Chapter 1357: Chapter 465: Mexico Turmoil
Evening, at the Mexican Presidential Office!
Donnie, accompanied by United States Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, arrived at the center of power in Mexico.
When Donnie walked into the study of the Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles.
Upon seeing Donnie, Plutarco Elias Calles rose from his chair and opened his arms to welcome Donnie.
"Dear Mr. Block, welcome to our beautiful Mexico, I hope your experience here will be very pleasant!"
Plutarco Elias Calles was not very tall. At 51, he did not appear old and sported a neatly trimmed mustache.
Donnie also embraced Plutarco Elias Calles and said with concern, "Mr. Calles, you don’t seem to be in great spirits!"
Plutarco Elias Calles gave a wry smile, invited Tang Fei to sit, and said helplessly, "Mr. Block already knows about the matters in our Mexico."
Donnie nodded and said, "I feel regretful for Mr. Obregon’s passing!"
During the Liberal President Venustiano Carranza’s administration, there were three giants in Mexican politics: Plutarco Elias Calles, Alvaro Obregon, and Adolfo de la Huerta. At that time, Plutarco Elias Calles served as Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Labor, Alvaro Obregon served as Secretary of War, and Adolfo de la Huerta as Governor of Sonora.
They were the ones who jointly overthrew Venustiano Carranza’s regime.
Subsequently, Adolfo de la Huerta served as interim President, but soon their alliance broke apart due to power struggles. Plutarco Elias Calles and Alvaro Obregon joined forces to overthrow Adolfo de la Huerta, making Alvaro Obregon the President of Mexico.
Calles became Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of the Interior.
Furthermore, the largest party in Mexico at the time was the Mexican Labor Party, led by a corpulent man named Louis Moroni.
As the Mexican constitution stipulated that the President could not serve consecutive terms, Obregon and Calles agreed to take turns as President of Mexico.
Thus, in 1923, before Obregon’s term ended, de la Huerta, who had been marginalized, staged a coup, but it quickly failed with the help of the United States.
Calles smoothly succeeded Obregon in 1924, becoming the new President of Mexico.
This year, it was time for Calles to step down and for Obregon to assume the presidency, Calles honored his promise, handing the presidency over to Obregon.
As a result, Obregon was assassinated during a friend’s gathering.
This left Calles in a rather awkward position; it was too late to amend the constitution, and he couldn’t simply refuse to step down.
"Obregon’s death is a regret for all of Mexico!"
Donnie nodded and said, "But I believe, President Calles, you must have prepared for Mexico’s future development!"
Unable to amend the Mexican Constitution and unable to serve consecutive terms, Calles made a decision that everyone could guess: to support a puppet of his own to ascend to power.
"I must thank Mr. Block for your support last year. Without your support, Mr. Block, the results might not have been so smooth!"
Last year, Mexican Generals Alvaro Gomez and Francisco Serrano, supported by reactionary forces, launched a rebellion that quickly spread to 12 states.
Back then, the rebellion caught the attention within the United States, and Donnie took notice of this matter, promptly establishing contact with Calles through Dwight Morrow, donating fifty thousand AK47s and millions of bullets.
This helped the Mexican army to swiftly quell the rebellion.
As a result of this, both sides established a favorable cooperative relationship.
Of course, Donnie did not donate these weapons just to establish a relationship with Calles.
Furthermore, he aimed to make a name for the AK47 through this war, as well as to address U.S.-Mexico relations.
It turned out that after Calles came to power, he issued two decrees which led to a tense relationship between the U.S. and Mexico: one restricting foreign ownership of land and another adjusting the oil industry.
Although Donnie had no land in Mexico, Sinclair Oil Corporation, under Venus Bank, owned two oil fields in Mexico.
With Donnie’s support, Calles amended the oil law, stipulating that enterprises or individuals who had obtained mining rights before 1917 could indefinitely extend those rights.
Sinclair Oil Corporation was established long before Donnie made his fortune.
In this war, Calles leveraged the quelling of the rebellion to elevate his prestige within the Mexican military enormously.
After amending the oil law, Calles also eased tensions between the U.S. and Mexico, gaining Calles’s friendship, preserving Sinclair Oil Corporation’s oil fields in Mexico, and helping the United States ease relations with Mexico, thereby enhancing Donnie’s influence within U.S. political circles.
All of this was achieved by merely providing fifty thousand AK47s and a few million rounds of ammunition.
"It is my honor to have been able to help Mr. Calles!"