Karl B. Koth a Dissertatlon Preeented. to the University of Ltlanitoba Partial
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TEODORO A. DEHESA AND VERACRUZ IN THE PORFIRIATO 1892*191-3r A CASE STTJDY OF }IEXICAN FEDERAI, STÁTE RELATIONS by Karl B. Koth A dissertatlon preeented. to the University of ltlanitoba 1n partial fulfilment of the requiremer:ts of the d.egree of Doctor of Philosophy ín HÍstary' VINNIPEG, }TANiTOBA February, I9BT TEODORO A. DEHESA AND VERACRUZ IN THE PORFIRIATO 1892-1913: A CASE STUDY OF MEXICAN FEDERAL STATE RELATIONS BY KARL B. KOTH A thesis subnr¡tted to thc Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requircntents of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY @ 1987 Permission has been granted to tlte LIBRARY OF THE UNMR- SITY OF MANITOBA to lend or sell copies of this thesis, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this thesis a¡rd to lend or sell copies of the film, and UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of th¡s thesis. The author reserves other publicatio¡r rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or other- wise reproduced without the author's written permission. ABSTRACT 'lhl'; dieser-tation .¡turlics lhe re).a.ti onoh.ip bei-ween tlre S1.atr.l of Yc-¿racruz arrd thc: cenf;r'a.l- lvlr:xica.n governrnc-,rrt f i:crm LB92-IA13 und.s:r 1.Ï¡,r> gclvÉrr-lrorr-,ir ip of Tr¡nr-loro A , Delrr:sa, He wi;,).ç d^ j.nfluentiaI figurc: in Vr:r'acruz and Mexican polltics because of hls frlendship with Preeident Diaz and ÌlecauËe crf his invetera'be opporsition to the 9renlf rlicoç, The diçsertation concludeç that the Porflrian system, althclugh ar-rtocratlc, was not as despo-bic as has; usually been thought, There wa..s Çonçìlderable rclon for a tlovernor' 1ik'e Dehesa to marlt:uvre, This r;turly also suggests; that t-.he Fresiden-L waçs not ,leus e>< rnachina behind the system. Fur-'Lhermor-e, j.t ¿ìrgues that Dehcs'a wae; an inportant tra-lrsi..l. j-orr.aì. t igurr: fronr the For-f i,r-iato to 1;he Ri:volut iori, I t wa.s Dr=heca who introd.r.l.:r¡11 l¡{¡rcLero to o1d PresÍdent Dlaz, an,C who :;tood ì>y Mader:c'= l-i¿4ht of po l Ít j-c:a l. oppo:=i. t i t:n, e;afogtrarding 1.hc.-, f j.r-:st Presidc¡n'b of j th¿.¡ Revol-n1-i orr on hi.:=; ¡roi i.r, '::¿r 1 .:anpaj.¡1ire thl cugh Vr: rar:t't.iz , TABLE OF CONTENTS Cha.pter Page PREFACE , iii f I VERACRUZ IN THE PORFIRIAN SYSTEM. ' l_ II TEODORO A, DEHE,SA 1C) III. DE}IESA AND STATE POLTTICS ,, ',62 IV I{ENOS POLITICA Y MAS ADMiNISTRACION.....95 V THE LAND QUESTION IN VERACRUZ: PAPANTLA AND ACAYTJCAN, . 1_35 T7 T ,'NOT A UT.ITTNY BT-IT A REVOLTJTIONI '' THE RIO BLANCO LABOIJR DISPIJTE, L806-07, . , ' .2Or VII DEHESA: CRIS]S POLITICIAN AND PoL ITICAL COTINTER\,JE IGHT ,, ,.244 vIiï. CONCLUSION , ,3t_5 B 1BL ICIGRAPHY. 326 1i Preface Sínce the publication of the His'boria Moderna, edlted by Daniel Cosin Villegas between 1-955 and L972, :=tudíec of the Porfíriato have becorne increaçingly '1 1:opu1ar. The periodr €o important for the trnderstanding mf the Revolution, Ïras recêivc¿d treat;ment Ín çclme aspr:cts of 1t.ç development, However, a.ç ä- number of well-known. sch.olarc; have at-bested, much remains to tre done aç; several aæpects of thís important. and interestÍng period of 2 Mexican hÍstory awaít scholarly penetration' Bryan et, al, hav,= persuasively ca. Ilerl fr:r mclre reglnnal cturlies of th.e Porf i.riato, particularly of the relationship between the varícluç c;tates arrd the fe,leral government, Ëo åË to reveal the nature of Diaz's polibícal system, Althnugh the regíme was Trighl.y centralj-zed' some nf the Freçlden{:.'s main sourçæe; of pclwer vrere in the provi-nces, över whictr a strong Sovernor cnuld .1 exercfrse considerable politiclal contr*ol , Tndeedn Diaz relied heavily on hJ-s GovernorË, and they ín turn.r could use thelr- politÍcal Füwer to put thej-r personal s'bamp on the state they governed, In a.nother- worh Bryan has chown how Bernartlo Reyes ín Nuevo l,eon endeared hÍm.self to the; 1i1 peüple of that çtate through h:L:= talent for: ad.rniniçtratÍon and per:=onâl hone.sty. Reyes wð.5 a l-r:c: the f írst; governnr -bo st.loÇeçËfulIy introrl-uce ð. labnr:r cod,e, whi-ch became the model :for- the codra incorpora'berl in'bo the later 4. revnlut ínnary cons'b f tut ion, IJna.va-i. Labí. J. ít.y of sÐT-lrr-1€+Ë; has nnt a-]v¡ays: been 'bhe rea..snn for the lach nf reçearch on tl-re Porf i-r ia-br: , An e:{..