Effective suffrage no reelection: meaning of the motto

"Effective suffrage, No reelection" was the motto of Francisco Ignacio Madero's campaign in 1910, when he launched himself to compete for the presidency of the Mexican Republic against the dictator Porfirio Díaz, who had been in power for 35 years.

In those days, the presidential elections were a mere procedure to legitimize the government that presided Porfirio Diazhe, who had been in power since 1876 and had total control of the institutions. In addition, according to the 1857 constitution, in force at the time, reelection was allowed.

In the midst of such a tyrannical regime, the gesture of Madero, a businessman from the north of the country, to launch himself into the race for the presidency was audacious.

Added to that, Madero emits the San Luis Plan, a political manifesto promulgated on October 5, 1910, in which the country was called to rise up against the Porfiriato and establish free elections. In this manifesto the phrase could be read, repeated as a political principle: "Effective suffrage, no reelection."

Madero's motto condensed the main thing in his political proposal: his democratic convictions and his conviction that the reelectionist system was being a drag on the country. For this reason, he demanded clean elections, where the popular will is respected.

But, in addition, there were other problems of a political, economic and social nature in that Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century: great discontent among the peasants in relation to the right to land, anger on the part of the national business community, set aside in favor of the interests of foreign powers, generalized problems of marginalization and social injustice, among many others.

So these and other political demands would find in Madero a channel to put themselves on the table in the national political debate. In fact, all this would be the content of the revolutionary demands that would shake the country in later years.

For this reason it is considered that, under the slogan "effective suffrage, no re-election", Francisco Ignacio Madero starts the Mexican revolution which begins with the armed uprising of November 20, 1910 and the resignation of Porfirio Díaz in 1911.

Later, Madero will assume power, but will be betrayed by Victoriano Huerta, who will assassinate him in 1913, along with his vice president, José María Pino Suárez.

In any case, the greatness of Madero's slogan is that, under democratic principles, proposed to come to power, institutionally, to transform and politically modernize the country.

Furthermore, thanks to its slogan, the 1917 United States of Mexico constitution would be anti-reelectionist when it comes to the president and governors.

Mural Francisco I. Madero, effective suffrage, no reelection

The mural titled Francisco I. Madero, effective suffrage, no reelection, represents the moment when Francisco I. Madero leaves the Castle of Chapultepec towards the National Palace, on February 9, 1913, accompanied by a crowd in the well-known loyalty march.

In the center of the fresco, Madero appears, mounted on a horse, holding the flag of Mexico. To his left is Victoriano Huerta, leader of the uprising against Madero, agreeing with the United States ambassador to betray him.

The figures of José Guadalupe Posada and Senator Belisario are also represented. Domínguez, who supports the speech that he gave against the Huertista usurpation and that caused his murder.

The mural is currently in the Castillo de Chapultepec, in Mexico City. It was painted between 1968 and 1969 by Juan O'Gorman (1905-1982), a Mexican architect, painter and muralist.

Literature professional, graduated from the Universidad de Los Andes. Passionate about literature, history and philosophy. He has worked creating, writing and proofreading in publishing, advertising, journalism and digital content since 2008.