 |
In 1861 Benito Juárez became the first indigenous president to be elected in Mexico. Due to the collapse of the nation's economy, he declared a moratorium on foreign debt. Britain, France, and Spain promptly decided together to coerce him into payment, but only France took the initiative seriously. Napoleon III disliked Juárez's liberal beliefs, and, feeling that the country could easily fall prey to U.S. aggression, he sought to assert France's economic and political power over Mexico.
|
