The Limits of Porfirian Influence in Guerrero: Political Autonomy and the Plan del Zapote

The Mexican Revolution of 1910 did not happen in a vacuum, it occurred due to a series of grievances against the Porfirian regime. These grievances, which came from a plethora of social groups from the rural peasantry to even the urban liberal elite, sought to return the liberal order back to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of 1857. One of the biggest grievances for the people of Guerrero was the assault on local and state autonomy that had befallen the region since the rise of Porfirio D�az. This thesis examines how the challenges to political autonomy of the Indigenous pueblos of Guerrero and the urban state elites during the Porfiriato pushed the region to participate in the Mexican Revolution. A possible explanation can be found by reevaluating the significance of a pronunciamiento known as the Plan del Zapote. The Plan del Zapote was a manifesto and uprising that occurred in the municipality of Mochitl�n, Guerrero in 1901. The pronunciamiento reaffirmed the liberal tradition that existed prior to the rise of D�az, a liberalism coined by historian Peter Guardino as popular liberalism. To this end, the pronunciamiento defended the rights of the pueblos and municipalities over the power of the federal government in Mexico City. It sought to return Guerrero to a time before D�az, but paradoxically allowed the Porfiriato to continue with the status quo elsewhere, and while it ultimately failed, the energy behind it would stay strong in the state and compel the people of Guerrero to act and involve themselves in the Revolution. Therefore, this thesis will conduct a careful study of the Plan del Zapote and show how political autonomy and the meaning of liberalism was so crucial for the people of Guerrero that would later motivate them to join the Revolution