Maximino Ávila Camacho

Maximino Ávila Camacho (Teziutlán, Puebla, 1891 – Mexico City, 1945) was a Mexican army general and politician who served as governor of Puebla from 1937 to 1941 and as secretary of Public Works in the cabinet of his brother, President Manuel Ávila Camacho.

Biography

Maximino Ávila Camacho, famed for his carousing and womanizing, as well as for violence against foes, was a three-star general in Mexico's revolutionary forces and then emerged as the political boss of his home state of Puebla.

Ruthless, temperamenteal and arrogant, Maximino was the opposite of his younger brother, President Manuel Ávila Camacho, whose good manners, even temper and diplomatic skills were famous. The President had trouble protecting his brother from himself, Maximino got into fights, seduced women and dispensed public funds at will. His arrogance reached its limits when he proclaimed that he would be the next President because, since his brother had been President he had the right to be his successor, eventually leading to a rift between the two.

In 1945 as the PRI prepared to nominate a candidate for the 1946 presidential elections, Maximino was determined to become the candidate or, at least, have a great influence on the decision. He swore that if the party nominated Miguel Alemán Valdés he would kill him. Maximino died of a heart attack on February 17, 1945, before the party’s convention, and the party nominated Maximino’s hated enemy, Miguel Alemán, who went on to succeed Manuel Ávila as president.

Maximino's life inspired Ángeles Mastretta's novel, "Arráncame la Vida".

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