Francisco León de la Barra
Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano (16 June 1863 – 23 September 1939)[b] was a Mexican political figure and diplomat who served as the 36th President of Mexico from May 25 to November 6, 1911 during the Mexican Revolution,[4][5][6] following the resignations of President Porfirio Díaz and Vice President Ramón Corral. He previously served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs for one month during the Díaz administration and again from 1913 to 1914 under President Victoriano Huerta. He was known to conservatives as "The White President" or the "Pure President."[7][8]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is León de la Barra and the second or maternal family name is Quijano.
Francisco León de la Barra
Vacant[a]
Victoriano Huerta
Carlos Pereyra
Porfirio Díaz
Mexican
María Elena Borneque (died 1909)
María del Refugio Borneque (m. 1909)
Early career[edit]
León de la Barra's paternal grandfather, Juan Francisco León de la Barra, was an Argentine-born fighter in the Chilean War of Independence under Bernardo O'Higgins.[9] Upon returning to Argentina, Juan Francisco had seventeen children, including Bernabé León de la Barra, Francisco León de la Barra's father.[9] Bernabé later immigrated to Mexico, and supported President Benito Juárez and the Liberals during the second French intervention in Mexico.[10] Bernabé married María Luisa Quijano, the daughter of General Alejandro Quijano of Yucatán, under whom he served.[11] Bernabé and María Luisa's son Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano was born in Querétaro City, Querétaro.[10]
León de la Barra obtained a degree in law in Querétaro before entering politics as a federal deputy in 1891. In 1892, he attended the Ibero-American Judicial Conference held in Madrid on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America.[12]
In 1896, León de la Barra entered the Mexican diplomatic corps, serving as envoy to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States (1909–11). He was Mexico's representative at The Hague peace conference in 1907.[13] During this time, he earned a reputation as an authority on international law. When the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, he was Ambassador to the U.S. Following the fraudulent elections of 1910, revolutionary forces rose up against Porfirio Díaz (r. 1876-80; 1884-1911), defeating the Federal Army and forcing his resignation as President. In the 21 May 1911 Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, León de la Barra was selected to be interim president, until elections could be held in the autumn of 1911.[14] He was not a politician or a member of Díaz's Científicos, but rather a diplomat and lawyer.
Subsequent career[edit]
León de la Barra ran for the Mexican Congress in 1912 and was elected a senator, aligned with the Científicos and the National Catholic Party.[21] León de la Barra colluded with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Henry Lane Wilson to oust Madero from the presidency.[22] During the Ten Tragic Days of February 1913, Madero resigned and was then assassinated.
During the regime of Victoriano Huerta he served briefly as Foreign Minister and then was appointed ambassador to France (1913–14). He retired to Europe and became president of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, located in The Hague. He participated in various international commissions after World War I and wrote many works on judicial and administrative affairs.
In early 1939, León de la Barra was used by the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet as an unofficial diplomat to begin talks with General Francisco Franco for French recognition of the Spanish Nationalists as the legitimate government of Spain.[23] The Spanish Nationalists overthrew the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, allying with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. As a result of the talks León de la Barra began, France recognized the Spanish Nationalists in February 1939.
Anyone associated with the Huerta regime has been tainted in modern Mexican history by the association, including Francisco León de la Barra.