In the Yucatecan collective memory, a warlike event that occurred in the city of Valladolid, from June 4 to 9, 1910, is remembered as the “the spark of the Revolution”, and is referred to as the event that contributed to the detonation, if not that triggered the popular rebellion in Mexico against President Porfirio Díaz, which began on November 20 of that same year,
Although this event occurred in the context of the discontent already generalized in the country, against the dictator Porfirio Diaz, which had not yet reached its armed expression; In Yucatan –just as in other states of the Mexican Republic, such as Chihuahua, Durango, or San Luis Potosí, where there were armed encounters caused by various reasons– Valladolid’s inhabitants are proud of this fact and do not hesitate to point it out as the antecedent that triggered the Mexican Revolution.
The event in Valladolid was of a regional political nature, but it was totally linked to the authoritarianism of President Díaz and the opposition to his government, strengthened by the visit that the previous year, June 26, 1909, made to Yucatán by Francisco I. Madero, where José María Pino Suárez was present, founder in Yucatán of the Antireelectionist Party, created the previous month, May 22, 1909, in Mexico City.
In January 1910, elections for governor were to be held in Yucatán, since the mandate of Olegario Molina Solís (1906–1910), represented by Enrique Muñoz Arístegui, as interim governor, concluded, since Molina Solís had been called by President Porfirio Díaz. to occupy the Ministry of Development, Colonization, and Industry since 1907.
In 1909, Muñoz Arístegui was appointed official candidate for the following period, 1910–1914, with the approval of Molina Solís and Porfirio Díaz. Then, in opposition to that candidacy, the political party “Independent Electoral Center” was created in Yucatan on July 9, 1909, which nominated Delio Moreno Canton.
Muñoz Arístegui persecuted the opposition, imprisoning the president of the Antirreelectionist Party and issuing arrest warrants against José María Pino Suárez, candidate for governor of that party, and the other candidate: Delio Moreno Cantón, originally from Valladolid, Yucatán. , and nephew of former Yucatecan Governor Francisco Cantón Rosado, 1898–1901, for alleged crimes of rebellion.
The Military Instruction Court carried out raids and searches of notaries’ offices and homes of opposition figures, imprisoning some and causing others to flee abroad.
Once the elections were held, Enrique Muñoz Arístegui was declared constitutional Governor, he took office on February 1, 1910.
However, the discontent continued and so in Valladolid on June 4 of that year, an armed uprising took place that ignored the legality of the elections for governor of Yucatan held that year, since, according to the rebels, the opponents were persecuted with arrest warrants, which disqualified them from exercising their civic rights.
Among the rebels were Miguel Ruz Ponce, Maximiliano Ramírez Bobadilla, and Atilano Albertos, who took the city of Valladolid into their power, thus forming a group of fifteen hundred rebels.
The state government sent a military detachment made up of six hundred men. On the other hand, on June 7, the 10th Federal Battalion arrived at the port of Progreso, coming from Veracruz, aboard a navy ship.
On June 9, both military forces launched an attack on the square where the rebels fought, despite their lack of experience and military organization, as well as the fact that they fought with percussion weapons, and they were defeated.
The confrontation lasted five hours, and at the end of the combat, 84 men died, and 132 were wounded, between both parties, capturing 119 rebels, while other rebels managed to flee.
An extraordinary court martial was established, which sentenced the leaders Maximiliano Ramírez Bobadilla, Atilano Albertos and José E. Kantún to the firing line. Many of the prisoners were sentenced to armed service and forced labor in the then-territory of Quintana Roo.
The process was opened against the fugitives Ruz Ponce, Claudio Alcocer, Donato Bates, and others who managed to get to safety,
The sentence was fulfilled on June 25 of that year.
Anthrop. Indalecio Cardena Vazquez
Merida, Yuc., November 9, 2022
