Porfirio Diaz
This here is Porfirio Diaz
Born in 1830, Porfirio Diaz was a Mexican general, President, politician and dictator. From the list of things that he was it seems that he loved to be in power. He ruled Mexico for 35 years with an iron fist, however, just because he was a strong leader does not make him a good leader. Under his reign in Mexico, he did keep order, but he also instilled so harsh laws and consequences. Also he was a major cause of the Mexican Revolution. He caused a significant gap between the rich and the poor. He gave the people no say in anything and forced them to abide by his laws. However during his period he made great progress and modernization and the economy was booming, but unfortunately not everyone got to experience the wealth because they were too occupied trying to figure out how to feed their families with out any farm land, money and working all the time. He did create an "economic boom", by allowing foreign investment to develop Mexico's vast resources which became a huge profit for Mexico. Money was flowing from the U.S., Europe and soon mines and plantations and factories were being built, and Diaz had really done a good job with coming up with ways to make money for they country and the people, but was it really for the good of the country and the people or for himself? But as the early 20th century started, Porfirio was not doing as well as he used to. He was getting older and more cracks were obvious in his dictatorship the economy went into a recession and the miners went on strike. Everyone was very skeptical of what was going on and they were not really sure why. Many people even Diaz's supporters were growing uneasy. Finally in 1910 when he had, had enough he announced that he would allow fair and free elections. Francisco I. Madero ran against Diaz, inexperienced and naive, Francisco I. Madero won and finally Porfirio Diaz's reign was over. His legacy that he left was his achievements in Mexico's economy, and the safety and stability he provided under his reign.
Pancho Villa:
This is a picture of Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa was a Mexican Revolutionary leader who advocated for the poor and wanted to change things and make a reforms and make life better for others. Although he was a killer, a bandit and a revolutionary leader he is often known as a folk hero. When he was younger he spent most of his time running in the mountains from the law. He lived off the land and survived by himself as long as he could, but later joined other bandits and became the leader. He was often sought out by men who wanted to plan a revolution, because they knew that his skills could be used as a guerilla fighter during the revolution. He was asked by Madero, the new president of Mexico, to be in charge of the revolutionary army, so he said he would. When he quit Madero's army soon later someone needed his help in a rebellion against madero which he took part in and got put in jail. However he escaped and soon Madero was killed so Venustiano Carranza took over and he and Pancho Villa became allies, but when they became enemies the country split and started fighting. Pancho even came onto U.S. soil and the U.S. soldiers lined the border and searched for Pancho Villa for a year but never found him.
Emiliano Zapata
This is a picture of Emiliano Zapata
Born in 1879, Emiliano Zapata was a village leader, a farmer, a horseman and he became an important leader in the Mexican Revolution. He was instrumental in bringing down the leadership of Porfirio Diaz in 1911 and joined with other revolutionary leaders to defeat Victoriano Huerta. He commanded an imposing army, he was idealistic, and his insistence on land reform became one of the pillars of revolution. He truly was a good leader, he was not obsessed with power and being the leader like Porfirio Diaz was or a criminal like Pancho Villa, he was a leader who truly wanted the best for his people and strived to get what would make them better as a country. Unfortunately he was assassinated in 1919, but is everlasting legacy will be that he did well by his country, but its not just that. His death was significant, not just because people were sad, but because he almost became a martyr in death according to his people. He had done more for his ideals in death than he had ever done in life.
Review Questions:
1. Who do you think was the most influential person out of these 3 people to Latin America?
2. Do you think Pancho Villa was a hero or a criminal?
3. How did Porforio Diaz impact Latin American History?
2. Do you think Pancho Villa was a hero or a criminal?
3. How did Porforio Diaz impact Latin American History?