Porfi rio Diaz and International Influence

Bret R. FullerHistory 512 – Inter-American Relations August 1, 2014

ASSESSMENT OF THE PORFIRIATO PERIOD

Mex ico s t i l l ho lds Pres ident D iaz a t a d is tance , wh i le he i s la rge ly fo rgot ten outs ide o f Mex ico (a t least in the U .S . ) ; perhaps now is the t ime fo r Mex ico to ceremon ia l ly we lcome Diaz home; he was not per fec t , but he was Mex ican a t hear t .

Le ft : D iaz ’s current res t ing p lace : Par i s , France .

THESIS

John Kenneth Turner , Amer ican journa l i s t , a rgued aga inst D iaz to h i s Amer ican aud ience. He v iewed D iaz as in i t fo r persona l ambi t ion , even c la im ing that modern-day s lavery ex is ted under D iaz ’ s watch .

VIEW #1

James Creelman, Amer ican journal is t , conducted the famous 1908 interv iew with Diaz, when Diaz c la imed he would not run again. Creelman gave a g lowing port ra i t o f Diaz , acknowledging Mexico’s faul ts , but never d i rect ly lay ing the b lame with Diaz.

VIEW #2

Ethel Tweedie, Br i t ish travel wr i ter , enjoyed direct access to President Diaz; l ike Creelman, she was wi l l ing to over look any faults Diaz had, assuming that Mexico’s abi l i ty to modernize and stabi l ize was mainly due to Diaz’s strong leadership.

VIEW #3

From an ob ject ive po in t o f v iew, one o f the ma jo r accompl ishments under D iaz was the c reat ion o f the San i ta t ion Code. The Mex ican hea l th communi ty was ab le to cont ro l p rob lems wi th in i t s own borders , l i ke Ye l low Fever , w i thout need ing to go to the Un i ted S ta tes author i t ies fo r ass is tance .

PORFIRIATO PERIOD

During the Porfi riato Period, Mexico transformed; an examination of postcards at the t ime is one interest ing way to understand how Mexico viewed i tsel f , as wel l as how it projected i ts image to others.

SELF-DISCOVERY