Editing Porfirio Díaz (section)

== Cracks in the political system ==
[[File:Gabinete Porfirio Diaz.tif|thumb|Díaz's cabinet in his later years and theirs]]
Díaz has been characterized as a "republican monarch and his regime a synthesis of pragmatic [colonial-era] Bourbon methods and Liberal republican ideals.... As much by longevity as by design, Díaz came to embody the nation."{{Sfn|Schell|1997|p=1112}} Díaz did not plan well for the transition to a regime other than his own. As Díaz aged and continued to be re-elected, the question of presidential succession became more urgent. Political aspirants within his regime envisioned succeeding to the presidency and opponents began organizing in anticipation of Díaz's exit.

In 1898, the Díaz regime faced several important issues, with the death of Matías Romero, Díaz's long-time political adviser who had made great efforts to strengthen Mexico's ties with the U.S. since the Juárez regime, and a major shift in U.S. foreign policy toward imperialism with its success in the [[Spanish–American War]]. Romero's death created new dynamics amongst the three political groups that Díaz both relied upon and manipulated. Romero's faction had strongly supported U.S. investment in Mexico, and was largely pro-American, but with Romero's death, his faction declined in power. The other two factions were José Yves Limantour's [[Científico]]s and [[Bernardo Reyes]]'s followers, the Reyistas. Limantour pursued a policy of offsetting U.S. influence by favoring European investment, especially British banking houses and entrepreneurs, such as [[Weetman Pearson]]. U.S. investment in Mexico remained robust and even grew, but the economic climate was more hostile to their interests and their support for the regime declined.{{Sfn|Schell|1997|p=1114}}

The U.S. had asserted that it had the preeminent role in the Western hemisphere, with U.S. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] modifying the [[Monroe Doctrine]] via the [[Roosevelt Corollary]], which declared that the U.S. could intervene in other countries' political affairs if the U.S. determined they were not well run. Díaz pushed back against this policy, saying that the security of the hemisphere was a collective enterprise of all its nations. There was a meeting of American states, in the second [[Pan-American Conference]], which met in Mexico City from 22 October 1901 – 31 January 1902, and the U.S. backed off from its hard-line policy of interventionism, at least for the moment regarding Mexico.{{Sfn|Schell|1997|p=1114}}
 
In domestic politics, Bernardo Reyes became increasingly powerful, and Díaz appointed him Minister of War. The Mexican Federal Army was becoming increasingly ineffective. With wars being waged against the [[Yaqui]] in northwest Mexico and the [[Caste War of Yucatan|Maya]], Reyes requested and received increased funding to augment the number of men at arms. 
 
There was some open opposition to Díaz's regime, with eccentric lawyer [[Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda]] running against Díaz. Zúñiga lost every election but always claimed fraud and considered himself to be the legitimately elected president, but he did not mount a serious challenge to the regime.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pacheco Colín |first=Ricardo |title=Zúñiga y Miranda, "Presidente legítimo" |url=http://eleconomista.com.mx/entretenimiento/2012/07/30/zuniga-miranda-presidente-legitimo |access-date=27 January 2017 |language=es}}</ref> More importantly, as the 1910 election approached and Díaz stated he would not run for re-election, Limantour and Reyes vied against each other for favor.

[[File:Presidents Taft and Diaz, Oct. 1909.jpg|thumb|Presidents [[William Howard Taft|Taft]] and Díaz at historic summit in Juárez, Mexico, 1909]]
On 17 February 1908, in an interview with the U.S. journalist [[James Creelman]] of ''[[Pearson's Magazine]]'', Díaz stated that Mexico was ready for democracy and elections and that he would retire and allow other candidates to compete for the presidency.<ref name="brit"/> Without hesitation, several opposition and pro-government groups united to find suitable candidates who would represent them in the upcoming presidential elections. Many liberals formed clubs supporting Bernardo Reyes, then the governor of [[Nuevo León]], as a candidate. Even though Reyes never formally announced his candidacy, Díaz continued to perceive him as a threat and sent him on a mission to Europe, so that he was not in the country for the elections.

In 1909, Díaz and [[William Howard Taft]], the then president of the United States, planned a summit in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, a historic first meeting between a U.S. president and a Mexican president and also the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|Sadler|2009|p=1}}</ref> Díaz requested the meeting to show U.S. support for his planned seventh run as president, and Taft agreed to protect the several billion dollars of American capital then invested in Mexico.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|Sadler|2009|p=2}}</ref> After nearly 30 years with Díaz in power, U.S. businesses controlled "nearly 90 percent of Mexico's mineral resources, its national railroad, its oil industry and, increasingly, its land."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Zeit |first=Joshua |date=4 February 2017 |title=The Last Time the U.S. Invaded Mexico |url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/the-last-time-the-us-invaded-mexico-214738 |magazine=[[Politico]] |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> Both sides agreed that the disputed [[Chamizal dispute|Chamizal strip]] connecting El Paso to Ciudad Juárez would be considered neutral territory with no flags present during the summit, but the meeting focused attention on this territory and resulted in assassination threats and other serious security concerns.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|Sadler|2009|p=14}}</ref> The [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]], 4,000 U.S. and Mexican troops, U.S. Secret Service agents, FBI agents, and U.S. marshals were all called in to provide security.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|Sadler|2009|p=15}}</ref> An additional 250-man private security detail led by [[Frederick Russell Burnham]], the celebrated scout, was hired by [[John Hays Hammond]], a close friend of Taft from Yale and a former candidate for U.S. vice president in 1908 who, along with his business partner Burnham, held considerable mining interests in Mexico.<ref>{{Harvp|Hampton|1910}}</ref><ref>{{Harvp|van Wyk|2003|pp=440–446}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 October 1909 |title=Mr. Taft's Peril; Reported Plot to Kill Two Presidents |work=Daily Mail |location=London |issn=0307-7578}}</ref> On 16 October, the day of the summit, Burnham and Private C.R. Moore, a Texas Ranger, discovered a man holding a concealed [[Protector Palm Pistol|palm pistol]] standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route.<ref>{{Harvp|Hammond|1935|pp=565–566}}</ref> Burnham and Moore captured and disarmed the assassin within only a few feet of Díaz and Taft.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|Sadler|2009|p=213}}</ref>