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The ‘Liberal’ Cristero: Ladislao Molina and the Cristero Rebellion in Michoacán, 1927–9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1999

MATTHEW BUTLER
MATTHEW BUTLER
Affiliation:
Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, University of Bristol
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Abstract

This article studies the Mexican cristero rebellion of 1926–9. While scholars assert that the rebellion was the product of a clash between ‘modern’ liberal and ‘traditional’ Catholic mentalities, it is argued here that Ladislao Molina was an astute political actor who embraced a liberal ideology in order to establish a cacicazgo in his home region of Michoacán. When Molina was threatened by state encroachments and agrarian demands, he, like other members of the middling rural strata, promoted a Catholic rebellion not because of religious piety but in order to protect his sphere of influence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , October 1999 , pp. 645 - 671
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank David Brading, Fernando Cervantes, and Alan Knight for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this article, and also the anonymous JLAS referees for their reports.