Joaquín Amaro
Encyclopedia
Joaquín Amaro Domínguez (August 16, 1889 – March 15, 1952) was a Mexican
revolutionary
general
and military reformer. He served as Secretary of War in the cabinets
of Presidents
Plutarco Elías Calles
, Emilio Portes Gil
, and Pascual Ortiz Rubio
, making him one of the longest-serving cabinet-level officials in Mexican history. His ambitious reforms of the fractious Mexican military transformed the armed forces from a political partisan to an armed force loyal to the president and government. He accomplished this "through a process of cultural reeducation that replaced an entrenched tradition of militarism with one emphasizing such values as discipline, duty, honor, and loyalty to the civilian government."
of Sombrerete, Zacatecas
, the first of Antonio Amaro and Angela Domínguez's ten children. His family was of indigenous
ancestry, although they were probably not Yaqui, as was widely assumed. While Amaro was still a child, the family moved to the nearby state of Durango
, where his father worked on an hacienda
. He learned to read and write, although probably without the benefit of formal schooling. Beginning in 1908, he worked in the office of the Saucillo hacienda where his father was employed, assisting with bookkeeping
. With two incomes, the family was able to enjoy a comfortable existence. In 1910, his father sold his possessions and gave the money to his eldest son, advising him, "go to Durango with your mother and siblings, work for Mr. Calderón [a local store-owner], learn the business, get to know the town, and when you feel able, open your own store." His father left for Torreón
in November of that year, and although Amaro never saw him again, he read about his exploits with the revolutionary army of Colonel Luis Moya.
, he was promoted every subsequent month, attaining the rank of lieutenant
by December.
As part of the army of Colonel Gertrudis G. Sánchez, whose forces Arrieta's had joined, Amaro fought against the Zapatistas
in Morelos, engaging them at least nineteen times. In one of these engagements, the battle of Jojutla de Juárez, he earned the "Cruz de Segunda Clase," a heroism medal. From 1913 to 1914, he fought the federal troops under the command of Victoriano Huerta
, continuing all the while to rise in rank. By 1914 he had risen to the rank of general.
It was under the command of General Sánchez that Amaro developed the reputation of a fierce warrior. It was rumored that he wore an earring and used the battlecry "Here is the man of the pendant earring! Here is the Indian!" He also supposedly emulated the fighting style of the Yaqui people. He also developed the reputation of a harsh disciplinarian who occasionally used his riding crop to mete out corporal punishments to his subordinates. He may have even shot men in his charge or employ for disobeying orders.
government of Eulalio Gutiérrez
, before breaking with Sánchez to ally with the constitutionalist army of Venustiano Carranza
. Shortly after Sánchez and Amaro joined the Constitutionalists, Sánchez ordered Amaro to attack a column of troops commanded by General Francisco Murguía, who, while also a Constitutionalists, was a rival of Sánchez. While initially successful, Murguía's troops eventually prevailed, and Murguía sought to have Amaro executed for treason
, a charge he narrowly escaped. Rather than damaging the reputation of Amaro, however, the incident did more to isolate Sánchez, who Amaro abandoned. The split finally came in 1915, when Amaro advanced the troops under his command on the Villista División del Norte
, leaving Sánchez in Michoacán. By this time, he had already professed allegiance to General Álvaro Obregón
and the carrancista government.
In April 1915, he led his troops, known as the "Rayados" ("striped ones"—so-called because the only uniforms Obregón could provide were prison uniforms) to support Obregón's defeat of the villistas in the second Battle of Celaya
. Following the battle, Obregón named him Comandante militar ("military commander") of the 5th Division of the Army of the Northwest, and he was charged of ridding Michoacán of villista influence. At the end of 1915, the area under his command was expanded to include Guanajuato and Querétaro.
In 1916, he again fought the zapatistas in Morelos and Guerrero. In 1917, he was placed under the command of Murguía, and led expeditions against the remaining villistas of Durango and Chihuahua.
against Carranza in 1920, Amaro remained loyal to Obregón, and was rewarded with the rank of General de división, the highest military rank. He became chief military officer of the third military zone, which included the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí. In this capacity, he undertook to professionalize the unorganized ranks under him, gaining experience that would later benefit his reorganization of the entire military.
On September 3, 1921, while chief of operations of the third military zone, Amaro wed Elisa Izaguirre, originally of Morelia, Michoacán. There the couple had two children, Joaquín and Leonor.
