Maximino Ávila Camacho (1891 in

Teziutlán Teziutlán is a city in the northeast of the Mexican state of Puebla. Its 2005 census population was 60,597. It also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding Teziutlán Municipality. The municipality has an area of 84.2 km2 (32.51 ...

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 ...

– 1945 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) was a Constitutionalist Army officer in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

and afterwards politician who served as governor of Puebla from 1937 to 1941 and as secretary of Public Works in the cabinet of his brother,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Manuel Ávila Camacho.

Biography

The Avila Camacho family grew up in modest circumstances, with Maximino being the oldest of three brothers. He attended the National Military College as a young man, and in 1914 joined the Constitutionalist Army. Following the end of the military phase of the

in 1920, he continued in the military, rising to the rank of brigadier general in 1929 and in 1940 a division general. He saw combat in the Cristero War, the religious conflict that broke out in the late 1920s when President Plutarco Elías Calles began strictly enforcing the anti-clerical laws of the 1917

Mexican Constitution The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in ...

. According to historian

Enrique Krauze Enrique Krauze ( Mexico City, September 16, 1947) is a Mexican historian, essayist, editor, and entrepreneur. He has written more than twenty books, some of which are: ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', ''Redeemers'', and ''El pueblo soy yo'' (''I ...

, Maximino participated in the 1929 mass murder of student supporters of José Vasconcelos, following the 1929 election for president. He became the caudillo (strong man) of his home state of

, serving as governor starting in 1937. The strong man of the state of

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

, Gonzalo N. Santos, said of him "The governor of the state, Major General Maximino Ávila Camacho, was in command in Puebla, I mean in command and not just governing, because he commanded the military, the finance ministry, the telegraphs, the mails, the administration of the railroads, and the diocese f the Catholic Church in Puebla" He amassed a significant personal fortune in land, cattle, and horses as well as making alliances with enormously wealthy foreign businessmen, such as the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren and U.S. businessman William O. Jenkins. Ruthless, temperamental and arrogant, Maximino was the opposite of his younger brother, the affable Manuel Ávila Camacho, whose good manners, even temper and diplomatic skills were famous. The President had trouble protecting his brother from himself, Maximino got into fights, seduced women and dispensed public funds at will. His arrogance reached its limits when he proclaimed that he would be the next President because, since his brother had been President he had the right to be his successor, eventually leading to a rift between the two. In 1945 the dominant party, founded by Plutarco Elías Calles, renamed the PRI in 1946, would name its presidential candidate, the assured winner of the 1946 elections. Maximino was determined to become the candidate or, at least, have a great influence on the decision. He swore that if the party nominated politician

Miguel Alemán Valdés Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals. His administr ...

, the son of a Mexican revolutionary but not one himself, Maximino would kill him. Maximino died of a heart attack on February 17, 1945, before the party's convention. Poor health ran in the family, with his brother Manuel suffering heart attacks while campaigning for the presidency and while in office. However, "there were some who wondered whether something more than seasoning had been added to aximino'sfood" the day he died.Enrique Krauze, ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', New York: Harper Collins 1997, p. 500. Maximino's death averted a potential political crisis were he to be the presidential candidate, creating a family dynasty. The party nominated Maximino's hated enemy, Miguel Alemán Valdés, who went on to succeed Manuel Ávila Camacho as president. Maximino's life inspired Ángeles Mastretta's novel, ''Arráncame la Vida'' and the film adaptation '' Tear This Heart Out''.

References

Hartford Web Publishing
at www.hartford-hwp.com

Biography

References

Further reading