| American Minute with Bill Federer
Mexican Revolutions-Lesson in Politics of Change |
 Napoleon’s soldiers invaded Italy and defeated the Pope’s papal troops in 1796.
In 1798, Napoleon’s army captured Rome and took Pope Pius VI prisoner, where he died in captivity.
In 1808, Napoleon’s army again occupied Rome, annexed many Papal States, and took captive Pope Pius VII. The Pope excommunicated Napoleon. In 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain and put his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. Catholics in New Spain questioned their allegiance to this secular French king on the Spanish throne. New Spain included Latin America and parts of North and South America. It had been controlled by Spain for 300 years, since Cortés conquered the Aztecs in 1521. Beginning in 1808, Simon Bolivar began his campaign to break away from Spain, which led to the independence of: In Mexico, in the year 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo gave a speech, “The Cry of Dolores,” in protest of Napoleon holding captive Spain’s King Fernando VII.
Hidalgo put the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on a banner and rallied 90,000 poor peasant farmers to revolt against the Spanish Viceroy.
Hidalgo’s ill-equipped troops inscribed slogans on their flags: “Long live religion! Long live our most Holy Mother of Guadalupe! Long live America and death to bad government!”
From 1821 to 1857, fifty different governments ruled Mexico.
Revolts and revolutions in Mexico usually began with class-warfare, where the poor were organized to overthrow the rich, but ended up with the revolutionary leaders themselves grabbing power and becoming new dictators. George Orwell commented on this cyclical trend where, unless citizens have been trained in morals, virtue and self-control, revolutions against dictators usually end with new dictators: “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship.” “Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it.”
Iturbide made himself Emperor of Mexico, placing the crown on his own head in 1822, similar to Napoleon placing the Emperor’s crown on his own head in 1804.
Antonio López de Santa Anna and Vicente Guerrero conspired against Iturbide and he fled to Britain. Upon his return Iturbide was executed.
He was the only Mexican president to complete his full term for the next 30 years.
Manuel Gómez Pedraza won the second election, but Vicente Guerrero and Antonio López de Santa Anna staged a coup d’état, bombarding the palace.
Vicente Guerrero became President in 1829, but was deposed and executed by his Vice-President Bustamante.
Vice-President Bustamante was deposed twice and exiled to Europe. Between 1833 and 1855, the Mexican presidency changed hands at least 36 times, with Antonio López de Santa Anna ruling 11 of those. Rise of the Tyrant – How Democracies & Republics Fall
Antonio López de Santa Anna, styling himself after Napoleon, laid aside Mexico’s Constitution in 1835, dissolved the Congress, and declared himself dictator.
Santa Anna had told the U.S. Minister to Mexico, Joel R. Poinsett, 1824: “I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor … but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are … A despotism is the proper government for them.”
After Mexico finally won its independence from Spain, September 27 1821, others areas of Latin America declared themselves to be independent from BOTH Spain and Mexico, becoming the nations of: -Guatemala, Texas wanted independence too. The dictator Santa Anna wanted to crush sentiments of independence in Texas. -Battle of Velasco, Jun. 26, 1832; -Battle of Gonzales, Oct. 2, 1835; -Battle of the Alamo, Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1836;
In 1845, Texas became the 28th U.S. State. The Mexican-American War began in April 25, 1846 and ended FEBRUARY 2, 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe (more below).
Santa Anna consolidated power to ensure his continued rule, but this led to resistance led by Benito Juarez. In 1853, Benito Juarez fled in exile to New Orleans and worked in a cigar factory.
In 1854, Benito Juarez plotted the Revolution of Ayutla to oust Santa Anna from being dictator, forcing him to resign in 1855. This resulted in a power vacuum, and the Catholic Church was caught in the middle.
Beginning in 1521, the Catholic Church in Mexico acted as the conscience of the nation, influencing the elite to be considerate of the poor. The Church, though, did not actively attempt to change the political structure. This was the accepted Christian attitude that existed from the times of the Romans to the missionaries sent to Japan and China, for if the Church had a reputation of fomenting popular rebellion against rulers, it would not have been allowed entrance into these empires. As a result, Mexico’s political revolutionaries blamed the Church for somehow helping to perpetuate the status quo of class inequality.
