Manuel Palafox (born

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, 1886–1959) was a Mexican politician, soldier and

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...

. Palafox studied in Puebla, his city of birth, and became an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. In 1911, he joined the

Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas foug ...

(AWL) of

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...

, initially to defend his home. He ascended the ranks and in 1914 became Zapata's most important advisor. He led the negotiations with the

Constitutional Army The Constitutional Army ( es, Ejército constitucionalista; also known as the Constitutionalist Army) was the army that fought against the Federal Army, and later, against the Villistas and Zapatistas during the Mexican Revolution. It was formed ...

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a February ...

, which failed due to the obstinacy of the latter. The Zapatistas took the side of

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

at the Aguascalientes Convention, as a result of which Eulalio Gutiérrez was designated to be president. Palafox became minister of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

in the Gutiérrez cabinet. He allowed land partitionings and ensured that land that had been seized, which had in some cases been occupied for centuries, was returned to the legitimate owners. Manuel Palafox

Palafox, as an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

intellectual, was never popular with the Zapatistas and according to them too fond of shady intrigues. After he was dismissed as a minister in 1915, he attempted to negotiate with Carranza. Later he was the victim of a rumor about his sexuality which led to Zapata to nearly have him shot—however he instead transferred him to Tochimilco under Magana. In 1920, he took the

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

offered by Carranza for former Zapatistas and he was incorporated in the Mexican army as a general. In 1932, he ran unsuccessfully for the governor of Puebla, after which he withdrew himself from public life.

References

Manuel Palafox
at the ''Nevada Observer'' 1886 births 1959 deaths People from Puebla Zapatistas Mexican Secretaries of Agriculture Mexican generals {{mexico-politician-stub