Corral Verdugo, Ramón (1854–1912)

Ramón Corral Verdugo (b. 10 January 1854; d. 10 November 1912), Mexican politician and vice president (1904–1911). Influential figure in Sonoran state politics and a fixture of the Porfirio Díaz administration from 1900 to 1911, he was a prototypical political-financial leader of the Porfiriato.

Corral was born in the mining town of Álamos, Sonora, on the Hacienda de Las Mendes, where his father operated a small store in the Palmarejo mines and later became mayor of Chinipas. Sharing his father's interest in politics, Corral wrote for opposition newspapers in an attempt to oust a succession of governors. In 1876 he joined the political faction of Luis E. Torres, serving as vice-governor, then governor (1895–1899) of Sonora. Although Corral was responsible for many public works in Sonora, thousands of Yaqui Indians were killed or deported to Yucatán during his administration. In 1900 he served in cabinet-level posts, beginning with governor of the Federal District (1900–1903), and in the key agency of secretary of government (1903–1911) while simultaneously holding office as vice president. Corral had many financial investments in Sonora. He died in exile in Paris.

See alsoPorfiriato .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jesús Luna, The Public Career of Don Ramón Corral (1979).

Delmar Leon Beene, Sonora in the Age of Ramón Corral, 1875–1900 (1972).

Stuart F. Voss, On the Periphery of Nineteenth-Century Mexico: Sonora and Sinaloa, 1810–1877 (1982).

Manuel R. Uruchurtu, Apuntes biográficos de don Ramón Corral 1854–1900 (1984).

Additional Bibliography

Hernández Silva, Héctor Cuauhtémoc. Insurgencia y autonomía: Historia de los pueblos yaquis, 1821–1910. México, D.F.: CIESAS: Instituto Nacional Indigenista, 1996.

Tinker Salas, Miguel. In the Shadow of the Eagles: Sonora and the Transformation of the Border during the Porfiriato. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

                                         Roderic Ai Camp