Proclamation of General Negrete., November 20, 1871
Proclamation of General Negrete.
Miguel Negrete, general of division, to his fellow-citizens:
An humble child of the people, I undertook the military career with the sole aim of being one day useful to my adored country and to its institutions.
I am democratic by birth and principles, and for this reason I cannot be indifferent to the evils that Mexico suffers; for this cause, you have seen that, whenever the institutions or the independence have been in danger, I have lent my aid in order to save them, after having been present at the humiliation, which, in the illustrious Zaragoza, the first soldiers of the world suffered, and in which I took a part at the side of the men whom I now command, because it was the emanation of the people in order to save their independence; but in Chihuahua I noted that these men sold their fatherland, and their treason being proved upon them, I separated from them; a little afterward I seized the banner which the illustrious Porfirio Diaz has to-day raised aloft, and which I am sure he will soon place over the palace of the Montezumas. Since that period until now I have been constant in my undertaking, even if unfortunate, for the political movements that I have indicated have had a bad issue, being that of the citadel in which my enemies, who are also the energies of democratic institutions, have tried to wound me with calumny. The time will come in which the nation will have a detailed knowledge of what happened, and then justice may know who were the authors of this unhappy event, and the people may distinguish them by the mark of infamy.
Before General Diaz shall have taken up arms in order to vindicate the rights of the people of whom it is the emanation, the nation will have already manifested the desire that the tyrants should retire, leaving the free passage to the sons of the people; the central club that I had the honor to found and preside over, and also others that existed in all the republic seconding their views, is the undeniable proof of this truth; and this being so, the true soldier of the people, following his inspirations, ought to say, Long live General Diaz! long live the constitution of ’57! death to the tyrants!
The movement initiated by the worthy General Diaz, and which I second in all its parts, is the salvation of the country; is the struggle of the free against the feudalists; is the extinction of the scandalous robberies of the satellites of power, and is the triumph of order and morality; peace will restore tranquillity to families; the workman will dedicate himself to his workshop, in order to attend to the education of his children; the women will wipe their tears; the horrible hectacombs which are now in Atexalto, Ovejo, Tampico, the citadel, and other points, will have disappeared forever; for from this day forward the constitution of ’57 will not be a beautiful illusion, because we have sworn to sustain it at the cost of our blood, and do so, that its bountiful sap may vivify all the children of the great Mexican family.
Group yourslves, then, fellow-citizens, under this banner, and when it waves majestically over the national palace, you will see the titles that the tyrants have founded disappear as if by magic; among such titles being the various monopolies that the political sons of the usurper of the rights of the people now possess.
And you, companions in arms, who from this moment commence to suffer the penalties of the campaign, ought to be proud because you work for the regeneration of the people, which labor will soon be concluded, for the victory will be ours, owing to your valor, because you are Mexicans, and defend the most holy cause of free nations. Fight, then, with faith, and victory will crown our efforts, and all the free nations of the world will send us their blessings, because the cause which you defend is the cause of humanity.