Convention of Aguascalientes

The Convention of Aguascalientes was a major meeting that took place during the Mexican Revolution. The call for the Convention was issued on 1 October 1914 by Venustiano Carranza, head of the Constitutional Army, who described it as the Gran Convención de Jefes militares con mando de fuerzas y gobernadores de los Estados ("Great Convention of Commanding Military Chiefs and State Governors"). Its first sessions were held in the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City, but were later transferred to the city of Aguascalientes, whence its name, where it met from 10 October to 9 November 1914.

Background

General Victoriano Huerta, who had usurped the presidency in a coup d'état in February 1913, resigned the office in July 1914 on account of Revolutionary pressures and left the country. He was replaced by Venustiano Carranza, who wished to discuss his government's policies with the other revolutionary leaders, and so called for the Convention to take place. But, faced with the absence of the Zapatistas (who did not recognise Carranza's authority) and the refusal of Francisco Villa to attend a meeting in Mexico City, it was agreed to relocate the Convention to Aguascalientes, Ags.

Convention

Villa (L), Gutiérrez (C), and Zapata (R), following their triumphant entry into Mexico City

The convention was intended to settle the differences between the "big four" warlords who played the biggest roles in overthrowing Huerta: Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Venustiano Carranza and Alvaro Obregon.^[1] From the onset, however, the Convention was dominated by the Villistas, who imposed their points of view on the other delegates. The supporters of Emiliano Zapata did not arrive until 26 October (a delegation of 26, led by Paulino Martínez and Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama). The Convention declared itself sovereign, elected General Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz as President of Republic, and appointed Villa commander of the Conventionalist Army, which then took up arms against Carranza's Constitutionalists.^[2] Due to the disagreements that Carranza had with Zapata and Villa, the three refused to attend the convention and little developed as a result.^[1]

After the meeting, the newly reconciled Villa and Zapata entered Mexico City on 6 December, at the head of an army of 60,000 men. Carranza and his supporters consequently fled to Veracruz.

References

General

• A collection of original documents from the Convention of Aguascalientes can be found at Documentos de la Convención de Aguascalientes on Wikisource
• Barrera Fuentes, Florencio (1964). Crónicas y debates de las sesiones de la soberana Convención Revolucionaria (Tomos I, II y III). 
• Alessio Robles, Vito (1950). "La Convención Revolucionaria de Aguascalientes". Revista Todo. Retrieved 13 November 2008. 
• Sánchez Lamego, Miguel A. (1983). Historia militar de la revolución en la época de la Convención. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana. ISBN 978-968-805-234-1. 
• Reyes Heroles, Federico (1985). "De la junta a la Convención Soberana", in: Así fue la Revolución Mexicana. El triunfo de la Revolución. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública. 

Specific