There are many presidents and leaders who have governed the destiny of a country, setting the main guidelines for what happens in the territory and how it is structured and acts at the political, institutional, social and economic levels.

In the case of Mexico, we are dealing with a country with a turbulent history in which there have been multiple ideological disputes between different social strata. One of the most remembered and loved presidents, who sought equal rights and respect for people from different social classes, was Benito Juarez. It is about him that we are going to talk in this article, in which there is a small biography of Benito Juárez .

Biography of Benito Juárez

Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia was born in San Pablo de Guelatao, Oaxaca, on March 21, 1806. From an indigenous family (members of the Zapotec group) and dedicated to agriculture, his parents were Marcelino Juárez and Brígida García. Unfortunately both parents died young, when the little one was three years old.

After their deaths, he and his sisters were left in the care of their grandparents, who, in turn, left the future president under the guardianship of his uncle Bernardino. This man would introduce him to the world of shepherding and make him work as a shepherd in the fields, as well as speak Spanish. Beyond that, the boy had no training whatsoever, his locality being a rural area without a school (something Juarez considered necessary when he wanted to receive an education).

Academic training and first jobs

In 1818 Juarez lost one of the sheep, which, in view of the fear of possible reprisals, made him flee the place. After that he went to Oaxaca in search of one of his sisters, who worked for a merchant named Antonio Maza. The latter took him in and gave him a job. In addition, soon after, the young man met a priest named Salanueva, with whom he would begin to learn the trade of bookbinding and who helped him enroll in a local school. In 1821 Salanueva helped him to enter the seminary of Santa Cruz, where the young man would obtain excellent grades.

However, monastic life and theology did not attract the young man, who at the age of twenty left the seminary to enroll in the Institute of Science and Arts of the State of Oaxaca. In the Institute he began to study law and jurisprudence, a career from which he graduated in 1834.

Once he finished his training he was hired as a physics teacher, while he began to dedicate himself to the legal defence of the indigenous communities and the poorer classes. This led to the accusation of trying to promote an uprising among the indigenous communities , something that ended up having him imprisoned.

Politics and Governance

In 1831 Juarez was chosen as alderman of the Oaxaca City Council, and a year later was appointed a deputy. After that he gradually ascended the world of politics . However, at that time there was a conflict between liberals and conservatives regarding the struggle for the elimination of privileges of the clergy and the army, which ended with the victory of the military and caused Juarez to temporarily withdraw from political life.

Also in his facet as a lawyer he ascended with the passage of time, and by 1841 he had managed to become a civil judge in Oaxaca. He would also return to politics, where he was named substitute minister in the Superior Court of Justice .

In 1843 he married Margarita Maza, daughter of his former patron and protector Antonio Maza. He would later be appointed as a deputy for Oaxaca in the Congress of the Union, and after that, co-governor of the state.

In 1846 began the so-called Mexican-American War , a conflict between the United States and Mexico in which Juarez participated by making proposals that made his country able to meet the costs of war. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which Juarez opposed when Mexico lost a large part of its territory. Among other actions, General Santa Anna, who at that time had fled from the Americans, refused entry, something that would generate his resentment.

In 1847, he was appointed federal deputy and later governor of Oaxaca . During this period his actions contributed to generate infrastructure, schools and different advances, at the same time he was named rector of the Institute of Science and Arts of Oaxaca. But in 1853 General Santa Anna took power, something that caused Juarez to be arrested and even close to being shot, to later decide on his exile to Cuba. Juarez went to New Orleans, where he would meet with multiple exiles who planned to overthrow the general.

The so-called Ayutla Revolution was formed, which in 1855 succeeded in getting General Santa Anna to retire from the presidency and the liberals came to power. The new president decided to appoint Benito Juarez as Minister of Justice. Also in 1857 they managed to decree a Constitution.

Presidency and conflicts

In 1857, Benito Juárez was appointed Minister of the Interior and President of the Supreme Court of Justice, during President Comonfort’s term of office. However in 1855 a coup d’état took place , advocated by Comonfort himself to overthrow the government, causing the president to resign. His resignation made Juarez president according to the Constitution of his country, although the perpetrators of the coup (who supported the ecclesiastical and military establishment and were against liberal policies) appointed Zuloaga as president.

This led Juarez to go to Guanajuato and Guadalajara, where he was able to form a government and where he was officially appointed president. The Three-Year War would begin, in which the liberals of Juarez and the conservatives of Zuluaga would fight each other until in 1860 the former achieved victory.

In turn, the harsh conditions of that war and its expenses made Juarez suspend the foreign debt, something that also led to France invading Mexico and appointing Maximilian I emperor of Mexico . This meant a new war that would end with the death of Maximilian in 1867.

After that, Juarez would be re-elected and would again attempt to promote a reform of the system and the defense of freedom and equality. In fact, on this basis, he was named Benemérito de las Américas. However some of his policies made many politicians fear that he would want to keep the position by force , which meant that Congress became hostile. In spite of this, the elections of 1867 were favorable to him and allowed him to remain in office.

Last years and death

The years went by, and with them Benito Juarez began to suffer from various medical complications. In 1870 the president suffered what was then called cerebral congestion , in which the president would manifest bradycardia among other problems, and this would be repeated shortly afterwards. To this difficult situation was added the fact that his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1869, a disease that would end her life in 1871.

During that same year Juarez would be re-elected president, but his long political life and his emotional and health condition would cause discontent among a portion of the population. Among this opposition was the figure of Porfirio Díaz, who strongly criticized the reelection and even went so far as to accuse him of being a dictator. He even took up arms, and some conflicts and riots arose that ended up being suppressed.

One year later, during the month of March, Benito Juarez had an angina pectoris which he managed to overcome. However, months later the Mexican president began to experience a relapse of his heart condition while he was having a series of hearings with various personalities and government and military officials. Shortly thereafter and already at home, the picture would get worse and worse until he finally ended his life. He died in Mexico City on July 18, 1872, at the age of 66.

Bibliographic references:

  • Fernández Ruiz, J. (2006). Juárez y sus contemporáneos (1st edition). Institute of Legal Research: National Autonomous University of Mexico.
  • Salmerón, P. (2007). Juárez. La rebelión interminable. Barcelona: Editorial Planeta.