Happy birthday Benito Juarez’s, Mexico’s Abraham Lincoln

Every March 21, Mexico celebrates the commencement of Benito Juárez, the Zapotec lad who became a president, leader and symbol of conscionable astir everything Mexican. Schoolchildren memorize his words, politicians invoke his name, and his stern look stares down from statues crossed the nation. If you person a peso, you astir apt person Benito Juárez successful your pouch close now.

Juárez was calved successful 1806 successful the tiny colony of San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, a spot truthful quiescent you could perceive a tortilla flip from a mile away. He spoke lone Zapotec until the property of 12. Orphaned astatine three, helium was, by each accounts, a quiet, superior boy.

The Benito Juárez Hemicycle successful Mexico City’s Alameda Park is conscionable 1 of countless monuments to the antheral considered Mexico’s greatest-ever president. (Creative Commons)

But helium learned Spanish. He studied law. And then, somehow, helium overcame his humble beginnings and changed the destiny of a nation. He became president not once, not twice, but 5 times. He fought disconnected European invaders. He pushed for reforms that would enactment powerfulness successful the hands of the people. And helium did it each with the charisma of an overworked accountant.

A turbulent commencement successful politics

Juárez had a roller coaster travel to becoming the unwavering person of Mexico. He got progressive successful Liberal Party authorities aboriginal successful beingness and was elected politician of his location authorities successful 1848, a relation successful which helium made an force of Antonio López de Santa Anna. When Santa Anna came backmost to powerfulness for the past clip successful 1853, Juárez was imprisoned and exiled for his wide views. It was not the archetypal clip helium would beryllium connected the tally successful the coming years. 

Juárez fled to New Orleans, wherever helium spent 2 years successful obscurity, moving arsenic a cigar shaper and plotting the aboriginal of Mexico with different exiled liberals, waiting for the close infinitesimal to instrumentality home. That infinitesimal came successful 1855, erstwhile Santa Anna was overthrown successful the Ayutla Revolution and Juárez returned arsenic Minister of Justice successful the new wide authorities that would signifier Mexico’s future.

La Reforma and the Constitution of 1857

Juárez was, astatine his core, a reformer. He believed successful laws, institutions, and, supra all, the thought that a state should beryllium to its people, not to the Church oregon a fistful of elites. He pushed for La Reforma, a bid of laws that separated religion and state, confiscated Church and communally-owned Indigenous lands and attempted to crook Mexico into what the liberals saw arsenic a modern republic, kicking and screaming if request be. Juárez’s faction of the Liberal Party wrote the Constitution of 1857, incorporating these provisions arsenic the iron-bound instrumentality of the land.

Deputies curse to abide by the Constitution of 1857. (Daniel A. Utrillo)

Naturally, this made a batch of almighty radical precise angry. The Catholic Church, which had been moving things for rather immoderate time, abruptly recovered itself connected the losing extremity of history. Conservative elites, who preferred their peasants obedient and illiterate, saw Juárez arsenic a unsafe man. And erstwhile Mexico’s ruling people gets uncomfortable, past tells america they usually bash thing drastic. 

The Reform War and the Second French Intervention

In December 1857, the conservatives rebelled against the caller constitution, convinced wide President Ignacio Comonfort to overthrow his ain authorities and plunged Mexico into civilian war. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the presidency legally passed to Juárez, who led the wide authorities to subject triumph implicit the conservatives successful 1860 and handily won the statesmanlike elections of 1861. But the conservatives weren’t defeated yet, and they inactive had a instrumentality up their sleeve.

Enter Maximilian von Habsburg, a well-dressed Austrian sent by Napoleon III to regularisation Mexico. With the enactment of the Mexican conservatives, France installed Maximilian arsenic emperor, and abruptly Juárez recovered himself again starring a authorities connected the run, chased crossed Mexico by a antheral who had perfectly nary concern being there.

Did Juárez surrender? No. Did helium onslaught a deal, arsenic Maximilian offered him? Absolutely not. Instead, helium waged a guerrilla warfare against the conservatives and the French. And erstwhile the tides turned, and Maximilian was yet captured, Juárez had him tried and executed. No exile, nary 2nd chances. Just a firing squad and a wide message: Mexico would not beryllium a European colony anymore.

Chinacos, oregon mounted guerrillas, were the Juarista worker par excellence successful the warfare against the Conservative Party and the French. (Manuel Serrano)

Juárez had won. He had fought for democracy, for the people, for a authorities escaped from corruption and overseas influence. But past came the tricky part: governing successful a clip of peace.

The Restored Republic

Like galore large revolutionaries earlier him, Juárez recovered that moving a state is simply a batch harder than warring for one. His reforms, specified arsenic the Lerdo Law, were meant to interruption up communal Indigenous lands to make backstage spot and stimulate the system — successful reality, affluent landowners and speculators bought up astir of the recently backstage land.

While noble successful principle, these reforms often did much to alienate radical than unite them. The agrarian poor, galore of whom had joined Juárez’s forces during the war, didn’t needfully spot their lives amended nether his leadership. The Church, wounded but inactive powerful, continued to defy him. His enemies successful authorities accused him of clinging to power, of ignoring dissent, of being conscionable arsenic dictatorial arsenic the men helium had fought against.

Still, Juárez kept getting reelected, often against beardown absorption from different liberals. He centralized powerfulness successful ways that made adjacent his allies nervous. Some of his closest supporters defected and adjacent revolted against his authorities successful 1871, including, ironically enough, Porfirio Díaz, the wide who would aboriginal regularisation Mexico arsenic a dictator for implicit 30 years. The revolutionaries had go the establishment. And similar truthful galore earlier him, Juárez began to look little similar a extremist reformer and much similar a antheral who simply couldn’t fto go.

Benito Juárez is inactive kicking

In 1872, Juárez died of a bosom onslaught astatine his desk. His legacy, however, refused to rest. Today, Benito Juárez is remembered arsenic Mexico’s Abraham Lincoln, a antheral of the radical who believed successful justness and equality. His look is connected the money. His day is simply a nationalist holiday.

And yet Mexico inactive argues astir him. They reason astir his reforms, his decisions, his stubbornness. Some telephone him a hero. Others, a tyrant. Maybe that’s due to the fact that his struggles inactive consciousness truthful contiguous successful Mexico. In immoderate ways, the battles helium fought — betwixt affluent and poor, wide and conservative, advancement and contented — person ne'er truly ended.