Aureliano Blanquet

Aureliano Blanquet

Aureliano Blanquet (1849–1919, Huatusco, Veracruz) was General during the Mexican Civil War who led the coup d'état during the Decena trágica.[1] Blanquet has been identified "as one of the major villains of the Mexican Revolution".[2]

Biography

He was born in 1849 in Morelia, Michoacán. In July 1911 Blanquet commanded federal troops stationed in Puebla.[2] On July 12 a group of armed men fired shots at the rival maderistas and fled into the federal army barracks.[2] The incident erupted into an all-out battle in which Blanquet defeated the maderistas. 46 were killed, including women and children.[2][3] On the next day Madero publicly hugged Blanquet and cleared him of any wrongdoing; he ordered radical maderistas to surrender arms to Blanquet's federals and go home.[4] The Puebla Incident also created international tension after the fleeing maderistas killed German and Spanish expatriates who stood in their way.[4]

In June 1913, Huerta dismissed General Mondragon as Secretary of War, and replaced him with Blanquet. [5]

In October 1913 dictator Victoriano Huerta dissolved the federal congress and prepared for a rigged referendum to legitimize himself as the President, with Blanquet named as vice-president.[6]

In July 1914, when the Huerta government collapsed, Blanquet resigned as Vice President, and departed from Mexico with Huerta. [7][8]

On August 19, 1914 Blanquet his 29th battalion of 400 men and other federal troops against the Carrancistas in Puebla. He captured the city and received a tip that two Carrancistas agents, brothers Ramon and Raphael Cabrera, where on their way to Puebla. Blanquet's federals captured the Cabreras and shot them on Blanquet's order. The two surviving Cabrera brothers, Luiz and Alfonso, avenged the dead with a campaign of terror, killing over sixty Federal officers.[9]

In March 1919, Blanquet returned from exile to support the Felix Díaz rebellion against Carranza. On April 7, 1919, he was killed in a battle at La Barranca de Chavaxtla, Veracruz. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Blanquet Led Coup D'etat. But Diaz's Attitude and Strong Position Caused Madero's Downfall.". New York Times. 1913-02-20. Retrieved 2010-03-06. Although Gen. Felix Diaz knew nothing of the arrest of Francisco I. Madero until Gen. Victoriano Huerta and Gen. Aureliano Blanquet had captured the Mexican President in his quarters in the National Palace yesterday morning, it was the rebel leader, nevertheless, who brought about the downfall of the Madero Government.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Henderson, p. 65.
  3. ↑ David LaFrance, “The Mexican Revolution in Puebla” 1989, p115
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Henderson, p. 66.
  5. ↑ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p101
  6. ↑ LaFrance, p. 7.
  7. ↑ John Eisenhower, “Intervention!” 1993, p149
  8. ↑ Michael Meyer, “Huerta” 1972, p208
  9. ↑ LaFrance, p. 49.
  10. ↑ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p141

References