''Federales'' is a slang term in English and

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

s referring to

security forces Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several countries, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of irregular military and paramilitar ...

, particularly those of the

federal government of Mexico The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the Mexico, United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the ...

. The term gained widespread usage by English speakers due to being popularized by films as '' The Wild Bunch'', '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', '' Blue Streak'', the television drama series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' and its spinoff prequel ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'', as well as the song "

Pancho and Lefty "Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album ''The Late Great ...

" by

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

. The term is a cognate and counterpart to the slang " Feds" in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Law enforcement

The term is traditionally used for certain

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

of the

, such as the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

and its predecessor, the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, as well as the Federal Ministerial Police and any of its predecessors, the Federal Investigations Agency and

Federal Judicial Police The Federal Judicial Police (, the PJF) was the federal police force of Mexico until it was shut down in 2002 due to its own rampant corruption and criminal activity. The jurisdiction of the Federal Judicial Police encompassed the entire nation an ...

Military

Historically, "Federales" was also the common term used for the regular

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

(or

Federal Army The Federal Army (), also known as the Federales () in popular culture, was the army of Mexico from 1876 to 1914 during the Porfiriato, the rule of President Porfirio Díaz, and during the presidencies of Francisco I. Madero and Victoriano Huerta. ...

), especially during the 34-year rule of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

until 1911. In part the expression served the purpose of distinguishing centrally controlled military units from provincial militias, or the rural mounted police (

rurales In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' ( Spanish) is used to refer to two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded by President Porf ...

). Following Díaz's overthrow by rebel forces led by

Francisco Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and Public figure, statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in Ten Tragic ...

, the Federal Army remained in existence. The ''Federales'' were eventually disbanded in July and August 1914, after Madero's successor

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 ...

was in turn defeated by an alliance of revolutionary forces. The formal dissolution of the Federal Army was decreed by the

Teoloyucan Treaties The Teoloyucan Treaties were signed on August 13, 1914, at Teoloyucan, State of Mexico, Mexico between the revolutionary army and forces loyal to Victoriano Huerta. The Constitutionalist Army of First Chief Venustiano Carranza was represented by ...

, signed on August 13, 1914.

References

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Law enforcement

Military

References

See also