FROM THE LATTER years of the nineteenth century, Mexico was under the grip of the dictator, Diaz. The guiding principle of his rule was pan o palo—bread or the club. ‘A dog with a bone in its mouth neither kills nor steals.’ But as the turn of the century came nearer Diaz became more and more the agent of foreign capitalism; there were less and less bones for his hungry people.
Under the revolutionary slogan ‘Tierra y Libertad’ armed struggle grew. Inspired by this, the idealist Francisco Madero returned to Mexico and took power in 1911. Two years later a counter-revolution forced him to quit the capital and hand over command of the army to General Victoriano Huerta. From February 9th to 18th, 1913, Mexico suffered the Decena Tragica—the Ten Days of Tragedy. While Huerta’s troops shelled and gunned down those fighting to restore Diaz, Huerta and Diaz were meeting secretly and agreeing a division of the spoils. Huerta was to be provisional President with Diaz as his successor. This meeting was arranged with the assistance of the US Ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson. Wilson’s main desire was to protect the financial interests of American shareholders—which meant keeping from power the revolutionary leaders who wished to restore Mexico to the Mexicans.
There were three main factions opposed to Huerta. In the north, the Governor of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza, established an alternative seat of government at Nogales. His armies, led by Pablo Gonzalez and Alvaro Obregon, fought in an uneasy alliance with the visionary bandit leader, Pancho Villa. To the south, the forces of Emiliano Zapata continued to advance over the land, leaving men in their wake to till it.
America watched the conflict with interest—self-interest. President Woodrow Wilson set up an arms embargo which was designed to prevent further sales to the revolutionary movements in the north of Mexico. This embargo lasted from the summer of 1913 until the early spring of 1914.
J. D. SANDON