BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

164 BARBAROUS MEXICO
it was crushed in the most summary manner. The
leaders were considered as conspirators and were treated
as if they were guilty of treasonable acts—worse, in
fact, for they were not even given a semblance of a
trial. On a night in June, 1879, nine men, prominent
citizens of Veracruz, were dragged from their beds,
and on an order telegraphed from General Diaz, "Matalos
en ca!jcntc," "Kill them in haste," Governor Mier
y Teran had them lined up against a wall and shot to
death.
While this incident happened thirty years ago, it is
perfectly authenticated, and the widow of General Teran
exhibits to this day the yellow paper upon which are
inscribed the fatal words. The killing is now known as
the Massacre of Veracruz and is noted because of the
prominence of the victims rather than for the number
of those who lost their lives.
During the ten years following the Massacre of Veracruz
two Mexicans aspired at different times to oppose
Diaz for the presidency. One of these was General
Ramon Corona, governor of Jalisco, and the other was
General Garcia de la Cadena, ex-governor of Zacatecas.
Neither lived to see "election da y." While on his way
home from a theatre one night Corona was stabbed to
death by an assassin, who was in turn stabbed to death
by a company of police which, bya strange coincidence,
was waiting for him around a near corner. Cadena heard
that assascins were on his trail and took flight. He tried
to reach the United States, but was caught at Zacatecas
and shot to death, being pierced by many bullets from
the pistols of thugs, all of whom escaped. No one can
prove vlio ordered the killing of Corona and Cadena,
but it is eas y to draw conclusions.
In 1891 Mexico was thrown into a ferment by the