In 1856, a War of Reform broke out against the Church, ending with significant limitations being placed on it. After political maneuvering, Benito Juarez became Mexico’s President in 1858. As a Freemason, Benito Juarez founded the Rito Nacional Mexicano Lodge. Benito Juarez stopped Mexico’s repayment of loans borrowed from Spain, Britain and France, thus instigating direct European intervention.
Opposing Benito Juarez, in 1861, a delegation of Mexican leaders traveled to Europe and asked Maximillian I, the younger brother of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, to come to Mexico to restore order. Meanwhile, in order to get repayment of debts, the French forces of Napoleon III invaded Mexico, suffering a minor unexpected setback at the Battle of Puebla on May 5 – Cinco de Mayo – 1862.
During this time, the United States was embroiled in the Civil War. In 1864, Maximillian I finally agreed to the invitation to rule Mexico, arriving with the Pope’s blessing in 1864, being greeted by an enthusiastic reception.
Maximillian proceeded to enact many civil reforms to help the poor. The United States Government, though, did not want any European powers intervening in the western hemisphere. This was called the Monroe Doctrine. When America’s Civil War ended, the United States pressured France’s Napoleon III to abandon support of Maximillian, which he did by withdrawing all French troops from Mexico.
The U.S. then began to secretly supply guns, in a clandestine, “Fast and Furious” style operation to arm Mexican gangs to cause domestic violence and insurrection. Maximilian was captured, and despite pleas from European leaders, Benito Juárez insisted on having him shot on June 19, 1867.
Following the example of previous Mexican leaders, Benito Juarez continued the practice of consolidating power to ensure his re-election. This let to a revolt led by Porfirio Diaz in 1871. Juarez put down the revolt, but died of a heart attack and was succeeded by Lerdo de Tejada.
Lerdo de Tejada was overthrown by Porfirio Diaz. Porfirio Diaz was President for most of 1876 to 1911. Following the example of previous Mexican leaders, Porfirio Diaz continued the practice of consolidating power to ensure his re-elections.
This let to a revolt led by Francisco Madero in 1911. In the next decade of fighting, millions died as the secular Mexican government attempted to crush the church and silence political dissent. Rise of the Tyrant – How Democracies & Republics Fall
Francisco Madero was murdered in a coup d’etat in 1913 by Victoriano Huerta, which started a civil war. Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Álvaro Obregón forced Victoriano Huerta to resign.
In 1914, Hollywood sent a crew to film Pancho Villa as he fought from Durango to Mexico City. President Woodrow Wilson at first backed Pancho Villa, but then switched to backing Venustiano Carranza, as Wilson wanted Mexican oil for fighting Germany during World War I. Wilson reportedly had General Pershing leave railroad cars of arms and ammunition along the border, with guards looking the other way, while Carranza’s fighters took the guns.
Venustiano Carranza took control of Mexico but he was soon assassinated in 1920. Next, Adolfo de la Huerta took power, but he was replaced by the revolutionary Álvaro Obregón.
Obregón reportedly ordered the death of every rebel officer, including Pancho Villa, who was retired on his estate. Adolfo de la Huerta started a revolt against Álvaro Obregón, but it was crushed.
In 1924, Obregón was succeeded by the aggressively anti-christian freemason, Plutarco Elías Calles, who violently closed and confiscated churches, schools, convents, hospitals, seminaries, missions and monasteries.
Calles imposed radical atheist “Calles Laws,” which made it illegal for priests to wear their clerical religious clothing outside a church. He imposed a 5-year prison sentence on pastors who criticized the government and limited the number of clergy in each state.
This was portrayed in the movie, For Greater Glory: Viva Crista Rey (2012), starring Andy García, Eva Longoria, Oscar Isaac, Rubén Blades, Peter O’Toole, and Bruce Greenwood.