-:ß I }en-b sol.tr-crî} is the Forf ír 1n Díaz ar-r:hive at the Universirl"ad Il:ero-Arneri..:ana", The alphatre{;1ca.l. organization arrang;et1 Tty DÍaz 'rs ËGtlrÊtary has been prësrlrvëd and ssn it Ís relatively ea:=y to loca*;r-. correspclnclence with any partícul-ar p{=rrson. There is;, nf cÕurEär.1 r Tlct way of ascertalnlng the ini:egrity of the palrerl=. Hclwever', cro.ç.Ë rrlference with other: a.rchival, matería1 ir= por=elble ancl mandatory, Deæ1:ite the comprehensiverreËË of thíç archivr_+ there are stilf d1f f icultÍes in unearth.lng the parti.cularc nf the deci.sir¡n-rnaking prclce.EÉ, Other historians, (Cmsír: Villegas arrd Cott, for exaurple), have a.tterätr=d to the fact that of f icial. corre.spÐnd.ence rarely lnclurlecL d.etaf 1s of the mat'be:: br-+ing discuçe;ocl. Diaz clid no-b líke to colnm:lt bims;elf orr paper, and therefore some documenl;ç canl:afn nnly allusinns to que*i-bJ-nns of ¡rn1:i.cy anrl acti.orr, 1'þ.¡lr:ìr nnly in br-ingíng nÊlw r=iources to bear nn. the períniC., a{; well- as strj-c'h Çrnçr:i--referencirrg, arÊ-\ we able to clvercatne these. ba-rric*rs. Other irnportant archlval. material h.ar; been avaílablr+ tn çchol.ar-e for d-ecad.es, yet r-er¡r¿linE: une;'eploi-bed., Such ha.s l>een thr* {:açi€} wÍth the personal archive nf the 1:opillar- gclverrlrlr r:f Velracruz frclm 1-BÐ2* lv 191-1-, Teodnrn A. Dehesa, who was not only an. intlt'nate frlend of Precldent Parf irio Díaz, l>u'L waç also an inf luentlal po1.itícian at the centre nf powÊ]r. Hta waç alço considered- a champlon of a. more modern form of Mexican "liberalisrd' and was an outspoken and inveterate opponent 5 of the grou.p known a.s; the Científj-cnrs, His palltical vision allowed him to see further than the immetliate requirement:= of the Porf ir-ian system. Dehec¡a earned the *upport nf an clvêrwh.elming proportíon of Veracruzans and Mexlcans because of his; talent and Liberalism-- fn no part of the republíc wae; there such freednm sf the prêFG, Fur-thermore, Dehesa, although alvrays personally loyal to the Preeident, dfd not Ïrec;ita'be to d.isa.gree wlth Dí-az, arrd oÌr ncr)äsion refur=ed to execute the Prer=ident's d.eçirer=, He r-ealized 'boo, that Mexico, which was und.ergolng a rapÍd. pâÇe of capitallst development, wnuld have to pay heed to the d.emands clf the emerging workíng class, 1f chaos alrd rêvolution wërç] not to ensue, However, Dehesa was no cyn.lcal reali.st, From hfs; youth he was characterí.zed l:y a genuine Ben€e of Justice 6 æ.nrl syrnpa-bhy for the poor. His admlnj-stration was punctrrated with personal acts of kJ-ndnes.s, for exantple hy di-ppíng in'bc¡ hlrE own pocket to help l.andless pea.sants as well aG poclr urban youngsters ln neecl of a schoLarship, In 1-906 he recognízed the Gran Circulo Ae QþfgfoË tiþr,ãË of Qr|za}:.a, the centre of the important textile indus'try ln v the Stater glving lt a s'l;atus enjoyed by no other worker*r 7 organisation Ín Hexico, In conformity viíth hl-ç rnodern ideas cln labour policíes he comtnissioned the dr-aft of a new labour corle folt;he republic in l-907 by the famou:= Juri-st, Silve.stre Moreno Cora, which waË prêçiented to th.e Mexican Congrer=s, where it was d-efeated by the Qigq!f{_!ç.q. deputÍes trefore i.t everr ¡:eacherL 'Lhe f loor of the Cliarnber B sf Deputies for debate, Dehesa was a ge4uínely pclpul-ar f ígure 1n Mexico, not unly 1n h1.s hnme state of Veracruz. Such waE; hi.ç pnpularj-ty that the progressive pret;s wlshed to have h.im rramed- as Vl.ce-PresÍdent, anrC. even Francísccl Mad.ero, the revolutionary whn wanted tn avoicJ revolution, agreed that if Dehesa v\rere to run a.Ë Vlce-PresirLent ín the 1A'lO election, he would find- this acceptable. A general aím nf thÍs work will be to *tudy the relation between the federal Mexican gnvernment and. the State of Veracruz under the lead,er:r=híp of Teodnr-o Á., Dehesa, \{hat 1t attempts to do specifically is to chart the varlou.s possibilitieç of ac'bfon open to Dehesa antl to show the extent to whlch he could act independently.