1. Mexican History

2. Antonio Lopez de Santa anna
Self-styled “Napoleon of the West”
General in Army
Infamous for losing half of Mexico to the U.S in Mexican-American War ( )
Lost one of his legs in battle…ordered burial of it with full military honors
President 11 times in 20 years
“caudillo” (military/political strongman)
Lost leg in His shattered ankle required amputation of much of his leg, which he ordered buried with full military honors.

3. Benito Juárez
Reformist president of Mexico (takes power, wealth from church, military, declares all citizens equal)
National hero: much like Abraham Lincoln
First president of indigenous roots (Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca)
President at same time as Maximillian (France)installed as emperor
Eventually prevailed; saved Mexico from returning to European control

4. Porfirio Díaz President of Mexico for 31 years! 1877-80;1884-1911
Kept promising elections
Eventually ousted by Madero and the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

5. Pancho Villa
Bandit turned revolutionary, Robin Hood character…stole from rich and gave to the poor by redistributing lands to widows and orphans, Charismatic leader of revolutionary forces in the north (Chihuahua). On the wrong side of the law from age 16, when he killed a man who raped his sister. Financed his army by stealing cattle and selling for guns across the US border. Killed in 1923, but still looked up to in the north for having stood up to the US

6. Villa and Zapata in Mexico City, 1914

7. Emiliano Zapata: Tierra Y LIbertad
Land redistribution for people
Sided with Madero, Pancho Villa vs. Carranza and Obregon, more conservative forces
Killed in 1819 in “trick” by Carranza’s forces
Land and Liberty: believed in redistribution of lands held by foreigners, and that taken by “hacendados” from villages. Sided with Madero (who was assassinated early on in the revolution) and

8. Zapata’s legacy: Zapatistas
1994 uprising against NAFTA, took over San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, etc.
Subcommander Marcos
Autonomous communities still under Zapatista control today