Maximino Ávila Camacho (1891 in

Teziutlán Teziutlán is a city in the northeast of the Mexican state of Puebla. Its 2005 census population was 60,597. It also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding Teziutlán Municipality. The municipality has an area of 84.2 km2 (32.51 ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

– 1945 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) was a Constitutionalist Army officer in 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 ...

and afterwards politician who served as governor of Puebla from 1937 to 1941 and as secretary of Public Works in the cabinet of his brother,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Manuel Ávila Camacho Manuel Ávila Camacho (; 24 April 1897 – 13 October 1955) was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as the president of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in the Mexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he cam ...

Biography

The Avila Camacho family grew up in modest circumstances, with Maximino being the oldest of three brothers. He attended the National Military College as a young man, and in 1914 joined the Constitutionalist Army. Following the end of the military phase of the

in 1920, he continued in the military, rising to the rank of brigadier general in 1929 and in 1940 a division general. He saw combat in the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

, the religious conflict that broke out in the late 1920s when President

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...

began strictly enforcing the anti-clerical laws of the 1917

Mexican Constitution The current Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (), was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, Mexico, by a constituent convention during the Mexican Revolution. I ...

. According to historian

Enrique Krauze Enrique Krauze Kleinbort (born 16 September 1947) is a Mexican historian, essayist, editor, and entrepreneur. He has written more than twenty books, some of which are: ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', ''Redeemers'', and ''El pueblo soy yo'' (''I ...

, Maximino participated in the 1929 mass murder of student supporters of

José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...

, following the 1929 election for president. He became the

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

(strong man) of his home state of

, serving as governor starting in 1937. The strong man of the state of

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

, Gonzalo N. Santos, said of him "The governor of the state, Major General Maximino Ávila Camacho, was in command in Puebla, I mean in command and not just governing, because he commanded the military, the finance ministry, the telegraphs, the mails, the administration of the railroads, and the diocese f the Catholic Church in Puebla" He amassed a significant personal fortune in land, cattle, and horses as well as making alliances with enormously wealthy foreign businessmen, such as the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren and U.S. businessman William O. Jenkins. Ruthless, temperamental and arrogant, Maximino was the opposite of his younger brother, the affable

, whose good manners, even temper and diplomatic skills were famous. The President had trouble protecting his brother from himself, Maximino got into fights, seduced women and dispensed public funds at will. His arrogance reached its limits when he proclaimed that he would be the next President because, since his brother had been President he had the right to be his successor, eventually leading to a rift between the two. In 1945 the dominant party, founded by

, renamed the PRI in 1946, would name its presidential candidate, the assured winner of the 1946 elections. Maximino was determined to become the candidate or, at least, have a great influence on the decision. He swore that if the party nominated politician Miguel Alemán Valdés, the son of a Mexican revolutionary but not one himself, Maximino would kill him. Maximino died of a heart attack on February 17, 1945, before the party's convention. Poor health ran in the family, with his brother Manuel suffering heart attacks while campaigning for the presidency and while in office. However, "there were some who wondered whether something more than seasoning had been added to aximino'sfood" the day he died.Enrique Krauze, ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', New York: Harper Collins 1997, p. 500. Maximino's death averted a potential political crisis were he to be the presidential candidate, creating a family dynasty. The party nominated Maximino's hated enemy, Miguel Alemán Valdés, who went on to succeed Manuel Ávila Camacho as president. Maximino's life inspired Ángeles Mastretta's novel, ''Arráncame la Vida'' and the film adaptation '' Tear This Heart Out''.

References

Hartford Web Publishing
at www.hartford-hwp.com

Biography

References

Further reading