Díaz, Porfirio (pôrfē`ryō dē`äs), 1830–1915, Mexican statesman, a mestizo, christened José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz. He gained prominence by supporting Benito Juárez Juárez, Benito (bānē`tō hwä`rās), 1806–72, Mexican liberal statesman and national hero.
..... Click the link for more information. and the liberals in the War of the Reform and in the war against Emperor Maximilian Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico (1864–67). As the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, he was denied a share in the imperial government by his reactionary brother, Emperor Francis Joseph.
..... Click the link for more information. and the French (1861—67). Defeated by Juárez in the presidential election of 1871, Díaz charged fraud and led a revolt against the government, which was not suppressed until after the inauguration of Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, 1820?–1889, also an important liberal in the Revolution of Ayutla, was for years a close associate of Juárez. He succeeded as provisional president after the death of Juárez (1872).
..... Click the link for more information. . Díaz again lost in the presidential race of 1876. He refused defeat, rose against Lerdo, and gained the presidency. Aside from a brief interregnum from 1880 to 1884 when he handpicked Manuel González as his temporary successor, he remained in power until 1911. His rule was ruthless and ultimately effective. Conspirators were crushed, and banditry was officially eliminated by incorporating marauders into a state police called the rurales. He shrewdly matched interest groups against each other, leaving the president supreme; elections were a mockery. Yet he also sought conciliation with previously hostile sectors, particularly the Catholic Church and the U.S. government. Díaz's policy encouraging foreign investment defused U.S. interventionism and led to U.S. recognition of his regime. Material prosperity under Díaz grew. Roads, railroads, and telegraph lines greatly increased. Díaz was influenced by positivism, the belief in the triumph of science and the scientific method. Positivists such as Jose Ives Limantour (1854–1935), the leader of the Científicos, reformed the fiscal system and gave Mexico financial stability. Mexico became a land of peace and prosperity, ruled in the interest of the few. Díaz sold three quarters of the nation's mineral resources to foreign interests and apportioned millions of acres among friendly hacendados. The peasants, far from obtaining social justice, lost more of their communal lands (see ejido ejido (āhē`thō) [Span.
..... Click the link for more information. ); half of the entire rural population was bound to debt slavery. Opposition and discontent grew rapidly in the last decade of Díaz's rule. In 1909, Díaz declared his intention to restore democratic rule, yet his fraudulent reelection the following year demonstrated his promises empty, and sparked a revolution headed by Francisco I. Madero Madero, Francisco Indalecio (fränsē`skō ēndälā`syō mäthā`rō)
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1911, Díaz was forced to flee the country; he died in exile.
(born Sept. 15, 1830, Oaxaca, Mex.—died July 2, 1915, Paris, Fr.) Soldier and president of Mexico (1877–80, 1884–1911). After training for the priesthood, he pursued a military career instead. When peace was restored to Mexico under Benito Juárez, Díaz resigned his command, but he soon became dissatisfied with the government. After leading two revolts, he was elected president in 1877. He succeeded in bolstering the export economy through foreign investment, while leading in the spirit of a caudillo, suppressing opposition, rigging elections, and using patronage to win the cooperation of various groups. The Mexican Revolution was launched in 1910 to end his dictatorship and reverse his policies. See also Francisco Madero, La Reforma.
..... Click the link for more information. and the liberals in the War of the Reform and in the war against Emperor Maximilian Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico (1864–67). As the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, he was denied a share in the imperial government by his reactionary brother, Emperor Francis Joseph.
..... Click the link for more information. and the French (1861—67). Defeated by Juárez in the presidential election of 1871, Díaz charged fraud and led a revolt against the government, which was not suppressed until after the inauguration of Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, 1820?–1889, also an important liberal in the Revolution of Ayutla, was for years a close associate of Juárez. He succeeded as provisional president after the death of Juárez (1872).
..... Click the link for more information. . Díaz again lost in the presidential race of 1876. He refused defeat, rose against Lerdo, and gained the presidency. Aside from a brief interregnum from 1880 to 1884 when he handpicked Manuel González as his temporary successor, he remained in power until 1911. His rule was ruthless and ultimately effective. Conspirators were crushed, and banditry was officially eliminated by incorporating marauders into a state police called the rurales. He shrewdly matched interest groups against each other, leaving the president supreme; elections were a mockery. Yet he also sought conciliation with previously hostile sectors, particularly the Catholic Church and the U.S. government. Díaz's policy encouraging foreign investment defused U.S. interventionism and led to U.S. recognition of his regime. Material prosperity under Díaz grew. Roads, railroads, and telegraph lines greatly increased. Díaz was influenced by positivism, the belief in the triumph of science and the scientific method. Positivists such as Jose Ives Limantour (1854–1935), the leader of the Científicos, reformed the fiscal system and gave Mexico financial stability. Mexico became a land of peace and prosperity, ruled in the interest of the few. Díaz sold three quarters of the nation's mineral resources to foreign interests and apportioned millions of acres among friendly hacendados. The peasants, far from obtaining social justice, lost more of their communal lands (see ejido ejido (āhē`thō) [Span.
..... Click the link for more information. ); half of the entire rural population was bound to debt slavery. Opposition and discontent grew rapidly in the last decade of Díaz's rule. In 1909, Díaz declared his intention to restore democratic rule, yet his fraudulent reelection the following year demonstrated his promises empty, and sparked a revolution headed by Francisco I. Madero Madero, Francisco Indalecio (fränsē`skō ēndälā`syō mäthā`rō)
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1911, Díaz was forced to flee the country; he died in exile.
Bibliography
See studies by J. F. Godoy (1976), J. Coatsworth (1980), and P. J. Vanderwood (1981).
Díaz, Porfirio
)
Porfirio Díaz.
(credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)
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