Díaz, Félix Jr. (1868–1945)

Félix Díaz, Jr. (b. 17 February 1868; d. 9 July 1945), Mexican general, diplomat, and politician. He was the son of Félix Díaz (1833–1872), a general and governor of Oaxaca (1867–1871), and a nephew of Porfirio Díaz, the dictatorial president. Díaz is best known for his role in the overthrow of President Francisco I. Madero in February 1913 during the so-called Decena Trágica (tragic ten days).

Born in the city of Oaxaca, Díaz graduated from the National Military College with a degree in engineering in 1888. By 1909 he had become a brigadier general. He served as alternate federal deputy from Oaxaca (1894–1896) and Veracruz (1896–1900) and federal deputy from Veracruz (1900–1912). In 1902 he was a candidate for governor of Oaxaca, and in 1910 he served as that state's interim chief executive. He was a member of the Exploratory Geographic Commission (1901); consul general in Chile (1902–1904); inspector of police, Mexico City (1904); chief of the presidential staff (1909); and ambassador to Japan (1913).

Díaz was separated from the army and jailed by President Madero, who overthrew Díaz's uncle, Porfirio. Díaz initiated, along with generals Manuel Mondragón (1859–1922) and Bernardo Reyes (1850–1913), the February 1913 rebellion against Madero that, when joined by federal army commander General Victoriano Huerta, successfully ousted the president. Díaz subsequently lost the power struggle he waged with Huerta, briefly served as ambassador to Japan, and then went into self-imposed exile in Havana and New York. In 1916 he returned to Mexico to head the National Reorganizing Army against revolutionary chief Venustiano Carranza. He remained active against the Carranza regime until 1920, when he was again exiled until 1937. He died in Veracruz.

See alsoCarranza, Venustiano; Díaz, Porfirio; Huerta, Victoriano; Madero, Francisco Indalecio.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Luis Licéaga, Félix Díaz (1958).

Peter V. N. Henderson, Félix Díaz, the Porfirians, and the Mexican Revolution (1981).

Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolution, 2 vols. (1986), esp. pp. 1: 473-490, 2: 375-392.

Additional Bibliography

Plana, Manuel. Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution. New York: Interlink Books, 2002.

Guzmán, Martín Luis. Muertes históricas: Febrero de 1913. México, D.F.: Editorial Joaquín Mortiz, 2001.

                                       David LaFrance