He later became commander of the seventh military zone, which comprised Nuevo León. There he put down the July rebellion of Pablo González. When in 1922 political unrest threatened to
destabilize Coahuila, Amaro positioned his troops to block the occupation of the state legislature and to protect the governor's palace. In 1923, he was sent to maintain order during Nuevo León's gubernatorial elections. Following a series of violent incidents, Amaro disarmed groups of rural fighters.
Amaro helped plan the assassination of Pancho Villa, who had pledged to support Adolfo de la Huerta
if the general rose against Obregón. He later helped free Jesús Salas Barraza, the leader of the group of assassins, from jail.
Amaro's support for the assassination of Villa must not be understood as a betrayal of the Revolution; indeed, Amaro never wavered from his commitment to his interpretation of the Revolution:
, battled Estrada's forces, defeating them in the decisive battle of Ocotlán. Three days after the battle, Amaro's troops occupied Guadalajara, where Estrada's operation had been based. The rebellion crushed, the 1924 Mexican election was carried out peacefully.
The Corrective Discipline section described the circumstances in which soldiers could be arrested for breaking the law, and required that such arrests be recorded in the offender's file.
The Court of Honor section was written for people who committed offenses that threatened the reputation of a unit or of the "dignity of the military." It established a system of courts martial to punish drunkenness, gambling, mismanagement of funds, and negligence. Punishments for those found guilty ranged from transfer to demotion to imprisonment.
The second law, the Law of Retirements and Pensions, allowed servicemembers who had given twenty to thirty-five years of service to retire at will. It also required retirement at a certain age that was dependent on rank. Finally, it provided for pensions for disabled servicemen and their families.
The third law, the Law of Promotions and Rewards, set up two distinct rubrics for promotion: one for peacetime and one for wartime. Peacetime promotions were tied directly to military education. Wartime promotions could be granted for heroic actions such as preventing enemy capture of artillery pieces, and could only be given by high-ranking officers. These promotions had to be approved by higher bodies. These reforms were an effort to end the practice of opportunistic and haphazard promotions which had inflated the number of generals in Mexico's officer corps during the Revolution.
The purpose of the fourth law, the Organic Law, was to organize the armed services. The first section sought to redefine the relationship between generals and the soldiers under them, demanding that all personnel be loyal to the nation and the constitution and take their orders from the President or his designees.
It further delineated the five military branches: high command, combat arms, auxiliary services, special corps, and for the first time, military education establishments, and specified the structures of each. It stratified servicemembers into three classifications: active, reserve, and retired. Another section of the law structured the navy.
Los Pinos
. There his children Guillermo, Manuel, and Elisa were born. He installed recreational facilities such as stables, polo fields, and tennis courts, as well as a military school at the ranch.
In 1927, Generals Francisco Serrano and Arnulfo Gómez conspired with General Eugenio Martínez to seize Calles, Obregón, and Amaro in hopes of igniting a rebellion against the reelection of Obregón. Martínez informed Calles of the plot before it could be enacted, and Serrano and Gómez were caught and executed.
When Obregon was assassinated sixteen days after his 1928 re-election, many generals and other important figures in Mexican politics urged Amaro to run for the office. He always politely declined, stating that he had "never thought to dedicate [his] activities to politics." In February 1929, Amaro was injured during a game of fronton. He took a leave of absence from the Secretariat to seek medical attention at the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, Minnesota
. During his three-month convalescence, which left him with a glass eye, Calles assumed the Secretariat, in which capacity he put down the Escobar rebellion against Emilio Portes Gil, who had been appointed interim president in the wake of Obregon's assassination.
Upon his return to Mexico and the Secretariat in May, he found a situation in which Calles was still attempting to control national politics from behind the scenes. Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Portes Gil's successor, was suspicious of Amaro, as was Calles. Calles, purporting to have received information that Amaro was planning on assassinating him or overthrowing Ortiz Rubio, informed the President of the alleged plot. Ortiz Rubio deferred to Calles to take care of the situation, and the Jefe Máximo met with three other cabinet officials, convincing them to resign so as to make it appear that the "cabinet crisis" did not center around Amaro. They agreed, and the following day, Calles, Amaro, and the other three secretarys met at Amaro's estate. There, all four cabinet ministers agreed to resign.
Amaro was succeeded by Calles, who appointed him director of the Heroic Military College.
Despite the Heroic Military College's excellent reputation, by the end of the Revolution, the school was in a state of disrepair. On September 30, 1925, Amaro shut it down for a major overhaul that took ten months. In addition to new facilities, it also boasted a new curriculum that emphasized civic and moral virtues. Admission requirements were put into place, and included letters of recommendation that could vouch for an applicant's moral character.
