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By Sandra Molina Arceo
Source: www.bicentenario.gob.mx
"Fellow citizens - Not for a moment quake; take up arms, throw power from usurpers, take back your rights of free men and remember that our ancestors left us a legacy of glory that we can not tarnish. Be like they were: invincible in war, magnanimous in victory ".- Effective Suffrage, No REELECTION .- San Luis Potosi, October 5th, 1910 .- Francisco I. Madero
The morning of October 6th,1910, three men walked quickly along the Calzada de Guadalupe, parallel avenue to the tracks of the train station in San Luis Potosi. One of these men, dressed with a mechanic suit, with a red neckerchief and a straw hat, was Francisco I. Madero, who secretly would board a train that carried him to freedom in San Antonio, Texas.
In the early June 1910, Madero left Mexico City to launch her latest tour of campaign. No campaign in Mexican history had been more extensive and active than Madero, he had visited 22 states of the Republic founded at least one hundred clubs Anti-reelectionists. On that latter occasion he would have to tolerate an uncomfortable companion, John R. Orci, secretary of the Vice-President Ramon Corral.
Claimed by crowds of supporters in Saltillo and San Luis Potosi, he suffered serious hostilities by the government which sought in vain to stop his speech. The reception in Monterrey was impressive; despite the large police deployment prevented more than 10 thousand people from approaching the candidate, some, near to 1,500 people, broke the siege and were reunited outside Madero’s house. From the balcony, Francisco I. Madero and Roque Estrada condemned the violent police behavior.
Around 8:30 pm, Madero and Estrada got into the car to take them to the train station, several men in civilian clothes were ordering him to stop Estrada to surrender; Madero nonconformist, started arguing helping his companion to hide in the house. The candidate went on his way to the station but the train was stopped to look inside to Estrada. In the absence of runaway, Madero was arrested for "protecting a fugitive.
Sara, Madero's wife, refused to leave his side when he moved to the Penitentiary State for fear that her husband was a victim of the law of escaping. The next day, Roque Estrada decided to surrender with the hope of freedom and of wood from Madero, but the charges were increasing: sedition, promoting rebellion, and insulting the authorities. The witness of the charges: Juan Orcí.
Madero knew he had to take some advantage of the situation. Issued a proclamation to the Mexican people in which he explained the circumstances of his arrest, accusing the government of his imprisonment and his supporters in several parts of the Republic; encouraged them not to let threats, and to exercise their rights. He also published an open letter to Diaz in which he said: "The nation is tired of continuity and demands to be governed by the Constitution without paternalism," if they insisted on reelection "... would be responsible to the Nation, facing the civilized world and facing too, history for the consequences.”
Then they began to protest against Diaz government repression. The people undoubtedly wanted a change, and although not everyone wanted Madero as its President, the arrest of the only candidate who dared to challenge the dictatorship, allowed enjoying more of popularity. Francisco I. Madero then became "the Apostle of Democracy".
On June 26th primary elections were held, and detainees were transferred to the prison in San Luis Potosi, as "crimes" were committed there. The secondary elections from July 8th reaffirmed the success of the reelectionists; Madero and his party submitted to Congress a detailed legal brief on fraud in the elections, appealing to their invalidity.
On 16 September, General Diaz addressed to the Congress, and boldly declared that the elections had been held with "regularity". On October 4th, Diaz and Corral were declared reelected. The festivities of the Centennial of Independence, opulent and glittering, shined Diaz while hiding in the shadows, the catastrophe.
Madero and Estrada had changed the jail for the city, Jose Yves Limantour, Minister of Finance of Diaz and Madero’s family friend had advised to request it. Forced to stay in San Luis Potosi while rumors began with the possibility to be arrested again, plans began to leak. The Madero daily walks used to stealthily begin to be longer. On October 5th, he returned after dark not arriving to his home but Julio Peña, his secretary. Hence came the morning of October 6th in the train that would leave them thirty-two hours later in Nuevo Laredo.
On October 9th, Mrs. Madero came to San Antonio. Mr. and Mrs. Madero took rooms at the Hutchins House, and that same night a mariachi band offered them a serenade. Few days later, the Mexican government Consuls and Agents of the U.S. government had their eyes on each of its steps. Madero declared he was not seeking U.S. help, only hospitality and understanding, "the hospitality that all free people have always granted to foreigners who struggle for freedom."
The position of Madero in San Antonio was quite compromised. During his campaign had severely denounced "the evils of the revolution" and the repulsion caused to him in the usage of force. Before and after his arrest he had been avoided by all means violence, but in those moments he had exhausted used all peaceful means to avoid armed struggle, the next step was to implement the revolutionary plan.
Publicly proclaimed President of the Revolutionary Council in charge of leading the Revolution, Madero issued the Plan of San Luis, dated October 5th as the last day he was in that city, avoiding an preventing international repercussions. In the plan formulating, he collaborated with his brothers Julio and Raúl Alonso, and also exiled Juan Sánchez Azcona, Roque Estrada, Rafael Cepeda, Federico González Garza, Aquiles Serdán and Enrique Bordes Mangel.
Into The Plan of San Luis, Madero sets out the arguments needed to justify the inevitable armed movement, followed by a list of political events caused by Diaz. He states that after reviewing all the activities of his party, to exhaust all legal remedies to nullify the election, and determined not to allow "illegal and violent situation to continue," he assumed himself as Interim President until "the people choose its government according to law ", proclaiming the principle of non reelection ".
Into The Plan of San Luis, Madero promised to respect all government obligations incurred prior to the revolution, to call elections as soon as conditions were appropriate, and to be careful with public funds used. The triumph of the revolution, laws and decrees issued during the Diaz regime would be reviewed and dismissed, those who were in conflict with the principles of the movement.
The document pointed out on Sunday, November 20th, 1910 to begin the armed struggle, the manifesto must to move quietly until a few days before this date. From San Antonio to Mexico were sent copies of the plan, some money, ammunition and supplies.
In Mexico City, in mid-November, the plan was discovered. On November 17th, the city-press reported the plot against the government. By then, hundreds of suspects had been arrested to answer the charge of sedition. Due to these developments, Aquiles Serdán, waiting impatiently on November 20th, decided to start armed struggle in advance. Serdán and most of his family were killed.
On November 19th, Madero left San Antonio bound for Ciudad Porfirio Díaz, now a days Piedras Negras. Successfully got abroad, but finding with little surprise that the army was not in the expected place, and that weapons and ammunition that he had paid, had not been delivered. Discouraged, without firing a single weapon, Madero returned on his own feet, in his personal point of view, the Revolution, who had never wanted, was a failure.
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