Ponciano Arriaga He was a Mexican lawyer and intellectual born in San Luis Potosí in 1811. His federalist and liberal tendency led him to support Benito Juárez and fight Antonio López de Santa Anna. Among his contributions, his fundamental participation in the elaboration of the Constitution of 1857 stands out..
Arriaga was endowed with a great oratorical ability, thanks to which he entered the political life of his state. From all the political positions he held, he never hesitated to criticize the errors of any government, both state and national. In 1843, he was elected as a member of Congress.
President Santa Anna, who had returned to the presidency, launched a fierce campaign of attacks against Arriaga, which ended up having to go into exile. In New Orleans, the place he chose to settle, he came into contact with other exiles, such as Melchor Ocampo and Benito Juárez..
In 1855, after the triumph of the Ayutla Revolution, Arriaga was able to return to Mexico, where he was elected to preside over the congress and direct the commission that prepared the draft of the new Mexican constitution. His speeches of the time have gone down in history for his criticism of militarism and the land ownership system of the time.
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José Ponciano Arriaga Leija was born in San Luis Potosí on November 18, 1811. His parents, Spanish, were Bonifacio Arriaga and Tranquilina Leija de Arriaga.
The young Arriaga studied law at the Colegio Guadalupano Josefino, later converted into the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí. His academic results were excellent and in 1831, at the age of 19, he graduated as a lawyer. As he was not yet 20 years old, he had to request a special permit to be able to practice.
Arriaga began working in politics just one year after graduating as a lawyer. Thus, in 1832, he participated in the presidential campaign of General Esteban Moctezuma, whose rival was Anastasio Bustamante..
Later, during the government of José Ignacio Gutiérrez, Arriaga was appointed secretary of government of his native state.
During the government of José Ignacio Gutiérrez he served as Secretary of the Government of his native state
In 1843, he was elected deputy to the Congress of the Union, an appointment that he repeated in 1846. When the United States invaded the country, Arriaga actively participated in its defense. As a senator, in 1846 he was part of the group that should organize the defense of the Mexican states that border the United States..
Another of his contributions to the Mexican war effort was the shipment of food and other supplies to the Mexican army in Nuevo Laredo and Coahuila. Also during this period, he took over the direction of the newspaper El Estandarte de los Chinacates.
With the Mexican defeat, in 1848 the National Congress had to debate the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which included the loss of an enormous extension of territories to the United States. Arrigada, during these discussions, took a position against the agreement and in favor of continuing the fight against the invaders..
Despite the war that his country faced with the United States, Arriaga's intellectual and political activity did not stop. One of his best known proposals was made in 1847, from his position as local deputy of San Luis Potosí.
That year he proposed to Congress the creation of a Procurator for the Poor. According to Arriaga himself, it was regrettable that the poor of Mexico suffered discriminatory treatment and he advocated for the establishment of an institution that would safeguard their rights. Arriaga's proposal was approved by the Congress of San Luis Potosí on March 10, 1847.
According to the enacted law, the Procurator for the Poor should dedicate itself to “(…) the defense of the underprivileged, reporting to the respective authorities, and requesting prompt and immediate reparation for any excess, injury, humiliation, mistreatment or outrage against those commit (…) "
During the presidency of Mariano Arista, Arriaga was appointed as Minister of Justice, Ecclesiastical Business and Public Instruction. Despite being part of the government, he never stopped being critical of power.
As a leader of the Liberal Party and a member of Congress, Arriaga became one of the main opponents of President Santa Anna, who had returned to office after leading a revolt..
Faced with the criticism he received, Santa Anna unleashed a fierce campaign against Arriaga, who finally had to go into exile.
Ponciano Arriaga established his new residence in New Orleans, United States. There he met other exiles, among whom were Ocampo, Benito Juárez and Cepeda Peraza. Together with other reprisals, this group founded the Revolutionary Board.
The triumph of the Ayutla Revolution, which overthrew Santa Anna in 1855, allowed Arriaga to return to Mexico.
Back in his country, the states of Jalisco, Mexico, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Puebla, Guerrero, Zacatecas and the Federal District elected him as a constituent deputy. When the Constituent Congress was installed in Mexico City, on February 18, 1856, Arriaga was named its president, for which he was the main drafter of the 1857 Constitution..
The speeches of that time show an Arriaga very critical of the situation in his country, with militarism and with the preponderance of the large landowners, who accumulated most of the farmland.
Although not all of his proposals were approved, Arriaga left his stamp on the drafting of the Constitution.
One of his most relevant performances was his Private vote on the property, although it did not find acceptance in the Assembly.
In that vote, Arriaga was against how land was distributed in Mexico, as well as the misuse that landowners made of it. These, on many occasions, left large areas uncultivated, which according to Arriaga caused the development of the country to be delayed.
In line with his thinking, the politician stated that "one of the most deeply rooted and deep vices that our country suffers from [...] consists of the monstrous division of territorial property".
To this he added that “while few individuals are in possession of vast and uncultivated lands, which could provide subsistence for many millions of men, a numerous people, a large majority of citizens, groan in the most horrendous poverty, without property, without a home, no industry, no work ".
His solution to that problem was for society to evolve so that prosperous smallholders and productive ranchers prevail..
One of his most memorable phrases stated that "Rights are proclaimed and things are forgotten ..."; [and that] "this people cannot be free or republican, much less fortunate, even though more than a hundred constitutions and thousands of laws proclaim abstract rights, beautiful, but impractical theories, as a result of the absurd economic system of society"
The support of President Ignacio Comonfort for the Plan de Tacubaya, a movement organized by the conservatives against the Constitution of 1857, represented a great blow to Arriaga. He remained faithful to constitutional legality and joined Benito Juárez in the parallel government that he established during the War of the Reform..
After the war ended with the triumph of Juárez, Arriaga held various political positions in the new government. Later, in 1862, he was interim governor of Aguascalientes and, the following year, of the Federal District.
Ponciano Arriaga died in San Luis Potosí, on June 12, 1865. In 1900, Porfirio Díaz ordered his remains to be transferred to the Rotunda of Illustrious Men, as well as to inscribe his name in the Congress session hall..
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