26 Facts About Saturnino Cedillo

Saturnino Cedillo Martinez was a Mexican politician who participated in the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War.

Saturnino Cedillo was governor of San Luis Potosi from 1927 to 1931 through the Partido Nacional Revolucionario and served as Secretary of Agriculture on two occasions, one under President Pascual Ortiz Rubio and again under President Lazaro Cardenas.

Saturnino Cedillo maintained de facto control of his home state until shortly before his death.

Saturnino Cedillo "was the last of the great military caciques of the Mexican Revolution who maintained his own quasi-private personal army," building a fiefdom in the state of San Luis Potosi.

Saturnino Cedillo was the son of Amado Cedillo and Pantaleona Martinez.

Saturnino Cedillo was born in 1890 in Palomas, a ranch belonging to the municipality of Ciudad del Maiz.

Saturnino Cedillo was one of seven siblings: Elena, Homobono, Magdaleno, Cleofas, Engracia and Higinia.

The first actions of dissent by the Saturnino Cedillo family were not against the government but rather the wealthy landowners who preyed on their small neighbor's lands and often served as government representatives, a type of practice that was widespread throughout the Porfiriato.

However, even after being introduced to politics, Saturnino Cedillo didn't show much interest in the Maderista movement, in part due to its lack of positioning regarding the "agrarian question".

The first armed revolt the Saturnino Cedillo brothers were involved in was against the Maderista government which ruled San Luis Potosi at the time.

Saturnino Cedillo then got arrested at the American border after trying to return to Mexico with weapons he had bought to arm his men.

Saturnino Cedillo was transferred to San Luis Potosi, where he spent a relatively short time in prison before being released.

Saturnino Cedillo adhered to the Plan of Agua Prieta and was rewarded with his inclusion in the Federal Army as a Brigade General.

Saturnino Cedillo was granted with even more control after his intervention in the Cristero War in which he was an important asset in fighting the Catholic rebels in Jalisco and Guanajuato, having killed their leader, Enrique Gorostieta in 1929.

Saturnino Cedillo himself was a Catholic and sympathized with the cristero cause, so that the antireligious "Calles Laws" were not being enforced in San Luis Potosi.

Saturnino Cedillo's control allowed him to create and maintain military-agricultural colonies in his area of control, where veterans of his army and their widows could live and work the land.

Saturnino Cedillo became Mexico's first female pilot and named her plane "Angel del Infierno" after the term that her uncle used to describe aircraft.

Saturnino Cedillo is said to have fired all the bullets from his pistol at the remains of the plane, which he blamed for the death of his niece.

Saturnino Cedillo had briefly served as the Minister of Agriculture under Sonoran Pascual Ortiz Rubio.

Saturnino Cedillo was held in high regard by the agraristas, whom he convinced to support the presidential candidate Lazaro Cardenas.

Saturnino Cedillo and Cardenas shared similarities regarding land reform, but their beliefs on the matter differed radically as Saturnino Cedillo was in favor of land reform based on the concept of private ownership, but Cardenas was a proponent of ejidos, collective lands held by peasants under state control.

Cardenas got support from Saturnino Cedillo in ousting Calles from his hold on presidential power after Cardenas was elected president.

Saturnino Cedillo was openly against the 1938 nationalization of oil and the electric industries.

In 1938, Cardenas demanded that Saturnino Cedillo leave his base of Valle del Maiz; in response, Saturnino Cedillo took up arms.

Saturnino Cedillo took up arms against Cardenas and the rebellion was suppressed by January 1939.

Saturnino Cedillo was killed along with many of his relatives, including his sister and his son.