Introduction
In these times of remembrance and storytelling, casting a hook with mere news, obituaries, chronicles, or biographies serves little purpose. However, recounting the tale of a saga’s conclusion still resonates with attentive audiences. Today, for instance, marks a significant day in Mexico’s national history—the end of an era when, on May 26, 1911, a train carried Porfirio Díaz to Veracruz’s port for exile.
The Aftermath of Díaz’s Resignation
Following his resignation from the presidency the previous day, anticipated by many and feared by others, Díaz appointed Francisco León de la Barra as interim president. General Victoriano Huerta, notorious for his treachery and cruelty, escorted Díaz on his journey to Veracruz. Yet, the train that carried Porfirio Díaz did not take his myths or the realities of his figure and history with it. Over time, Díaz’s appearance in photographs and portraits changed—from fair to dark, symbolizing the shifting perceptions of his character. His image was variously labeled as heroic or villainous, with attributes of an emperor, entrepreneurial intentions, and military virtues on one hand, and criticisms of his governance, ethnic origin disdain, and social status insults on the other.
Porfirio Díaz: A Complex Figure
Born in Oaxaca in 1830 as José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, he became the Mexican president more times and for longer than anyone else. Elected nine times, Díaz governed from 1876 to 1911 with brief interruptions. A hero of the Reforma, a skilled military strategist, and a man of many private romances, Díaz was always a controversial figure. He was labeled as bloodthirsty, unjust, and power-hungry due to the passions of the Revolution, while his supporters hailed him as a progressive man who rose from humble beginnings to bestow Mexico with stability and progress.
The Porfiriato was projected as a prosperous regime with an unmatched economic structure and cultural grandeur, bestowing Mexico with international luster it had never known before. Newspapers echoed the sentiment from the old Republican Monitor: “Porfirio Díaz’s name is a prodigious, magnetic talisman that drives the masses to delirium.”
Shifting Public Opinion and the Rise of Anti-Reelection Movement
However, everything changed with the arrival of the 20th century. Public favor towards Díaz began to wane. Mexico Nuevo, a newspaper in Mexico City founded by Juan Sánchez Azcona, initially supported Díaz’s reelection but soon switched sides to the anti-reelection stance. Soon after, in August, Regeneración by the Flores Magón brothers emerged.
From that moment, events and omens of Díaz’s downfall unfolded rapidly. In 1901, before Regeneración’s issue 39, the Flores Magón brothers were arrested. In 1902, The Mexican Herald, a U.S. newspaper, mentioned only Bernardo Reyes and José Ives Limantour as potential successors, omitting Díaz entirely. In 1903, the Anti-Reelection Redemption Club was founded, issuing a manifesto warning Díaz that insisting on reelection in the 1904 vote would plunge Mexico into civil war. On July 11, during the elections, results were announced swiftly, declaring Porfirio Díaz and Ramón Corral elected unanimously.
Little time remained before the storm of deception and justice ideals coalesced into the Mexican Revolution. Newspapers against the regime multiplied, replacing praise-filled articles with manifestos. In Mexico’s north, talk of armed struggle emerged, and by 1909, Francisco I. Madero’s book, “The Presidential Succession of 1910,” landed on Díaz’s night table, signaling the end of the party era.
Díaz’s Exile
On the last day of May 1911, the steamship Ipiranga set sail. Legend has it that Díaz only wept as the ship disappeared from Veracruz’s docks, his shadow lost in the horizon beyond the Island of Sacrifices.
Key Questions and Answers
- Who was Porfirio Díaz? Born in Oaxaca in 1830, José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori became the most frequently elected and longest-serving Mexican president, governing from 1876 to 1911.
- What was the Porfiriato? The Porfiriato was a period of Mexican history under Díaz’s rule, characterized by economic prosperity, cultural grandeur, and international prestige.
- Why did Díaz leave Mexico? Following shifting public opinion and the rise of the anti-reelection movement, Díaz resigned and was exiled to Veracruz, eventually leaving for Europe aboard the Ipiranga.
- What were some of Díaz’s controversies? Díaz was labeled as bloodthirsty, unjust, and power-hungry due to the passions of the Mexican Revolution. His supporters, however, hailed him as a progressive leader who brought stability and progress to Mexico.
