José de León Toral

José de León Toral (December 23, 1900 – February 9, 1929) was a Roman Catholic who assassinated General Álvaro Obregón, then-president elect of Mexico, in 1928.[1][2][3][4][5]

For other people named José de León, see José de León (disambiguation).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de León and the second or maternal family name is Toral.
José de León Toral
de León Toral in 1928
Born(1900-12-23)December 23, 1900
Matehuala, San Luis Potosí
DiedFebruary 9, 1929(1929-02-09) (aged 28)
Mexico City, Mexico
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
OccupationIllustrator
Known forAssassinating Álvaro Obregón
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Murder
Criminal penaltyDeath
José de León Toral in prison during his trial

Early life
Toral in his youth

León Toral was born in Matehuala, San Luis Potosí, into a family of Catholic miners.[6] He moved to Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution and witnessed General Obregón closing churches and arresting priests who were suspected of supporting ex-President Victoriano Huerta. In 1920, he joined the National League for the Defense of Religious Freedom, which opposed the governments of Obregón (1920–1924) and Plutarco Elías Calles, and he reportedly was also involved in the Cristero War.[7][8][9]

Background

During the Calles administration, religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico greatly expanded in 1926 under the Calles Law, which provided for the execution of priests and other individuals who violated provisions of the 1917 Constitution. Wearing clerical garb in public outside church buildings was punishable by a fine of 500 pesos, then approximately US$250. A priest who criticized the government could be imprisoned for five years with no right to trial by jury.[10]

Some states enacted even more oppressive measures. Chihuahua enacted a law permitting only a single priest to serve all of the state's Catholics.[11] To help enforce the law, Calles seized church property; expelled all foreign priests; and closed the monasteries, convents, and religious schools.[12]

Obregón had been more lenient to Catholics during his time in office, but the Cristeros and almost everyone else believed that Calles was merely his puppet leader.[13]: 399  In 1927, two of León Toral's friends, Frs. Humberto and Miguel Pro, were executed after they had falsely been accused of plotting to assassinate Obregón. Allegedly incited by a Catholic nun, Concepción Acevedo de la Llata, also known as 'Madre Conchita' or Mother Conchita, he decided to assassinate Obregón, whom he blamed for the government's persecution against Catholics.[14][3][1]

Assassination

On 17 July 1928, two weeks after Obregón had been re-elected as president, León Toral, a sketch artist, entered La Bombilla restaurant in San Ángel, where a party honoring Obregón was under way. Disguised as a caricaturist, he drew caricatures of Obregón, the orchestra director, and Aarón Sáenz, and showed them to Obregón,[15] who told him the caricatures were well done and suggested that he should continue. When Obregón turned to sit down, León Toral drew a gun and shot him five or six times in the back, killing him instantly.[13]: 403 [2]

León Toral was arrested immediately and pleaded guilty, claiming that he killed Obregón to facilitate the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ.[16] Mother Conchita was also arrested and received a 20-year prison sentence but was pardoned after serving 13 years; she eventually married Carlos Castro Balda, a bomber of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.[17][18][19][20][2][21]

Execution
Trial of José de León Toral with annotation made by the accused.
José de León Toral right before being executed by firing squad.

José de León Toral was sentenced to death penalty and executed by firing squad on Saturday, February 9, 1929 in the Palacio de Lecumberri. His last words were ¡Viva Cristo Rey! (Long Live Christ the King!), the battle cry of the Cristeros. He was buried in the Spanish Pantheon.

Conspiracy theory

The Mexican writer Rius Facius rediscovered the testimony of the inspection of Obregón's corpse carried out by a doctor. The testimony stated that the body had bullet holes of different calibers, which suggested that more than one weapon was used to assassinate Obregón. This builds up this theory that although José de León Toral undoubtedly fired one weapon, he was not the only one, and there were other shooters as well.[22]

References
  1. "The Revolution on Trial: Assassination, Christianity, and the Rule of Law in 1920s Mexico". read.dukeupress.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. Weis, Robert (2019-08-29). For Christ and Country. Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-108-49302-4.
  3. López Menéndez, Marisol (October 2017). "Mártires abandonados: militancia católica, memoria y olvido en México". Sociedad y religión. 27 (48): 97–129. ISSN 1853-7081.
  4. Fajardo Tapia, David (December 2021). "La imagen sacra. Fotohagiografía de José de León Toral". Estudios de historia moderna y contemporánea de México (in Spanish) (62): 123–150. doi:10.22201/iih.24485004e.2021.62.77455. ISSN 0185-2620. S2CID 240806628.
  5. "Álvaro Obregón : ranchero, caudillo, empresario y político | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  6. Fajardo Tapia, David (December 2021). "La imagen sacra. Fotohagiografía de José de León Toral". Estudios de historia moderna y contemporánea de México (in Spanish) (62): 123–150. doi:10.22201/iih.24485004e.2021.62.77455. ISSN 0185-2620. S2CID 240806628.
  7. López Menéndez, Marisol (October 2017). "Mártires abandonados: militancia católica, memoria y olvido en México". Sociedad y religión. 27 (48): 97–129. ISSN 1853-7081.
  8. Ramírez Rancaño, Mario (2014). El asesinato de Alvaro Obregón : la conspiración y la madre Conchita (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales; Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de México. ISBN 978-607-02-5394-2.
  9. Buchenau, Jürgen (2011-02-04). The Last Caudillo: Alvaro Obregón and the Mexican Revolution. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-9718-5.
  10. Tuck, Jim THE CRISTERO REBELLION – PART 1 Mexico Connect 1996
  11. Mexico, Religion U.S. Library of Congress
  12. Warnock, John W. The Other Mexico: The North American Triangle Completed p. 27 (1995 Black Rose Books, Ltd); ISBN 1551640287
  13. Enrique Krauze (1997). Mexico: Biography of Power: A History of Modern Mexico, 1810–1996. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060163259.
  14. Rancaño, Mario Ramírez (2012). "La madre Conchita: ¿autora intelectual del asesinato de Álvaro Obregón?". Boletín Americanista (in Catalan) (64): 127–144. ISSN 2014-993X.
  15. Gobierno de la Ciudad de México. "Semblanza del General Álvaro Obregón". Delegación Álvaro Obregón. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  16. "MEXICO: Ladies & Gentlemen". Time. 12 November 1928. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010.
  17. Zabludovsky, Jacobo (15 July 2013). "Castro Balda se confiesa" [Castro Balda confess]. El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  18. "Milestones, Nov. 5, 1934". Time. 5 November 1934. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2013. Married. The instigator of Mexican President-Elect Alvaro Obregón's assassination, an ex-nun, Maria Concepcion Acevedo y de la Lata (TIME, July 30, 1928); to Desperado Carlos Castro Balda, convicted of attempting to blow up the Mexican Chamber of Deputies
  19. Zabludovsky, Jacobo (9 April 2007). "La madre Conchita y el aborto" [Mother Conchita and abortion]. El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  20. Ramírez Rancaño, Mario (2014). El asesinato de Alvaro Obregón : la conspiración y la madre Conchita (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales; Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de México. ISBN 978-607-02-5394-2.
  21. "El atentado dinamitero en la Cámara de Diputados que hasta "detuvo" el tiempo en 1928". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  22. "Madera Tribune 13 October 1928 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
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