Amaro's efforts to reform the Mexican military and society extended beyond the realm of military education: he also founded publications that combatted the influence of the Catholic Church and of large landowners in the public consciousness. He had already founded two publications, Acción and El Agrarista, as well as publishing a tract entitled El Gato in the early 1920s. However, 1925 saw a large increase in the number of military journals published in Mexico. Those already in existence, such as the Revista del Ejército y de la Marina
(Magazine of the Army and the Navy), took a new editorial stance under the direction of Professor Ignacio Richkarday, who Amaro had appointed editor, to moralize the army. While Revista was aimed at the officer corps, Amaro founded El Soldado, which emphasized the same themes, as a supplement for enlisted men. 1926 saw the founding of two more publications, Revista del Heróico Colegio Militar and Gladiador.
Amaro sought to create a Superior War College along the lines of France
's École Supérieure de Guerre to train an elite group of officers. To this end he sent a number of generals to study the militaries and military academies of European and South American states. In particular, he sent Luis Alamillo Flores to study at the French institute, and then to observe military academies in the United States. For two-and-a-half years, Alamillo kept Amaro abreast of his studies through correspondence, and not without reward: in 1931, Amaro informed Alamillo that he would become director of Mexico's Escuela Superior de Guerra. Before he could make good on the offer, however, he resigned from the cabinet.
Amaro led the Heroic Military College from 1931 until 1935, and directed military education for the Secretariat of War from 1931 to 1936.
During World War II
, he was responsible for defending the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
from Axis aggressions.
. In 1966, his body was exhumed and reburied in Panteón Francés de San Joaquín. In the 1960s, a statue of Amaro on horseback was erected in Mexico City
's Chapultepec Park.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
revolutionary
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
and military reformer. He served as Secretary of War in the cabinets
Mexican Executive Cabinet
The cabinet of Mexico is the Executive Cabinet and is a part of the executive branch of the Mexican government. It consists of eighteen Secretaries of State, the head of the federal executive legal office and the Attorney General....
of Presidents
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles was a Mexican general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler from 1928–1935, a period known as the maximato...
, Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Cándido Portes Gil was President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930.-Biography:Portes Gil was born in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state of Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico....
, and Pascual Ortiz Rubio
Pascual Ortiz Rubio
Pascual Ortiz Rubio was a Mexican politician. He was born in Morelia, Michoacán as the son of Pascual Ortiz de Ayala y Huerta and Lenor Rubio Cornelis...
, making him one of the longest-serving cabinet-level officials in Mexican history. His ambitious reforms of the fractious Mexican military transformed the armed forces from a political partisan to an armed force loyal to the president and government. He accomplished this "through a process of cultural reeducation that replaced an entrenched tradition of militarism with one emphasizing such values as discipline, duty, honor, and loyalty to the civilian government."
Early life
Amaro was born in Corrales de Abrego in the municipalityMunicipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of Sombrerete, Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
, the first of Antonio Amaro and Angela Domínguez's ten children. His family was of indigenous
Indigenous peoples of Mexico
Mexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...
ancestry, although they were probably not Yaqui, as was widely assumed. While Amaro was still a child, the family moved to the nearby state of Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
, where his father worked on an hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
. He learned to read and write, although probably without the benefit of formal schooling. Beginning in 1908, he worked in the office of the Saucillo hacienda where his father was employed, assisting with bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, receipts and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accounting process is usually...
. With two incomes, the family was able to enjoy a comfortable existence. In 1910, his father sold his possessions and gave the money to his eldest son, advising him, "go to Durango with your mother and siblings, work for Mr. Calderón [a local store-owner], learn the business, get to know the town, and when you feel able, open your own store." His father left for Torreón
Torreón
Torreón is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2010, the city's population was 608,836 with 639,629 in the municipality. The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango,...
in November of that year, and although Amaro never saw him again, he read about his exploits with the revolutionary army of Colonel Luis Moya.
Early Revolution
On February 28, 1911, Amaro enlisted in the Maderist army of General Domingo Arrieta. Shortly after Amaro enlisted, his father was killed in battle. After five months as a privatePrivate (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
, he was promoted every subsequent month, attaining the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
by December.
