and blacksmith to supplement the family income. The DÐ"­az family was mestizo, descended from both Mixtec Indians and Spaniards. Most Oaxacans were Mixtec or Zapotec. Few of the old Spanish elite remained and those who did had to share power with the mestizos. Mestizo such as DÐ"­az represented the Mexican future, one in which mestizos would dominate the nation. Moreover, as a political actor, his hereditary ties to both Spanish and Indian culture allowed him to work with all Mexicans. In 1833, when his father died and his mother took full charge of the family of eight, the future looked bleak. Even though she and the children worked hard at running the inn and received some economic help from family and friends, they barely hung on to lower middle class status. When the inn finally failed, the children, including the young Porfirio, had to work even harder at whatever jobs they could find to make ends meet.

Patrona was determined that Porfirio would become a priest, but Porfirio preferred action to study and would eventually become a soldier-politician. During his primary school years, he learned carpentry and shoemaking outside the classroom to supplement the family income. In 1843, his mother sent him to the local Seminario Pontifical to study for the priesthood, but he was a mediocre and sometimes rebellious student. In 1846, the sixteen year old Porfirio joined the local militia, formed in response to the threat of war with the United States and took some courses (including military tactics) in the Institute of Science and Art. Although the militia never fought, Porfirio had found his vocation. He liked leading men into action and the idea of defending the nation against its enemies. Moreover, like the priesthood, the military was a principal avenue of advancement for men of Porfirio's class. In 1849, he left the seminary to study law; his disappointed mother gave him the money to buy his first law books. Local lawyers, including the Zapotec Indian, Benito JuÐ"ÐŽrez, tutored him. JuÐ"ÐŽrez was a Liberal Party leader who would become Mexico's most honored hero. Young Porfirio became a Liberal. In 1853, Porfirio passed his first exam in Civil and Canon Law but the political events of the day proved more exciting than the practice of law.

Much of nineteenth-century Mexican history consisted of epic struggles between the Liberal and Conservative Parties. Conservative Party members wanted independent Mexico to resemble colonial Mexico without monarchy and Spanish rule. Thus, they sought to preserve as much of the colonial past as possible. They believed in hierarchical, authoritarian rule from Mexico City by a privileged elite, supported by a state religion (the Roman Catholic Church) and military officers. The Liberal Party, on the other hand, fought to abolish special privilege (fuero) in order to create equality before the law and equality of opportunity. The Liberals stood for federalism (strong local power) against the Conservatives' centralism, for they wanted more popular participation in decision making. The more radical Liberals argued for the complete separation of Church and State while their moderate brethren advocated recognizing Roman Catholicism as the official Mexican religion while tolerating other Christian groups. Liberals founded public schools, such as the Institute of Science and Art in Oaxaca city, to break the educational monopoly of the church. Shortly after gaining power in 1833, the Liberal Party implemented its program by passing the Laws of '33. The Conservatives revolted, drove the Liberals out of power, and put Antonio Santa Anna, an erstwhile Liberal, into the presidency.

Santa Anna, president on eleven different occasions, dominated Mexico until he was exiled in 1855. When he centralized authority in Mexico City in 1836, he inadvertently prompted the successful Texas secession movement and his own removal from power. When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, Santa Anna was brought back as president and military leader, but lost the war and the presidency once again. As he grew older, he became more dictatorial and vicious, killing or exiling his opponents at will. His Liberal opponents unsuccessfully fought back until he galvanized the opposition by selling part of Mexico (the Gadsden Purchase) to the United States in 1853. By 1855, the Liberals fought their way back to power and Santa Anna slipped off into exile.

Porfirio gained fame and position as a courageous Liberal Party stalwart in Oaxaca state, becoming a local legend for his aid to the Liberal cause. In 1854, he scaled prison walls to aid a local Liberal leader and in December of that year publicly voted no in a plebescite rigged by Santa Anna. DÐ"­az fled into hiding, becoming a guerrilla against the Santa Anna dictatorship. When the Liberals took Oaxaca in 1855, DÐ"­az was rewarded by being named subprefect of the predominantly Indian IxtlÐ"ÐŽn district of the state. Although a minor post, DÐ"­az used the opportunity to cultivate good relations with the inhabitants, who would later support him in his political and military careers. In December, 1856, he was promoted to captain in the state national guard.

When JuÐ"ÐŽrez and the Liberals had once again instituted the Liberal program through decrees and the Constitution of 1857, the Conservatives revolted, touching off the civil war known as "The War of the Reform." DÐ"­az led his troops in battle against the Conservatives, suffering wounds in August, 1857. As the war progressed, DÐ"­az was promoted to a colonelcy in the Oaxaca national guard and, in 1860, to the same rank in the national army. Between 1857 and 1859, he also served as governor and military commander of the Tehuantepec district. The Liberals won the civil war by 1861 but the Conservatives induced Napoleon III of France to send troops to drive JuÐ"ÐŽrez from power and to convert Mexico into a monarchy. DÐ"­az temporarily stopped the French army advance on Mexico City at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, a feat which earned him promotion to general of brigade. The French, however, regrouped and soon took Mexico City. Backed by the French army, the Conservatives rigged a plebescite to ask Archduke Maximilian von Hapsburg of Austria to