Francisco León de la Barra

Who was Francisco León de la Barra?

Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano was a Mexican political figure and diplomat who served as interim president of Mexico from May 25 to November 6, 1911.

He obtained a degree in law in Querétaro before entering politics as a federal deputy in 1891. In 1892 he attended the Ibero-American Judicial Conference held in Madrid on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America.

In 1896 León de la Barra entered the diplomatic corps, serving as envoy to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States. He is credited in Mexico with convincing U.S. President William Howard Taft that the 1911 Mexico revolt against Porfirio Díaz did not justify U.S. intervention.

He was Mexico's representative at the The Hague peace conference in 1907. During this time, he earned a reputation as an authority on international law. On 25 March 1911 he briefly became foreign secretary under Díaz.

President Porfirio Díaz was re-elected for a seventh time on October 4, 1910. As a result, Francisco I. Madero rose in revolt, proclaiming the Plan de San Luis. The revolt was successful, and Díaz signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez on May 21, 1911, in which he agreed to resign. His resignation took effect on May 25, and León de la Barra was made interim president until new elections could be held. He served until November 6, 1911, when Madero took office as the duly-elected president.