As part of the army of Colonel Gertrudis G. Sánchez, whose forces Arrieta's had joined, Amaro fought against the Zapatistas
Liberation Army of the South
The Liberation Army of the South was an armed group formed and led by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution. The force was commonly known as the Zapatistas....
in Morelos, engaging them at least nineteen times. In one of these engagements, the battle of Jojutla de Juárez, he earned the "Cruz de Segunda Clase," a heroism medal. From 1913 to 1914, he fought the federal troops under the command of Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
, continuing all the while to rise in rank. By 1914 he had risen to the rank of general.
It was under the command of General Sánchez that Amaro developed the reputation of a fierce warrior. It was rumored that he wore an earring and used the battlecry "Here is the man of the pendant earring! Here is the Indian!" He also supposedly emulated the fighting style of the Yaqui people. He also developed the reputation of a harsh disciplinarian who occasionally used his riding crop to mete out corporal punishments to his subordinates. He may have even shot men in his charge or employ for disobeying orders.
Conventionalists v. Constitutionalists
After the fall of Huerta, while still under the command of Sánchez, he briefly supported the conventionalistConvention 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...
government of Eulalio Gutiérrez
Eulalio Gutiérrez
Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz was elected provisional president of Mexico during the Aguascalientes Convention and led the country for a few months between November 6, 1914, and January 16, 1915....
, before breaking with Sánchez to ally with the constitutionalist army of Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
. Shortly after Sánchez and Amaro joined the Constitutionalists, Sánchez ordered Amaro to attack a column of troops commanded by General Francisco Murguía, who, while also a Constitutionalists, was a rival of Sánchez. While initially successful, Murguía's troops eventually prevailed, and Murguía sought to have Amaro executed for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, a charge he narrowly escaped. Rather than damaging the reputation of Amaro, however, the incident did more to isolate Sánchez, who Amaro abandoned. The split finally came in 1915, when Amaro advanced the troops under his command on the Villista División del Norte
Division del Norte
The División del Norte was an armed faction formed by Madero and initially led by General Jose Gonzales Salas following the call to arms from Francisco Madero at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. After Salas committed suicide following his defeat at the hands of Pascual Orozco at the...
, leaving Sánchez in Michoacán. By this time, he had already professed allegiance to General Álvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón
General Álvaro Obregón Salido was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term....
and the carrancista government.
In April 1915, he led his troops, known as the "Rayados" ("striped ones"—so-called because the only uniforms Obregón could provide were prison uniforms) to support Obregón's defeat of the villistas in the second Battle of Celaya
Battle of Celaya
The Battle of Celaya, which occurred near Celaya, Guanajuato on 13 April 1915, was a battle of the Mexican Revolution.The Conventionist forces under Pancho Villa were badly defeated by forces under the command of Álvaro Obregón, who supported the presidency of Venustiano Carranza. Villa lost...
. Following the battle, Obregón named him Comandante militar ("military commander") of the 5th Division of the Army of the Northwest, and he was charged of ridding Michoacán of villista influence. At the end of 1915, the area under his command was expanded to include Guanajuato and Querétaro.
In 1916, he again fought the zapatistas in Morelos and Guerrero. In 1917, he was placed under the command of Murguía, and led expeditions against the remaining villistas of Durango and Chihuahua.
Rebellion against Carranza
When Obregón proclaimed the Plan of Agua PrietaPlan of Agua Prieta
The Plan of Agua Prieta was a manifesto, drawn up in the form of a plan, during the Mexican Revolution.Drafted and signed by supporters of Gen. Álvaro Obregón, the Plan repudiated the government of President Venustiano Carranza...
against Carranza in 1920, Amaro remained loyal to Obregón, and was rewarded with the rank of General de división, the highest military rank. He became chief military officer of the third military zone, which included the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí. In this capacity, he undertook to professionalize the unorganized ranks under him, gaining experience that would later benefit his reorganization of the entire military.
On September 3, 1921, while chief of operations of the third military zone, Amaro wed Elisa Izaguirre, originally of Morelia, Michoacán. There the couple had two children, Joaquín and Leonor.
He later became commander of the seventh military zone, which comprised Nuevo León. There he put down the July rebellion of Pablo González. When in 1922 political unrest threatened to
destabilize Coahuila, Amaro positioned his troops to block the occupation of the state legislature and to protect the governor's palace. In 1923, he was sent to maintain order during Nuevo León's gubernatorial elections. Following a series of violent incidents, Amaro disarmed groups of rural fighters.
Amaro helped plan the assassination of Pancho Villa, who had pledged to support Adolfo de la Huerta
Adolfo de la Huerta
Felipe Adolfo de la Huerta Marcor was a Mexican politician and interim President of Mexico from June 1 to December 1, 1920....
if the general rose against Obregón. He later helped free Jesús Salas Barraza, the leader of the group of assassins, from jail.
