Gustavo A. Madero (1875 – 18 February, 1913), born in Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Mexico, was a participant in the Mexican Revolution against Porfirio Díaz along with other members of his wealthy family.

Madero's brother, Francisco I. Madero, was president of Mexico (1911-1913). During the coup d'etat in Mexico City known as La decena tragica ("the ten tragic days"), Gustavo Madero was killed after being tortured in 1913 by order of Victoriano Huerta (and American ambassador Henry Lane Wilson).

A section of Mexico's Distrito Federal was named after Gustavo A. Madero.

His participation in the Mexican Revolution

There were a lot of divisions between the Madero family and some of its members wished a peace agreement. The purpose of the agreement was to avoid the problems that the civil war would have brought to their business and investments. Madero could arrange some talks in New York with the minister of the government of Porfirio Diaz. The meetings were not successful because the revolution continued and the peace negotiations did not work. ^[1]

The only option that Madero had was to obtain a loan. He took advantage of the instability of Mexican politics and moved contacts in order to interview with important investors. He also had to waste all his fortune to cover the costs of his strategies. ^[2]

On May, 1911, before of the taking of Juarez City (that determinated the fall of Porfirio Diaz government), Madero requested the resignation of Diaz as a condition of peace. While this happened, Gustavo Madero was negotiating a loan. After this event people from Standard Oil gave a big amount of money to the revolutionaries. Porfirio Diaz signed his resignation on May, 25. ^[3]

The Ten Tragic Days

Gustavo A. Madero was the one that discovered the participation of Victoriano Huerta in the conspiracy. Because of that, the Senate decided to ask for the resignation of Gustavo and his colleague Pino Suárez, who helped him. Madero took as a prisoner to Huerta as the military force did not advanced rapidly. Then, Gustavo was locked up inside the Gambrinus restaurant in order to be given to the troops who tortured and kill him. On Februaty, 18 it was signed an open pact between Victoriano Huerta and Felix Diaz named Pact of the Embassy. ^[4]

The spacing between Gustavo Madero and Francisco Madero

Francisco trusted in his brother during his campaign in 1909 and 1910, and during the Mexican Revolution. Then, some of the mistakes and bad decisions that Francisco I. Madero took when he was president precipitated the fall of his government and caused the dead of Gustavo. Francisco misestimated the advices of Gustavo who was tried to impel revolutionary reforms in the Congress. ^[5]

Reference

1. ^ Rosas, Alejandro (2006-05-18). Los entretelones de la revolucion maderista (Spanish). Sabias que. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
2. ^ Rosas, Alejandro (2006-05-18). Los entretelones de la revolucion maderista (Spanish). Sabias que. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
3. ^ Rosas, Alejandro (2006-05-18). Los entretelones de la revolucion maderista (Spanish). Sabias que. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
4. ^ La Decena Tragica (Spanish). Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
5. ^ Rosas, Alejandro (2005-06-11). Gustavo A. Madero :El hermano incomodo (Spanish). Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.

External links

• A short biography of Gustavo A. Madero

Donate to Wikimedia