 |
Bernardo Reyes | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Bernardo Reyes c. 1901 | |
| Governor of Nuevo León | |
| In office 29 December 1902 – 24 October 1909 | |
| Preceded by | Pedro Benítez Leal |
| Succeeded by | José María Mier |
| In office 19 December 1897 – 23 January 1900 | |
| Preceded by | Carlos Félix Ayala |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Benítez Leal |
| In office 23 May 1896 – 3 December 1897 | |
| Preceded by | Carlos Berardi |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Félix Ayala |
| In office 4 October 1889 – 21 April 1896 | |
| Preceded by | Lázaro Garza Ayala |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Berardi |
| In office 12 December 1885 – 4 October 1887 | |
| Preceded by | Mauro A. Sepúlveda |
| Succeeded by | Lázaro Garza Ayala |
| Secretary of War and Navy | |
| In office 25 January 1900 – 24 December 1902 | |
| President | Porfirio Díaz |
| Preceded by | Felipe Berriozábal |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Zacarías Mena |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 August 1850 Guadalajara, Mexico |
| Died | February 9, 1913 (aged 62) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  Mexican Army |
| Years of service | 1865-1913 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | Second French intervention in Mexico Mexican Revolution |
Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician who fought in the Second French intervention in Mexico and served as the appointed Governor of Nuevo León for more than two decades during the Porfiriato. During Reyes's administration as Governor, the state made important economic, industrial and social advances, and he was one of the closest and most faithful allies of President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz. He was killed during a failed coup d'état (known as the Ten Tragic Days) against President Francisco I. Madero in the first stage of the Mexican Revolution.
Born in a prominent liberal family in the western state of Jalisco, he served in the army, rising to the rank of general. Like his political patron, General Porfirio Díaz, Reyes was a military man who became an able administrator. He helped in the modernization of that state, enabling local industrialization, improving public education and health, and supporting improvements in the lives of workers.[1][2] While governor of Nuevo León, Reyes approved a workers compensation law.[3]
In 1900, Díaz named Reyes the Secretary of War and Navy. He expanded the military, establishing the Second Reserve. However, he resigned from office after two years amid political conflict with the Cientificos, a circle of technocratic advisors to Diaz who saw the Second Reserve as a private army loyal to Reyes,[4] and returned to Nuevo León, where his popularity grew. The Second Reserve was disbanded, but Reyes was considered a political counterweight to the Cientificos and a likely successor to Díaz. Reyista clubs supporting him for the presidency were formed, but he declined to challenge Díaz in the election of 1910.
After being forced from office in 1909, he embarked on a European tour and did not return until after Diaz was deposed in 1910 by Francisco I. Madero.
- ^ Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolution, New York: Cambridge University Press 1986, vol. 1, p. 49.
- ^ Bernardo Reyes (Mexican politician) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ "The National Palace". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
- ^ Knight, The Mexican Revolution, vol. 1, p. 49.