Amaro's support for the assassination of Villa must not be understood as a betrayal of the Revolution; indeed, Amaro never wavered from his commitment to his interpretation of the Revolution:
I have fought without rest [...] against clericalism, large landowners, the militarism of the ex-Federals, the Spanish, and in general all those that do not contribute to the
enrichment of our beloved homeland and the betterment of the working
class.
Delahuertist rebellion
In 1923, Amaro's chief of staff José Álvarez learned of the plot between generals Enrique Estrada, Guadalupe Sánchez, and Fortunato Maycotte to overthrow Obregón. Álvarez immediately returned to Nuevo León and informed Amaro of the plot, who promptly related the information to Obregón. The conspirators drafted Adolfo de la Huerta, then-Minister of Finance, to run for president against Plutarco Elias Calles, Obregón's chosen successor. Facing a rebellion with armies in the North, South, and East, Obregón relied on loyal generals such as Amaro to block rebel access to resources and the northern border and to put down the insurrection. Amaro, aided by General Lázaro CárdenasLázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
, battled Estrada's forces, defeating them in the decisive battle of Ocotlán. Three days after the battle, Amaro's troops occupied Guadalajara, where Estrada's operation had been based. The rebellion crushed, the 1924 Mexican election was carried out peacefully.
Post-war career
Following the election of Calles, Amaro was appointed Undersecretary of War. Francisco Serrano having been sent to Europe on a diplomatic mission late in Obregón's presidency, the Secretariat was unfilled. Calles may have been waiting to secure the support of generals Eugenio Martínez and Arnulfo Gómez, who were also potential candidates for the post. While undersecretary, Amaro initiated a series of legal reforms to purge the armed forces of "the germ of immorality and corruption." After an initial convention of important military figures, the Commission for Studies and Reforms of Military Laws and Regulations was formed. Ten months later, four new laws were promulgated.Amaro's four laws
The first, the Law of Discipline, was divided into three sections: General Duties, Corrective Discipline, and Court of Honor. The first three articles of the General Duties defined military duty in terms of "self-sacrifice, loyalty, guardianship, and adherence to the law." The subsequent articles dealt with specific issues. One clarified the officer's duty to maintain order within his ranks; another prohibited soldiers from complaining about orders. One article prohibited servicemembers from interfering in politics. The final articles concerned decorum, and required subordinates to salute and give up their seats to superiors.The Corrective Discipline section described the circumstances in which soldiers could be arrested for breaking the law, and required that such arrests be recorded in the offender's file.
The Court of Honor section was written for people who committed offenses that threatened the reputation of a unit or of the "dignity of the military." It established a system of courts martial to punish drunkenness, gambling, mismanagement of funds, and negligence. Punishments for those found guilty ranged from transfer to demotion to imprisonment.
The second law, the Law of Retirements and Pensions, allowed servicemembers who had given twenty to thirty-five years of service to retire at will. It also required retirement at a certain age that was dependent on rank. Finally, it provided for pensions for disabled servicemen and their families.
The third law, the Law of Promotions and Rewards, set up two distinct rubrics for promotion: one for peacetime and one for wartime. Peacetime promotions were tied directly to military education. Wartime promotions could be granted for heroic actions such as preventing enemy capture of artillery pieces, and could only be given by high-ranking officers. These promotions had to be approved by higher bodies. These reforms were an effort to end the practice of opportunistic and haphazard promotions which had inflated the number of generals in Mexico's officer corps during the Revolution.
The purpose of the fourth law, the Organic Law, was to organize the armed services. The first section sought to redefine the relationship between generals and the soldiers under them, demanding that all personnel be loyal to the nation and the constitution and take their orders from the President or his designees.
It further delineated the five military branches: high command, combat arms, auxiliary services, special corps, and for the first time, military education establishments, and specified the structures of each. It stratified servicemembers into three classifications: active, reserve, and retired. Another section of the law structured the navy.
Amaro as Secretary of War
Amaro was appointed Secretary of War by President Calles on July 27, 1925. Upon his appointment to the Secretariat, Amaro moved to Rancho de la Hormiga, a 40,468 square kilometer (ten acre) ranch that later became the presidential palacePresidential Palace
A Presidential Palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. However, some countries do not call the official residence of a head of state a presidential palace...
Los Pinos
Los Pinos
Los Pinos is the official residence and office of the President of Mexico. Located in the Bosque de Chapultepec in central Mexico City, it became the presidential seat in 1934, when Gen...
