Editing Death squad (section)

=====After the Mexican Revolution=====
{{Main|Cristero War}}
For more than seven decades following the [[Mexican Revolution]], Mexico was a [[one-party state]] ruled by the ''[[Partido Revolucionario Institucional]]'' (PRI). During this era, death squad tactics were routinely used against suspected enemies of the state.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the PRI's founder, President [[Plutarco Elías Calles]], used death squads against Mexico's [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] majority in the [[Cristero War]]. Calles explained his reasons in a private telegram to the Mexican Ambassador to the [[French Third Republic]], [[Alberto J. Pani]]. ''"...[[Catholic Church in Mexico]] is a political movement, and must be eliminated  ... free of religious hypnotism which fools the people... within one year without the sacraments, the people will forget the faith..."''<ref>[[Jean Meyer]], PhD ''La Cristiada: The Mexican People's War for Religious Liberty'', {{ISBN|978-0-7570-0315-8}}. SquareOne Publishers.</ref>

Calles and his adherents used the [[Mexican Army]] and police, as well as paramilitary forces like the [[Red Shirts (Mexico)|Red Shirts]], to abduct, torture, and execute priests, nuns, and actively religious laity. Mexican Catholics were also routinely hanged from telegraph poles along the railroad lines. Prominent victims of the Mexican State's campaign against Catholicism include the teenager [[Jose Sanchez del Rio]], the [[Jesuit]] priest Father [[Miguel Pro]], and the [[Christian Pacifist]] [[Anacleto González Flores]] (see also [[Saints of the Cristero War]]).

In response, an armed revolt against the Mexican State, the [[Cristero War]], began in 1927. Composed largely of peasant volunteers and commanded by retired General [[Enrique Gorostieta Velarde]], the Cristeros were also responsible for atrocities. Among them were the assassination of former Mexican President [[Álvaro Obregón]], train robberies, and violent attacks against rural teachers. The uprising largely ended after the [[Holy See]] and the Mexican State negotiated a compromise agreement. Refusing to lay down his arms despite offers of [[amnesty]], General Gorostieta was [[killed in action]] by the Mexican Army in [[Jalisco]] on 2 June 1929. Following the cessation of hostilities, more than 5,000 Cristeros were summarily executed by Mexican security forces. The events of the Cristero War are depicted in the 2012 film ''[[For Greater Glory]]''.