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Bernardo Reyes

Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician who fought in the Second French intervention in Mexico and served as the appointed Governor of Nuevo León for more than two decades during the Porfiriato. During Reyes's administration as Governor, the state made important economic, industrial and social advances, and he was one of the closest and most faithful allies of President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz. He was killed during a failed coup d'état (known as the Ten Tragic Days) against President Francisco I. Madero in the first stage of the Mexican Revolution.

Born in a prominent liberal family in the western state of Jalisco, he served in the army, rising to the rank of general. Like his political patron, General Porfirio Díaz, Reyes was a military man who became an able administrator. He helped in the modernization of that state, enabling local industrialization, improving public education and health, and supporting improvements in the lives of workers. While governor of Nuevo León, Reyes approved a workers compensation law.

In 1900, Díaz named Reyes the Secretary of War and Navy. He expanded the military, establishing the Second Reserve, a citizens' militia group. While the Second Reserve was eventually disbanded, it was a key component of Reyes' political strategy. However, he resigned from office after two years amid political conflict with the Cientificos, a circle of technocratic advisors to Diaz who saw the Second Reserve as a private army loyal to Reyes. Reyes then returned to Nuevo León, where his popularity grew, and he was considered a likely successor to Díaz. ''Reyista'' clubs supporting him for the presidency were formed, but he declined to challenge Díaz in the election of 1910.

After being forced from office in 1909, he embarked on a European tour and did not return until after Diaz was deposed in 1910 by Francisco I. Madero. Provided by Wikipedia