Victoriano Huerta

Victoriano Huerta was a former general in the Mexican army who became President of Mexico in 1913 by overthrowing President Francisco I. Madero, and later had him executed. Huerta's regime was marked by extreme brutality against his opponents and the Mexican population in general, and his excesses resulted in a coalition of prominent Mexican military and political figures that united to overthrow him. Huerta was born in Colotlan, Mexico, in 1854 to Indian parents. He was educated at the Chapultepec Military College and graduated as an officer in the Mexican army. He rose to the rank of general during the rule of longtime dictator Porfirio Díaz, and when Diaz was overthrown Huerta remained in the army to serve Diaz's successor, Francisco Madero, as Chief of Staff. In 1913 units of the army in Mexico City rebelled against Madero, and Huerta joined forces with them. Madero was forced to resign, and Huerta took over the presidency. Several days later Madero was shot on Huerta's orders. Huerta then dissolved the national legislature and established a military dictatorship, with himself at the head. His regime quickly earned a reputation for inefficiency, corruption and brutality, which resulted in an alliance of well known Mexican figures, both civilian and military, such as Pancho Villa, Álvaro Obregón, Emiliano Zapata and Venustiano Carranza to overthrow him. The American government eventually dropped its support of Huerta and switched it to the rebels. It sent troops to occupy the coastal city of Veracruz, and did not stop the smuggling of arms to the rebel forces inside Mexico. Huerta's army was badly defeated in several battles against the opposition forces, and on July 15, 1914, with rebels approaching Mexico City, he resigned and fled to Spain. He traveled to the US in 1915 and attempted to organize forces to return to Mexico and take power again, but was arrested by American authorities on charges of fomenting rebellion in Mexico. He was jailed at the US army post of Fort Bliss, TX. He died there of cirrhosis of the liver in 1915.