“Tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de los Estados Unidos” (so far from God and so close to the United States): this is a famous Mexican phrase that characterized the binational relations between the two countries for a good part of the nineteenth century. In 1876, a military hero of 5 de Mayo of 1863 and former Liberal, Porfirio Díaz, took power in Mexico, retaining it until 1911. Díaz became a symbol of tyranny, corruption, violation of constitutional principles, and church appeasement, but also of national formation, economic and industrial success, and political sagacity. He strengthened governmental institutions and placed them in the hands of capable and trusted men so that the system worked toward success. The Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (Foreign Affairs Secretariat) was a major player in Díaz’s overall policies to take Mexico to its place among the nations of the world. By 1910, Díaz had become...
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