Nicolás Camára Vales


Nicolás Cámara Vales was a Mexican liberal politician, diplomat and paediatrician who served as Governor of Yucatán on two occasions between 1911 and 1913; after the military putsch known as the Ten Tragic Days, he was forced to resign and go into exile. Having studied medicine in the University of Berlin, he spoke fluent German and during the 1920s, he served as a diplomat stationed in Berlin and Vienna. Having founded the Henequen Regulatory Commission, he later served as its Chairman.

Family and Education

Born in Mérida, Yucatán on the 25th April 1875, the eldest son of Raymundo Cámara Luján, a wealthy hacienda owner and industrialist who made a fortune during the henequen boom, and María del Vales Castillo. His maternal uncle was Agustín Vales Castillo, a Yucatecan industrialist and banker who served as the Political Head of Mérida during the latter half of the 19th Century.
His paternal family was an old patrician family, which could claim descent from several of the Spaniards who had participated in Spanish Conquest of Yucatán; amongst these, he was an direct line descendant of Juan de la Cámara, the Spanish conquistador and nobleman who had been on the founders of Mérida in 1542. He was also a descendant of Francisco de Montejo.
The eldest of thirteen siblings, the Cámara Vales brothers were educated in a household which emphasised liberal values and a European education with a strong emphasis on music and foreign languages; he played the violin and piano and spoke fluent English, Spanish, French and German.
He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Berlin in Germany, graduating with the thesis "The Pellagra in Yucatán". Having specialised in Pediatrics, he returned to Mérida and opened the first children's clinic in the Yucatan penninsula.
He married Joaquina Millet Heredia. She was the daughter of José María Millet Hübbe, a prosperous businessman of French, German and Danish origin, and Joaquina Heredia Cacaño. The couple had two sons and a daughter:
Several members of his close family have contributed to Mexican society:
His liberal ideals identified him with Francisco I. Madero, a close friend of the Cámara family and of his brother-in-law, José María Pino Suárez. A militant of the National Antireelectionist Party, he campaigned in his native state for the Maderista cause. During the 1911 State Election, Cámara Vales was instrumental in convincing much of the Yucatecan oligarchy to transfer their allegiance to José María Pino Suárez, who won the governorship with an ample margin. The gubernatorial term of Pino Suárez was cut short, however, when he was elected to the Vice-presidency of the Republic as a result of the 1911 Federal Elections. After Pino Suárez resigned as Governor, the State Congress appointed Cámara Vales as interim Governor of Yucatan. As interim Governor, Cámara Vales organized the 1912 extraordinary elections. Deciding to stand as a candidate, he resigned to the governorship, being replaced by Agustín Patrón Correa.
After winning the 1912 gubernatorial elections, he returned to power. During his brief term as governor, his most important achievement was ordering the creation of the Henequen Regulatory Commission. During the latter half of the 19th Century and the first years of the 20th century, the lucrative henequen industry had been the principal export of the Yucatán Peninsula. Olegario Molina Solís, a powerful former Governor, and his cronies had manipulated prices to their own advantage in detriment of other competitors. The purpose of the Commission, therefore, was to regulate the henequen industry and avoid price manipulation and other such corrupt practices.
In February 1913, General Bernardo Reyes, a disgraced former Secretary of Defence, escaped from prison and lead a group of reactionary military officers in a putsch directed against the Madero Government. The Federal Army managed to contain the rebellion to La Ciudadela, an old artillery fortress. General Victoriano Huerta, the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the Federal Army, was already negotiating behind the scenes with the putschist army officers and with Henry Lane Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador who was acting without having received instructions from his government. After General Huerta betrayed the Federal Government, President Madero and his entire cabinet were placed under arrest in the National Palace. The President and Vice-President was forced to resign at gunpoint and subsequently assassinated. General Huerta, meanwhile, surrounded the National Congress with his troops and had himself sworn in using a dubious legal manoeuvre.
Nicolás Cámara Vales resigned immediately in protest against the military putsch in which his brother-in-law had been assassinated and his own sister, nieces and nephews became victims of government persecution. Knowing that his own security was in question, he immediately fled the State, taking the first boat out to Havana, before settling into exile in the United States, where Maderista cause had the full backing the newly inaugurated Wilson administration. In August 1914, the Huerta dictatorship was overthrown, and the new revolutionary regime was more sympathetic to Cámara Vales, although they did not share the democratic and liberal principles of the former Governor.
After his exile, he held various positions in the Mexican diplomatic service, representing his country in Berlin and Vienna. Returning to Yucatan, he served as the Chairman of the Henequen Regulatory Commission.
He died in Mexico City in 1956 at the age of 81.