Evening star., 1920-05-23
life
ENDED TYP|CAL[Y
President of Mexico Followed
Predecessors in Flight
and Death.

Venustiano Carranza has joined the
long line of Latin American dictators
! who have ended their stormy careers
in flight and death
A fugitive in the mountains of
| Puebla, the old man who kept the
United States and Mexico in a broil
for the last five years was killed on
Thursday by some Of the troops which
had protected him as a loyal body
| guard in his flight from the Mexican
capital.
Whether he fell fighting or vic
tim of the celebrated ley fuega,"
Suarez. or actually was murdered in
a coup d'etat. Is obscured in such
fragmentary Information as has como
out of the tropical fastness of TlaX-
caltonga. where he died. presumably
| surrounded by a few loyal friends
Early dispatches today from Mexico
City said the former president had
been killed in an attack led by Gen.
Herrara, who had gone with Carranza
in flight but later deserted to the
| made at headquarters Of Gen.
Obregon. head of the revolutionary
movement. gave the impression that
Carranza had died in battle.
Killed i'm COwardly Manner.
But later advices received in Ell
Paso charged that Carranza had been
made q prisoner and assassinated in
"a cowardly manner" and said some
of the friends who were with him at
tie time had sent protest to Gen.
Pablo Gonzales
The full story may not be immedi-
the subject of dispute. In any event
it adds one more drop to the river
of blood which has flowed over Mexi-
co snce Porfirio Diaz signed his abdica-
tion in tears and died a heart broken
man in Spain.
But it does bring to mind a proph-
ecy. said to have been made by a
nun, which is now being talked about
all over Mexico.
The nun prophesied. according to
report. that after Mexico had seen
| three Franciscos in public life she
with a beard, who would meet vio-
lent death. and that hg would be
succeeded by president who mount
ed his horse from the wrong" side.
The prophecy also, added that there
after Mexico would lose it's inde-
pendence.
Prophecy Partly FULFILLED.
There have been three Franciscos
in Mexico's public life since the
Francisco de la Barra, now an exile:
Francisco /. Madero. the murdered
president of 1913. and Francisco
Villa, the bandit leader. Carranza
was well known for his whiskers.
Obregon, who led the revolt against
him and is expected by many to sue
ceed to the head of the government.
lost an arm in the battle Of Celava.
with Villa, and mounts his horse
from the wrong" side.
Carranza's death and the manner of
| it probably win have some important
h~ 10 Y>ft =
States when the time comes to con-
slider recognition Of the government
which succeeds him. When President
Wilson was refusing to recognize
Huerta he based his action on the
untimely deaths Of Madero and
eral policy to the effect that no gov
ernment would be recognized which
did not rest on constitutional elec-
tions and which was based on force
of arms alone. AS it generally is
recognized that no government in
recognition by the United States, tho
death of Carranza and what RESPONSE
bility the present revolutionists may
share in it are regarded by officials
and diplomats here as certain to be-
come a large element in this govern
ment's action.
Was Governor Of Coahuila.
CdrTdnZd, was tne country governor
of the state OF Coahuila, who united
the Mexicans under the banner of
constitutionalists in 1913 and fought
Huerta. who seized the power with
the wholesale executions which ac-
companied the deposition and death
of Madero. Headed by the military
genius of the dashing Villa, his army
won many victories. But he soon
quarreled with Villa, and no sooner
was he in Mexico City and recognized
by the United States than he had a
revolution on his hands with villa as
its leader.
Although aided in every way by the
United States government. Carranza
pursued decidedly anti-American
course. and during the world war a
decidedly anti-allied course which was
topped of by the celebrated thinner
man note in which Germany asked
him to negotiate a German Japanese
Mexican alliance against the United
States. His downfall has been a
weekly prediction for the<last three
years and when he took flight from
Mexico City many persons predicted,
or confessed they feared. the tragic
end which overlook him.