Ramón Corral

Ramón Corral Verdugo (January 10, 1854 – November 10, 1912) was the Vice President of Mexico under Porfirio Díaz from 1904 until their resignations in May 1911.

Yaqui leader José Maria Bonifacio Leiva Perez, Cajemé, who Corral interviewed following his capture

Corral was born Ramón Corral Verdugo on Hacienda Las Mercedes (where his father worked), near the city of Álamos, Sonora, on 10 January 1854 to Fulgencio Fabián Corral Rochín (January, 1834–1868) and María Francisca Almada y Verdugo (1836- ). He was christened on 21 January 1854 at the Purísima Concepción Roman Catholic Church in Mexico.

Image of Ramon Corral's baptism registration from 21 January 1854

Ramón Corral first gained public attention in 1872, when General Don Ignacio L. Pesqueira, Governor of the State of Sonora, an undefeated general who had provided many services to his state, created public outrage. To avoid compliance with a law, Pesqueira introduced, among other reforms, a non- re-election provision for the office of governor. On this occasion, the young Corral vigorously fought against the Pesqueira administration through the press, founding the newspapers El Fantasma (The phantom), and La Voz de Álamos (The voice of Álamos). His writings in the papers exhibited civil valor, love for democracy, and power as a political adversary of the Pesqueira administration. In the years that followed, Corral increasingly became involved in politics.

While General Secretary of the Government of Sonora, Corral was involved with the capture of the indigenous Yaqui military leader José Maria Leiva, known as Cajemé. In La Constitución (Periódico oficial del gobierno del estado libre y soberano de Sonora), beginning with the issue of April 22, 1887, and ending July 8, 1887, Corral published biographical notes about Cajemé, which were recorded only a few days earlier during personal talks with the captured Yaqui leader. Cajemé was being held at the time in the house of the military chief of the area, Angel Martínez, who had personally arrested him while Cajemé was hiding in San Jose de Guaymas.

Corral married Amparo V. Escalante on February 25, 1888. She was the daughter of Vicente Escalante, a well known Mexican statesman of the time. The religious element of the twofold marriage ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Ortega of Hermosillo, with a civil ceremony performed by Civil Judge Bonito Méndez, of the Hermosillo District.

Corral was one of the Científicos who advised President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz. Corral served as Secretary of State from 1891 to 1895. He became Governor of the Federal District of Mexico in 1900, and was sworn in as Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Porfirio Díaz in 1903. He was appointed Vice President in 1904 and re-elected in 1910.

Offices Held

Local Deputy of Sonora: 1879-1881, 1883–1885, 1885–1887. Federal Deputy of Sonora: 1881-1883. General Secretary of Government of Sonora: 1879-1880, 1883-1887. Vice-Governor of Sonora: 1887-1891. Secretary of State: 1891-1895. Governor of Sonora 1895-1899. Governor of the Federal District: 1900-1903. Secretary of the Interior and Vice-President of the Republic: 1903-1904, 1904–1911, 1910–1911.

Final Days

Ramón Corral and his family.

Díaz choose Corral as his vice president in the election of 1910. Corral traveled to London for medical care, since he had been earlier diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After being operated on, the cancer was found to be incurable. His family decided to visit him and in light of his own deteriorating health and the increasing revolutionary opposition to the Díaz government, Corral submitted his resignation, dated May 10, 1911, to Francisco León de la Barra, Díaz’s foreign secretary, which de la Barra held until Díaz submitted his own "Renuncia" on May 25, 1911.

Not all sources agree with the above account, however. As vice-president, Corral "could have won the vote by acclamation as the most hated man in Mexico." Corral, known as the money maker from the tropics slave trade, also was known as "king of another slave trade in the capital, and himself its victim, with his disease so far advanced that he had at most two years to live." This contradicts other and more polite accounts of pancreatic cancer.

Letter of Resignation

Corral's letter of resignation gave no doubt that he had foreknowledge of President 's intention to resign, and that the course of events would lead to a new government for Mexico:

On the two occasions that the national convention advanced my candidacy as Vice-President of the republic, to figure in the elections with Gen. Diaz as President, I stated that I was prepared to occupy any office in which compatriots considered that I would be of use, and that if the public vote conferred upon me a position so far above my merits, then my intention would be to second in all respects Gen. Diaz's policy, in order to co-operate with him, as far as it lay in my power, toward the aggrandizement of the nation, which had developed so notably under his administration.

Those who concern themselves with public affairs and have observed their progress during the last few years will be able to say whether I have complied with my intention.

For my part, I can say that I have never endeavored to bring about the least obstacle either in the President's policy or his manner of carrying it out even at the cost of sacrificing my convictions, both because this was the basis of my programme and because this corresponded to my position and my loyalty, as well as that I did not seek any prestige in the office of Vice-President, so useful in the United States and so discredited in Latin countries.

In the events which have shaken the country during these latter months, the President has been brought to consider that it is patriotic to resign from the high office that the almost unanimous vote of Mexicans had conferred upon him in the last election, and that it is advisable at the same time, in the interest of the country, that the Vice-President do likewise, so that new men and new energies should continue forwarding the prosperity of the nation.

Following my program of seconding Gen. Diaz's policy, I join my resignation with his and in the present note I retire from the office of Vice-President of the republic, begging the chamber to accept the same at the same time as that of the President.

I beg of you gentlemen to inform yourselves of the above, which I submit with the protests of my highest consideration.

Liberty and Constitution, Paris, May 4, 1911.

[Signed] "RAMON CORRAL."

Death

Corral died of cancer in Paris on 10 November 1912, surrounded by family members.

Not all sources agree with the above account, however. As vice-president, Corral "could have won the vote by acclamation as the most hated man in Mexico."[9] Corral, known as the money maker from the tropics slave trade, also was known as "king of another slave trade in the capital, and himself its victim, with his disease so far advanced that he had at most two years to live."[10] This contradicts other, more polite accounts of pancreatic cancer.

• Breve Manifestación que la Diputación Permanente del Congreso del Estado, Hace al Pueblo. Ures, Sonora, México: Imprenta del Gobierno. 1878
• El General Ignacio Pesqueira: Reseña Histórica del Estado de Sonora. Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico: Imprenta del Estado. 1900 [1886]. A biography of Ignacio Pesqueira, governor of Sonora for 20 years (1856–1876).
• Informe leido por el C. Ramón Corral vice gobernador constitucional de Sonora ante la legislatura del mismo estado. Hermosillo, Sonora, México: Gobierno del Estado. 1889.
• La Mayoría del Congreso del Estado, al Pueblo Sonorense. Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico: Imprenta de Roberto Bernal. 1878
• La cuestion de la harina. Coleccion de articulos y documentos publicados en "El Telegrafo" México: Tip. de V. Villada. 1881.
• Memoria de la administración pública del Estado de Sonora, presentada a la Legislatura del mismo por el Gobernador Ramón Corral. 2 vols. Guaymas, Sonora, México: Imprenta de E. Gaxiola. 1891
• Memoria de la Secretaría de Gobernación : Que comprende de lo. de diciembre de 1904 a 30 de junio de 1906. México: Imprenta del Gobierno Federal. 1909
• Obras históricas. Reseña histórica del Estado de Sonora, 1856-1877. Hermosillo, Sonora, México: Imprenta del Estado. 1900. A biography of José María Leiva (Cajemé), the Yaqui leader whom Corral interviewed shortly before Cajemé was executed.

• El General Ignacio Pesqueira: reseña histórica del Estado de Sonora