Plan of Agua Prieta

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Adolfo de la Huerta
President Venustiano Carranza
Plutarco Elías Calles
Alvaro Obregón

In

plan, that articulated the reasons for rebellion against the government of Venustiano Carranza. Three revolutionary generals from Sonora, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, and Adolfo de la Huerta, often called the Sonoran Triumvirate, or the Sonoran Dynasty, rose in revolt against the civilian government of Carranza. It was proclaimed by Obregón on 22 April 1920, in English and 23 April in Spanish in the northern border city of Agua Prieta, Sonora.[1][2]

The Plan's stated pretext for rejecting the Carranza administration was a dispute between the

Michoacan, General Pascual Ortiz Rubio, and the governor of Zacatecas, General Enrique Estrada.[5] Signing on to the Plan, once it was issued, were Luis L. León, General Ángel Flores, General Francisco R. Manzo, General Francisco R. Serrano, and Col. Abelardo L. Rodríguez
, later to become President of Mexico.

Sonora withdrew its support from Carranza's federal government; the plan also refused to recognize the results of local elections in the states of

Constitutionalist Army, headed by Adolfo de la Huerta, at the time governor of Sonora. Others joined as well, including Lázaro Cárdenas of Michoacan, who had served under Calles in the Revolution, and held a command in Veracruz state at the time. Only after the plan was issued did Obregón sign on to it.[6]

The plan empowered De la Huerta to appoint interim governors in those states that aligned with or were defeated by the Liberal Constitutionalist Army. It called on the state governments to appoint representatives to a junta, which would then select an interim President of the Republic. The interim president would, immediately upon assuming office, call a fresh general election.

Support for the Plan was widespread across the country: more than three-quarters of the

Veracruz, where he intended to set up a temporary seat of government as he had earlier during the Revolution. The train was attacked repeatedly as it left the capital and, arriving at Aljibes, Puebla, was unable to continue because of sabotage to the tracks. In addition, Carranza then learned that the military commander of Veracruz, Gen. Guadalupe Sánchez
, had gone over to the rebels.

Carranza and a small group of followers were forced to change plans: they would head north on horseback, perhaps to Carranza's home state of Coahuila, where his support might be stronger. On horseback they began a crossing of the Sierra Norte, and, on 20 May, reached the town of Tlaxcalantongo, Puebla. A rebel ambush in the early hours of 21 May 1920, reputedly led by Gen. Rodolfo Herrero, left President Carranza dead, either assassinated by the rebels or by suicide. Carranza's deposition is considered the last coup d'état in Mexican history.[7][8]

Adolfo de la Huerta was appointed interim president. He served from 1 June to 30 November 1920, and was succeeded by Álvaro Obregón, who was elected the constitutional president in September 1920.

References

  1. ^ Barbara Tenenbaum, "Plan of Agua Prieta" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 4, pp. 417-18. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
  2. ^ John Womack, Jr. "The Mexican Revolution" in Mexico Since Independence, Leslie Bethell, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press 1991, p. 194.
  3. ^ Dullers, John F.W., Yesterday in Mexico, Austin: University of Texas Press 1961, p. 22.
  4. ^ Gilly, Adolfo. The Mexican Revolution. New York: The New Press 2005, 321.
  5. ^ Dulles, Yesterday in Mexico, 33
  6. ^ Dulles, Yesterday in Mexico, 34.
  7. ^ "THE LAST COUP D'ÉTAT IN MEXICO, 100 YEARS HENCE". Pulse News Mexico. 21 May 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  8. ^ "EL ÚLTIMO GOLPE MILITAR EN MAYO DE 1920". Relatos e Historias en México. 20 November 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  • Historia 3, José de Jesús Nieto López et al., Santillana, México, 2005. (p. 197).

See also