Biography of Eulalio Gutiérrez, “El Piporro”
Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz, also known as El Piporrowas a Mexican soldier and politician who took up arms during the Mexican Revolution against Porfirio Díaz and who became provisional president of the country.
Gutiérrez was born on February 2, 1881 in Santo Domingo, Coahuila, and died on August 12, 1939 in Saltillo, Coahuila.. His parents were Doña Ciriaca Ortiz and Don Jesús Gutiérrez.
He began working as a shepherd from a very young age while studying. He later became a merchant and then a miner in Concepción del Oro, Zacatecas. Thanks to this last trade, Gutiérrez became an expert in handling explosives, a fact that was very useful to him in the Mexican Revolution.
Like Ricardo Flores Magón, Eulalio Gutiérrez is considered one of the precursors of the Revolution. This is because he joined them from a very early age, he militated against Porfirio Díaz and also took up arms several times.
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In fact, when he was barely 19 years old, he joined an armed group to confront the municipal president who had been imposed on his community through fraudulent elections.
By then, Piporro was already close to the Flores Magón brothers and actively participated in anti-reelectionist groups. He also became part of the Organizing Board of the Mexican Liberal Party to promote the fight against Porfirio Díaz.
Eulalio Gutiérrez founded the Anti-Reelectionist Association called Santiago de la Oz in Concepción del Oro.. In 1906 he took up arms again in Jiménez, Coahuila, and then in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, in 1908.
Gutiérrez and the Mexican Revolution
On November 20, 1910 El Piporro He found the opportunity he longed for, because thanks to the fact that Francisco I. Madero had named him First Captain, He took up arms and bravely fought against the Porfirista troops in Coahuila and Zacatecas..
Shortly after, in February 1911, Gutiérrez joined a Revolutionary Junta to govern the municipality of Saltillo, Coahuila. The following months he continued fighting by armed means until, On August 31, 1911, he was elected president of the Concepción del Oro municipality, Zacatecas.
When Pascual Orozco proclaimed the Empacadora Plan and took up arms against Madero, El Piporro fought this revolt in Mazapil, Zacatecas.
Once Madero fell and Victoriano Huerta usurped the presidency, Gutiérrez was the first to disown Huerta throughout his government. Likewise, he took up arms against the usurper.
On November 6, 1914, Eulalio Gutiérrez assumed the presidency of Mexico after being elected with 88 votes in favor. However, His government did not last just seven months. (from November 6, 1914 to June 2, 1915).
The ephemeral and disastrous presidential term of Eulalio Gutiérrez
Despite being a man of arms and unbreakable will, Eulalio Gutiérrez failed to get his allies, Generals Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa, to respect his authority as president. Therefore, El Piporro dedicated himself to trying to pacify the country without any success.
The rebellion of his generals was such that they arrested, shot and looted without any limit. Realizing that under these conditions it was impossible to establish a solid government, Eulalio Gutiérrez chose to escape the country with absolute discretion. Those who accompanied him into exile were people he absolutely trusted, such as José Vasconcelos.
An interesting aspect is that, before leaving, Eulalio Gutiérrez wrote a letter in which he denounced his former generals, Villa and Zapata, for disturbing the social order, as well as preventing his government from exercising even its most basic functions.
Upon learning of their escape, Villistas, Zapatistas and even Carrancistas pursued them. However, Eulalio Gutiérrez managed to escape and take refuge in the United States. Some time later he returned to Coahuila, where he served as senator and later as governor and commander of the state of San Luis Potosí.
Finally, Eulalio Gutiérrez died on August 12, 1939 in Saltillo, Coahuila.
Stephanie Cisneros Lover of literature, photography and discovering the treasures of Mexico.