Huerta, Victoriano

Huerta, Victoriano (vēktōryä`nō), 1854–1916, Mexican general and president (1913–14). He served under Porfirio Díaz. After the revolution of Francisco I. Madero (1911) he aided the new president, who, reluctantly, made him (1912) commander of the federal forces. In 1913 he plotted secretly with Madero's enemies, including U.S. ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, and overthrew the president. Huerta established a military dictatorship, notable for political corruption and rule by imprisonment and assassination. Numerous counterrevolutions broke out; the most important insurgent leaders were Venustiano Carranza, Francisco Villa, and Emiliano Zapata. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was openly hostile to Huerta, and unpleasant international incidents occurred at Tampico and Veracruz. Steady insurgent military pressure forced Huerta to resign in July, 1914. He fled to Europe and returned to the United States, where he was subsequently arrested for revolutionary activities; an alcoholic, he died in El Paso shortly after being released from an army jail.

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Huerta, Victoriano

(born Dec. 23, 1854, Colotlán, Mex.—died Jan. 13, 1916, El Paso, Texas, U.S.) Mexican president (1913–14). Born of Indian parents, he rose through the ranks of the army to become a general during the rule of Porfirio Díaz. He overthrew Díaz's successor, the liberal Francisco Madero, and established a repressive military dictatorship. Constitutionalist forces united against him and gained the support of U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson, who sent troops to assist the rebels. Huerta was defeated in 1914 and fled to Spain; from there he moved to the U.S., where he was arrested for fomenting rebellion in Mexico and died in custody.