<P> The Porfiriato is the period in late nineteenth - century Mexican history dominated by General Porfirio Díaz, who became president of Mexico in 1876 and ruled almost continuously (with the exception of 1880--1884) until his forced resignation in 1911 . After the presidency of his ally, General Manuel González (1880--1884), Díaz ran for the presidency again and legally served in office until 1911 . Under his administration, the constitution had been amended to allow unlimited presidential re-election . Díaz's had originally challenged Benito Juárez on the platform of "no re-election ." During the Porfiriato, there were regular elections, marked by contentious irregularities . Although Díaz had publicly announced in an interview with journalist James Creelman that he would not run in the 1910 election, setting off a flurry of political activity, he changed his mind and decided to run again at age 80 . </P> <P> The contested 1910 election was a key political event that contributed to the Mexican Revolution . As Díaz aged, the question of presidential succession became increasingly important . In 1906, the office of vice president was revived, with Díaz choosing his close ally Ramón Corral from among his Científico advisers to serve in the post . By the 1910 election, the Díaz regime had become highly authoritarian, and opposition to it had increased in many sectors of Mexican society . </P> <P> In the 19th century, he had been a national hero, opposing the French Intervention in the 1860s and distinguishing himself in the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862 ("Cinco de Mayo"). Díaz entered politics following the expulsion of the French in 1867 . When Benito Juárez was elected in 1871, Díaz alleged fraud . Juárez died in office in 1872, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada succeeded him . Díaz unsuccessfully rebelled against Lerdo under the Plan de La Noria but later accepted the amnesty offered to him . However, when Lerdo ran for the presidency in 1876, Díaz successfully rebelled under the Plan de Tuxtepec . </P> <P> In his early years in the presidency, Díaz was a master politician, playing factions off one another while retaining and consolidating his own power . He used the rurales, an armed police force directly under his control, as a paramilitary force to keep order in the countryside . He rigged elections, arguing that only he knew what was best for his country, and he enforced his belief with a strong hand . "Order and Progress" were the watchwords of his rule . Although Díaz came to power in 1876 under the banner of "no re-election," with the exception of the presidency of Manuel González from 1880--1884, Díaz remained in power continuously from 1884 until 1911, with rigged elections held at regular intervals to give the appearance of democracy . </P>

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