. There his children Guillermo, Manuel, and Elisa were born. He installed recreational facilities such as stables, polo fields, and tennis courts, as well as a military school at the ranch.
In 1927, Generals Francisco Serrano and Arnulfo Gómez conspired with General Eugenio Martínez to seize Calles, Obregón, and Amaro in hopes of igniting a rebellion against the reelection of Obregón. Martínez informed Calles of the plot before it could be enacted, and Serrano and Gómez were caught and executed.
When Obregon was assassinated sixteen days after his 1928 re-election, many generals and other important figures in Mexican politics urged Amaro to run for the office. He always politely declined, stating that he had "never thought to dedicate [his] activities to politics." In February 1929, Amaro was injured during a game of fronton. He took a leave of absence from the Secretariat to seek medical attention at the Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
in Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
. During his three-month convalescence, which left him with a glass eye, Calles assumed the Secretariat, in which capacity he put down the Escobar rebellion against Emilio Portes Gil, who had been appointed interim president in the wake of Obregon's assassination.
Upon his return to Mexico and the Secretariat in May, he found a situation in which Calles was still attempting to control national politics from behind the scenes. Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Portes Gil's successor, was suspicious of Amaro, as was Calles. Calles, purporting to have received information that Amaro was planning on assassinating him or overthrowing Ortiz Rubio, informed the President of the alleged plot. Ortiz Rubio deferred to Calles to take care of the situation, and the Jefe Máximo met with three other cabinet officials, convincing them to resign so as to make it appear that the "cabinet crisis" did not center around Amaro. They agreed, and the following day, Calles, Amaro, and the other three secretarys met at Amaro's estate. There, all four cabinet ministers agreed to resign.
Amaro was succeeded by Calles, who appointed him director of the Heroic Military College.
Educational reformer
Prior to his appointment as Undersecretary of War, Amaro had laid plans for a Grand Military Academy of the Army. He made arrangements for the government to purchase to tracts of land, but the school never materialized. Rather, he focused his efforts on the Heroic Military College.Despite the Heroic Military College's excellent reputation, by the end of the Revolution, the school was in a state of disrepair. On September 30, 1925, Amaro shut it down for a major overhaul that took ten months. In addition to new facilities, it also boasted a new curriculum that emphasized civic and moral virtues. Admission requirements were put into place, and included letters of recommendation that could vouch for an applicant's moral character.
Amaro's efforts to reform the Mexican military and society extended beyond the realm of military education: he also founded publications that combatted the influence of the Catholic Church and of large landowners in the public consciousness. He had already founded two publications, Acción and El Agrarista, as well as publishing a tract entitled El Gato in the early 1920s. However, 1925 saw a large increase in the number of military journals published in Mexico. Those already in existence, such as the Revista del Ejército y de la Marina
(Magazine of the Army and the Navy), took a new editorial stance under the direction of Professor Ignacio Richkarday, who Amaro had appointed editor, to moralize the army. While Revista was aimed at the officer corps, Amaro founded El Soldado, which emphasized the same themes, as a supplement for enlisted men. 1926 saw the founding of two more publications, Revista del Heróico Colegio Militar and Gladiador.
Amaro sought to create a Superior War College along the lines of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's École Supérieure de Guerre to train an elite group of officers. To this end he sent a number of generals to study the militaries and military academies of European and South American states. In particular, he sent Luis Alamillo Flores to study at the French institute, and then to observe military academies in the United States. For two-and-a-half years, Alamillo kept Amaro abreast of his studies through correspondence, and not without reward: in 1931, Amaro informed Alamillo that he would become director of Mexico's Escuela Superior de Guerra. Before he could make good on the offer, however, he resigned from the cabinet.
Amaro led the Heroic Military College from 1931 until 1935, and directed military education for the Secretariat of War from 1931 to 1936.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was responsible for defending the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Isthmus of Tehuantepec
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route...
from Axis aggressions.
Legacy
Amaro died in 1952 and was buried in the Panteón Francés de la PiedadPanteón Francés
El Panteón Francés de la Piedad is a cemetery in Mexico City in which several notable people are interred.It is located in the southern section of the city, adjacent to the medical center, the Centro Medico Metro station, and the Colonia Buenos Aires neighborhood.-People interred:* Miguel Zacarías...
. In 1966, his body was exhumed and reburied in Panteón Francés de San Joaquín. In the 1960s, a statue of Amaro on horseback was erected in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
's Chapultepec Park.