President Venustiano Carranza Of Mexico
The country of Mexico, like all democracies, is governed according to the laws put
in place by a constitution, which was written in 1917 and is still used to this day. The President who implemented this document was Venustiano Carranza, one of the 'Big Four' leaders of the Mexican Revolution, who took office in 1915 and was assassinated near the end of his term. He was the latest in a line of men whose presidency was a death sentence, but his legacy is undeniable.
Carranza's path to the presidential office began in 1913, when General Victoriano Huerta assassinated the president, Francisco Madero, and implanted himself as dictator. Venustiano was the Governor of Coahuila at the time, but had been privy to a great deal of the political events which had led to the Mexican Revolution's start three years before and he became convinced that he was the right man to bring proper reform to Mexico and end the conflict. With this goal in mind, he tried to create understanding with Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and Alvaro Obregon, who were all rebel leaders at the time; together the four men formed a massive coalition called the Constitutional Army, who succeeded in ousting Huerta in 1915.
However, the shaky truce between the men fell apart when Carranza declared himself as the interim President; Venustiano's first actions as leader, involved tracking down and quashing the armies of Villa and Zapata (who didn't side with him), to prevent further counter-revolution (Obregon remained his ally however). Once he was done with that, he began work to create change in Mexico. As the leader of the Constitutional Army, he'd outlined the Plan of Guadalupe, which promised restoration of the 1857 Constitution. Thus, in 1916 he convened a convention in the city of Queretaro, with the goal of discussing the national constitution and perhaps redefining some of its shortcomings.
However, the convention was overpowered with liberal radicals who insisted on massive land reform and labor relations. New laws were decreed that only native-born Mexicans had property rights, and anti-exploitation labor laws were drafted, thus the moderate Carranza was outvoted continually.. But their most damage came in the legislation regarding the clergy, creating many anti-clerical reforms. They stripped the Roman Catholic Church of recognition as a legal entity, took rights away from priests, and forbade any religious education. A liberal constitution became a distant memory for the President.
From 1917 to 1920, Carranza continued to rule Mexico, but enacted very little change and disappointed a lot of the populace. He faced many enemies, including the continued rebellion of Emiliano Zapata. The President had a problem with public corruption and struggled to reform some of the more radical Constitutional additions, while he also maintained a neutral stance during World War I. By the end of his term, he was determined not to run for re-election, and although his natural successor was Obregon, his ally, Venustiano felt that it was time for a civilian to take the ropes, not a military man.
Generals who supported Obregon, drove Carranza from the capital in April 1920, as the conviction proved to be his downfall, and they forced him to the state of Veracruz; he died less than a month later, shot in the chest and debate continues as to whether it was suicide or assassination. Venustiano had had good intentions, had made some costly mistakes; he's still remembered as the lesser of two evils (compared to Huerta) and the 1917 Constitution was ratified, but is still in place today.
by: Robert Nickel
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