Video – Mexico in the Era of Porfirio Diaz

One of Mexico’s great 19th century liberal heroes – General Porfirio Díaz – took power as President of the Mexican Republic in 1876. With almost continual control of the nation as President from 1876 until he was forced into exile in 1911, a period of 35 years, Díaz and his group of industrialization-minded ministers transformed Mexico profoundly. But the cost of modernizing Mexico was incredibly high, creating enormous social, economic and political inequalities. This produced political and labor movements that agitated for the overthrow of Díaz and his government.