Editing Benito Juárez (section)

===Return to Mexico City===
[[File:Juarez Victory Arch.jpg|thumb|[[Triumphal arch]] set up for President Juárez' reentry into Mexico City.]]
[[File:Porfirio Diaz en 1867.png|thumb|upright|After unwavering loyalty during the intervention, General [[Porfirio Díaz]] attempted to become president through an ill-fated armed revolt against Juárez.]]

Juárez reentered the capital on the morning of 15 July, with [[Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada]], [[José María Iglesias]], and {{ill|Ignacio Mejía|es}},{{sfn|González Lezama|2012|p=201}} to public acclaim, the ringing of bells, and ceremonial artillery fire.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=348-349}} He commuted the death sentences of several imperialists,{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=349}} but showed no mercy to the more important collaborators. [[Santiago Vidaurri]] was shot without even a trial.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=349}} Juárez used his emergency presidential powers to abrogate a law of confiscation that was reducing collaborationist families to poverty, instead replacing their penalty with a fine.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=350}}

Juárez reorganized his cabinet and reestablished the department of development. He decreed that the governments of the states should now return to their respective capitals. The army was also reduced in size.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=352}} The Supreme Court was re-established under the presidency of Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. Day to day judicial acts during the French occupation, such as the granting of marriage certificates, were decreed valid.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=353}}

A long-awaited electoral act was passed on 14 August, decreeing elections for the presidency, congress, and the supreme court.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=354}} Referendums to amend the constitution were proposed, but opponents against any such amendments began to coalesce around the rival presidential candidacy of Porfirio Díaz.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=355}}

Juárez subsequently won the presidential election which was held in October. He formally relinquished his emergency powers and on 25 December, officially began a new term scheduled to end on 30 November 1871.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=356}}

At the opening of Congress on that same December, Juárez gave thanks to the American people, for their consistent support of the Mexican Republic during the French Intervention.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=357}} Juárez also had to deal with certain insurrections, including a new resurgence in the Caste War, which ended in the establishment of a military colony in Campeche,{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=365}} and the [[Yaqui]] uprising in [[Sonora]] known as the [[Revolución de los Ríos]].

Juárez' determination to maintain the same ministers that had served him during the intervention also inspired opposition from those within the Liberal Party ambitious to share in those offices.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=367}} A January, 1868 request to congress asking for increased powers for the presidency, inspired opposition from those who believed Juárez was becoming autocratic.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=368}}<ref>Hamnett, ''Juárez'', 202–204</ref> Gonzalez Ortega, who had already challenged Juárez twice during the intervention continued to press his constitutional claims to the presidency. On 18 August 1868, Ortega's supporter General [[José María Patoni]] was assassinated by a local military brigade, leading to great public scandal.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=368-369}}

The year 1869 was marked by minor scattered revolts, but a much more significant insurrection broke out in December, led by the Governor of Zacatecas.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=373}} The affected states were placed under martial law, and the revolt was suppressed by February, 1870.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=374}}

On 13 October 1870, a general amnesty law was passed against those who had collaborated with the French, excepting certain high officials.{{sfn|Bancroft|1888|pp=375}}