HUERTA, Victorian, Mexican military officer and president: b. Colotlin, Jalisco, 23 Dec. 1854; d. El Paso, Tex., 13 Jan. 1916. He was a full-blooded Indian and prided him self on his ancestry. At the age of 17 he was made secretary to General Guerra and soon afterward was admitted to the military aca decoy of Chapultepec. After graduation there he was attached to the topographical bureau of which he was chief for several years. He con ducted many surveys throughout the country and as a result had a wider knoyledge of Mexican topography than any of his country men. For his part in suppressing revolts of the Yaquis and Mayas, Huerta was promoted to the rank of brigadier-Fneral. Huerta was greatly trusted by Porfirio Diaz, and when the latter deemed it advisable to resign the presi dency and leave Mexico, it was Huerta who safely conducted the Diaz party to the port of Vera Cruz, where they embarked for Europe. During the Madero regime, Huerta was dis patched to suppress the insurgents led by Pascual Orozco. Felix Diaz, nephew of ex president Porfirio Diaz, instigated a revolt against the Madero government in February 1913, within the capital city, where a violent conflict was waged for 10 days. Huerta, now a general of division, conducted the defense for the Maderistas. By the latter it was charged that he did not use his best efforts to suppress Diaz. At the end of the street battle Madero and his vice-president, Jose Pino Suarez, were seized, and on 18 Feb. 1913 Huerta proclaimed himself provisional presi dent of Mexico. Four days later Madero and Suarez were murdered while being transferred from one prison to another. The circum stances surrounding the murders have never been cleared up, but the general belief is that Huerta was at least a party to the deed, if not the prime instigator, and the world doubted him when he disclaimed responsibility. Pub lic opinion in the United States was aroused and demands were made for intervention. President Taft, however, being about to leave office, wished to leave his successor full free dom of action and President Wilson discounte nanced intervention but firmly refused to rec ognize Huerta as president of Mexico al though several European nations, including Great Britain, had done so.
Huerta's regime was troubled from within. Three more or less independent revolutions were in full blast during 1913, led severally by Carranza, Villa and Zapata. The United States ambassador was recalled and John Lind, ex governor of Minnesota, was sent as personal envoy of President Wilson to demand of Huerta that he permit a regular presidential election at which he would not be a candidate. Huerta refused and when the Congress set about investigating his autocratic action he caused the arrest of the members hostile to him, and, after dissolving the chamber, assumed full dictatorial powers. In April 1914 some members of the crew of the United States ship Dolphin were arrested at Tampico while seek ing gasoline supplies on shore. Upon explana tion of their errand by Admiral Mayo they were released but the admiral demanded an apology and a salute to the American flag. Huerta refused compliance with this demand and on 21 April Vera Cruz was bombarded by American warships, and landing parties of marines and sailors took the city after a sharp and decisive conflict with the Mexican forces. At this juncture Argentina, Brazil and Chile offered their services as mediators, but the subsequent °A. B. conference at Niagara was barren of result. Failure of recognition by the United States government greatly weakened Huerta's hold in Mexico; he re signed on 15 July; and within a short time set out for Spain. He left the latter country on 3 March 1916 and within a few weeks arrived in New' York and established his family at Forest Hills, L. I. Soon afterward he set out for the southwest, but on 27 June was ar rested at Newman, N. M., on the charge of fomenting a revolution against Mexico, a country then friendly to the United States. Huerta was released under bond, but on 3 July was rearrested at El Paso,_ just as he was preparing to enter Mexico. Thereafter until a few days before his death he was under guard at Fort Bliss. Many stories were circulated that German money was being used to put Huerta back in control in Mexico, but none of these was proved as he died before his trial, frbm acute sclerosis of the liver, aggravated by his hard-drinking habits.