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In Veracruz[1]
On May 4, 1858, Juarez arrived in Veracruz where the government of Manuel Gutiérrez Zamora was stationed with General Ignacio de la Llave. His wife and Children were waiting for his arrival on the dock of the Veracruz’s port, along with a large part of the population that had flooded the the pier to greet him. There, Juarez lived many months without any unexpected occurrences until Miguel Miramon’s attack who finally found and moved toward the port on March 30, 1859. On April 6th, Juarez received a diplomatic representative of the United States Government: Robert McLane.
A treaty between the Conservative and Liberal governments, the McLane-Ocampo Treaty was signed in December 1859, although Buchanan was unable to secure ratification of the treaty by the US Congress. Nevertheless, the aid received enabled the liberals to overcome the conservatives' initial military advantage; Juárez's government successfully defended Veracruz from assault twice during 1860 and recaptured Mexico City on 1 January 1861.
Nationalization of the Wealth of the Clergy
On July 12 of 1859, Juárez decreed the first regulations of the reform: “The Law of Nationalization of the Ecclesiastical Wealth.” This prohibited the Catholic Church from having properties in Mexico [2]. Because of Juarez's Law of Nationalization, the Catholic Church and the regular army supported The Conservatives but the Liberals had the support of several state governments in the north and central-west and the administration of US President James Buchanan.
Due to the initial weakness of the Juarez administration, conservatives Felix Maria Zuloaga, and Leonardo Marquez had the opportunity to reclaim power. To resolve this, Juarez petitioned Congress to be given Emergency Powers. The liberal members of Congress denied the petition with the main argument being that the country was under a current constitutional government that had been archived only through a very bloody civil war. It was not possible for Juarez, who had implemented said constitution, to now violate the legal functions of the constitution by giving himself dictatorial powers. However, two groups of conservatives trapped Ocampo and Santos Degollado respectively and killed them, thereby bringing the attention of the liberals in Congress. This action by the conservatives changed their opinion, and they gave Juarez the money and power that he needed to finish the conservatives off [3].
Juarez had excellent finances during his administration. His Government achieved budget deficit of 400,000 pesos every month. However he was only able to collect one million pesos by selling the church lands.
- ^ Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History. Denver, Colorado; and Oxford, England: abc-clio. 2004. pp. 245–246.
- ^ Burke, Ulick Ralph (1894). A Life of Benito Juarez: Constitutional President of Mexico. London and Sydney: Remington and Company. pp. 94–96.
- ^ Hamnett, Brian R. A Concise History of Mexico. Cambridge. p. 164.