The “Calles Laws” resulted in priests, ministers, and faithful laity being harassed, arrested and murdered. Catholic women and girls were assaulted and raped. This resulted in the Cristero War, 1926-29, where over 90,000 were killed.
Obregón was again elected in 1928, but was soon assassinated. Calles again assumed power, being nicknamed “Grand Turk” and “Jefe Máximo” (political chieftain).
Promoting revolutionary socialism, Calles had Mexico host the Soviet Union’s first embassy in any country. Calles started Mexico’s PNR party, the predecessor to the PRI party.
President Portes Gil agreed not to enforce the “Calles Laws” but left them on the books. In 1936, President Lázaro Cárdenas deported Calles and repealed the “Calles Laws,” thereby restoring some semblance of freedom of religion.
President Millard Fillmore had commented on the nature of revolutions, December 6, 1852, noting why the outcome of America’s Revolution was so unique: “Our own free institutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before. They were planted in the free charters of self-government under which the English colonies grew up, and our Revolution only freed us from the dominion of a foreign power whose government was at variance with those institutions … (Other) nations have had no such training for self-government, and every effort to establish it by bloody revolutions has been, and must without that preparation continue to be, a failure … Liberty unregulated by law degenerates into anarchy, which soon becomes the most horrid of all despotisms … We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children.” Californian Ronald Reagan stated of America in 1961: “In this country of ours, took place the greatest revolution that has ever taken place in world’s history. The only true revolution. Every other revolution simply exchanged one set of rulers for another.” But back to 1848 … When the Mexican-American War ended on FEBRUARY 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed at the altar of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Villa Hidalgo, in present day Mexico City. For $15 million dollars, coincidentally the same amount paid to France for the Louisiana Purchase, the United States purchased from Mexico 525,000 square miles — the third largest land purchase in history.
The largest land purchase was the Louisiana Purchase of 828,000 square miles from France, and the second largest land purchase was the 586,412 square miles of Alaska from Russia after it lost the Crimean War to Britain.
The land acquired by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo became the U.S. States of: -California, and parts of: -Arizona,
The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo began: “In the Name of Almighty God — the United States and the United Mexican States animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the calamities of the war … have, under the protection of Almighty God, the Author of Peace, arranged, agreed upon, and signed the following Treaty of Peace …” In contrast to Mexico’s many secular governments, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo guaranteed: “If … God forbid … war should unhappily break out … they … solemnly pledge … the following rules … All churches, hospitals, schools, colleges, libraries, and other establishments for charitable and beneficent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected with the same protected in the discharge of their duties, and the pursuit of their vocations … Done at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the 2ND DAY OF FEBRUARY, in the year of the Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.” Since the time of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, there is seen a stark contrast in the health, safety and economic status of the land north of the border and the land south of the border.
This is most obvious when comparing border cities: San Diego — Tiajuana; El Paso — Juárez; Laredo — Nuevo Laredo; Brownsville — Matamoros; McAllen — Reynosa.
The Mexican population has also been subjected to foreign entanglements. GATT and NAFTA treaties led to a devaluing of the Mexican currency which favored multi-national corporations and globalist financial interests at the expense of bankrupting small Mexican farmers and displacing rural populations.
On June 27, 2012, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress for his role in supplying guns to Mexican drug gangs through a program called “Fast and Furious.” It was later discovered that some of these guns were used to kill Americans. Under intense public scrutiny, Holder resigned.
Increasing concern has developed over Muslim infiltration of these Latin American drug gangs. Growing numbers of those entering America across the southern border are OTMs (Other Than Mexicans).
Illegal immigration through the United State’s porous southern border includes fundamentalist Muslims from Islamic nations, such as: 
Among the political differences north and south of the border is view of the purpose of government. The Declaration of Independence explained that government was not to dominate, but to secure to each person their Creator-given rights: “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights … That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” America’s impartial system of rule of law was meant to guarantee there would never be rule by the whims and caprices of a dictator.
President Ronald Reagan, who had been California’s 33rd Governor, stated in 1983: “Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible … The Bible and its teaching helped form the basis for the founding fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual, rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual.” Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924 wjfederer@gmail.com American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgement.
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