July 2025.- «We don’t need a foreigner to establish reforms in our country; we have established them all without needing anyone,» with phrases like this, Benito Juárez García, a prominent Mexican lawyer, politician, statesman, and patriot whose life, according to his biographers, is comparable to the history of Mexico itself in the middle decades of the 19th century, referred to national sovereignty.
A leading figure of the progressive Reform movement, Juárez served as president of the nation from 1857 to 1872. In a heroic struggle, he faced the French invasion from 1862 to 1867, which managed to seize a large part of the territory until defeating the imperialists. He always defended the principles of respect for and the inviolability of national sovereignty.
Juárez led the progressive Reform movement and was one of the regional figures who most strongly adhered to respect for the law, believing that laws should serve to equalize and administer justice equitably. During his term, he sought economic balance and carried out several public works, including roads, the reconstruction of the Government Palace, and the founding of teacher training colleges.
He promoted progressive laws that sponsored the 1857 Constitution, including the confiscation of clergy property, land nationalization, and the separation of church and state, measures that promoted equality before the law and the extermination of large estates. To organize the country’s economic situation, he reduced the army and organized a reform that established secular, free, and open education.
The defense of national sovereignty against foreign aggression clearly demonstrated his unwavering anti-imperialism. His egalitarian work, tireless fight against corruption, and struggle for justice constitute the prelude to Latin American socialism and led to his proclamation as the «Meritorious Man of the Americas.»
Benito Juárez García died on July 18, 1872; José Martí said of him (…) a distinguished and sovereign Indian, who will sit forever in the eyes of men at the side of Bolívar.
