Alfredo Cámara Vales (1879 - 1957) was a Mexican businessman and liberal politician who served as the

Governor of Quintana Roo The governors of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, since statehood. Governors of the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo since 1975 *Note: In 2001 Mario E. Villanueva was sentenced to prison due to corruption involving drugs, Mexican dr ...

from 1912 to 1913. He fought during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. His political career began as a supporter of

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'état in Februa ...

. He organized numerous anti-reelectionist clubs throughout the Yucatán Peninsula, working closely with his brother-in-law,

José María Pino Suárez José María Pino Suárez (; 8 September 1869 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican politician, lawyer, journalist, and newspaper proprietor. He served as the seventh and last Vice President of Mexico from 1911 until his assassination in 1913, ...

, and his brother, Nicolás. In 1912, Alfredo was appointed as the Governor of Quintana Roo by Madero. However, his tenure was short-lived as he was removed from the position by General

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

, who seized power through a military coup d'état during the

Ten Tragic Days The Ten Tragic Days () is the name given to the multi-day coup d'état during the Mexican Revolution in Mexico City. It was staged by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9–19 February 191 ...

. Nevertheless, Alfredo, along with his brother Nicolás, played a significant role in financing the campaign against Huerta and actively organized a revolutionary movement to overthrow him. Engaging in daring incursions, Alfredo conducted military operations in various states in the southeast of Mexico, aligning himself with the uprising led by

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920), known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Re ...

Early life

Alfredo, born on May 31, 1879, in

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida (, ) is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the Mérida Municipality, eponymous municipality. It is located slightly inland fro ...

, was the fourth child among fourteen siblings. His parents were Raymundo Cámara Luján and María del Carmen Vales Castillo. The Cámara family had a rich history in the region, dating back to the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

, and they had owned significant landholdings since the early colonial period. Raymundo Cámara, Alfredo's father, played a prominent role in the economic development of Yucatán in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.He owned numerous

haciendas A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards) ...

, actively involved in

henequen ''Agave fourcroydes'' or henequen is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Madeira, Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman I ...

and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

production. Additionally, he was one of the founding partners of the Mercantile Bank of Yucatán in 1890. Alfredo's brother, Nicolás, also held the position of

governor of Yucatán The governor of the State of Yucatan is the head of the executive branch of the Mexican state of Yucatán, elected to a six-year-term and not eligible for reelection. The figure of the governor is established on the Constitution of the State of Y ...

, and María, their sister was married to

, who served as the vice-president of Mexico between 1911 and 1913. Meanwhile, Alfredo's maternal uncle was Agustín Vales Castillo, an industrialist and banker, who served as the mayor of Mérida. On October 12, 1899, he married María del Pilar Rosas Garibaldi and they had eight children: María del Pilar, Alfredo, Aída, Alina, Raúl, Carlos, Mario, and Iván.

Political career

Alfredo Cámara Vales was an early supporter of

in the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

. In 1909, upon Madero's arrival in Mérida, he was the first to shout, 'Long live Madero!' which was echoed by the crowd. The first Anti-Reelectionist Club in Mérida had José María Pino Suárez as chair and Cámara Vales was a member of the

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. Between 1909 and 1911, Pino Suárez and his brothers-in-law, Nicolás and Alfredo Cámara Vales, organized many anti-reelectionist clubs that spread throughout the Peninsula, all the way to

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

. Cámara Vales was appointed by

as the Governor of the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo on September 9, 1912. However, nearly six months later, on February 27, 1913, he was removed from his position by General

, who seized control of the Mexican government during a

military coup d'état A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, known as the

, and ordered the assassination of Francisco I. Madero and José María Pino Suárez. Alfredo and his brother Nicolás represented a significant source of support in financing the campaign against Huerta. That same year, Cámara Vales and General Manuel Castilla Brito, former

Governor of Campeche The governor of Campeche, officially Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche (), is in charge the Executive branch of the State Government. Term Governors are elected to serve for 6 years and they can not hold the tit ...

, organized a revolutionary movement aimed at overthrowing Huerta. They acquired a shipment of weapons from the United States, which Cámara Vales personally transported from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973

(now

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

), with the support of the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...

. The revolutionaries established military headquarters in the British colony and in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. In 1914, the Mexican Foreign Ministry received a cable that Cámara Vales had successfully smuggled weapons into

Sisal Sisal (, ; ''Agave sisalana'') is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The sisal fiber is ...

and El Cuyo which he planned to use against the Huerta regime. In 1914, Cámara Vales carried out incursions into the states of Campeche, Tabasco, and

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

. During that year, Cámara Vales aligned himself with the uprising headed by

. The Huerta regime collapsed in the summer of 1914. In the 1920s, he made a fortune exploiting

chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus '' Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and ...

(natural gum) in Quintana Roo which he then sold to Robert S. Turton, an Englishman and the multi-millionaire agent of the

Wrigley Company Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camara Vales, Alfredo Pino-Cámara family 1879 births Governors of Quintana Roo Liberalism in Mexico 20th-century Mexican politicians Mexican democracy activists People of the Mexican Revolution Mexican revolutionaries Mexican nobility Mexican people of Spanish descent Year of death missing Politicians from Mérida, Yucatán