Early Life
From his earliest days, de la O stood out as a defender of his hometown and its people. He fought ceaselessly against the encroachments of the neighboring hacienda of Temixco, against the evils of deforestation, and against land dispossession in general. These crusades brought him into conflict with the law of Porfirio Díaz's regime, which sought to strengthen the hacendados at the expense of commoners. De la O grew to hate the Díaz regime, mostly on the principle of land reform.
He initially supported the presidency of Francisco Madero based on his promises of land reform, but when those promises proved false he sided with the agrarian opposition headed by the mayor of Anenecuilco, Emiliano Zapata. De la O was one of the signatories of the reformist Plan de Ayala which codified Zapata's demands in 1911.
Read more about this topic: Genovevo De La O
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