Genovevo de la O Genovevo de la O ( January 3 , 1876 – June 12 , 1952 ) was an important figure in the Mexican Revolution . He was born in Santa María Ahuacatitlán , Morelos , to sharecropper parents . He was dedicated to the plight of Mexico ' s peasants and came to be an outstanding Liberation Army of the South guerrilla general . After Emiliano Zapata ' s death , he and the other guerrillas threw their lot in with Álvaro Obregón and went on to become a minor but longlasting figure in national politics . 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 . Revolution under Zapata . The Madero government was opposed to the Plan de Ayala , and the Zapatistas took up arms to defend their cause . De la O was made an infantry captain conducting guerrilla operations for Zapata in the northern part of Morelos . He moved up through the ranks of major , lieutenant colonel , and colonel before the year was out . Through 1911 and 1912 , his division of the Liberation Army of the South operated in the area around Santa María and its neighboring towns , consistently beating back federalist forces . He forced enemy divisions to retreat to Cuernavaca , gave a solid drubbing to a group of generals led by General Robles , and inspired thousands to flock into his division . De la O ' s forces took the town of Huitzilac in the Spring of 1912 , but the federalists were reluctant to give it up . General Ojeda tried to evacuate the town ’ s supplies and equipment , but de la O exacted a heavy toll attacking the convoys . He defended the town with success , but in 1912 General Naranjo infiltrated and burned most of it to the ground . As 1913 neared , he pushed into México state to face forces commanded by the president himself , Victoriano Huerta . De la O became a general as fighting continued along the border with México state through 1915 . Huerta faded from power and Venustiano Carranza took control , bringing extra troops to bear that turned the tide back against de la O . As General Pablo González slowly pushed de la O back into Morelos , disaster befell the Zapatista cause in 1919 . The leader of the revolution , Emiliano Zapata , was tricked and murdered by Colonel Jesús Guajardo . This was a terrible blow to the Liberation Army of the South , which had already grown increasingly fractured after many long years of campaigning . Revolution under Obregón . Rather than see his cause and power expire along with Zapata , de la O and the other guerrilla generals , led by Gildardo Magaña , joined forces with the new revolutionary Álvaro Obregón . In 1920 , he covered the retreat of General Benjamín Hill from Mexico City , and Hill too united with Obregón ’ s forces in the south . Together they made a decisive strike at the capital city , deposed Carranza , and set up a new government . On the first day of 1921 , he was named chief of military operations in Tlaxcala , moving later to similar posts in Aguascalientes and Mexico City . Minor conflicts continued , but the Obregón regime , including de la O , remained in power in Mexico City . Post - Revolution politics . De la O held political posts until 1941 when he reached the age limit for service ( sixty - five ) and was forced to retire . Though officially retired , he remained involved in the affairs of Mexico . He formed Frente Zapatista in 1940 as a bastion of the ideals of Zapata . He helped found the Federation of Parties of the People in 1945 , and presided over it . He died in peace while in his hometown of Santa María Ahuacatitlán , a gentler and later death than the vast majority of his revolutionary counterparts . His wake was held on the floor of the Congress of Mexico and he was buried in Santa María with full military honors .