Saturnino Cedillo

General Saturnino Cedillo Martínez (November 29, 1890 in Ciudad del Maíz, San Luis Potosí - January 11, 1939 in Sierra Ventana, San Luis Potosí) was a Mexican politician who participated in the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War. He was governor of San Luis Potosí from 1927 to 1931 through the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) and served as Secretary of Agriculture on two occasions, one under President Pascual Ortiz Rubio and again under President Lázaro Cárdenas. He maintained de facto control of his home state until shortly before his death.

Saturnino Cedillo was the son of Amado Cedillo and Pantaleona Martínez. Saturnino was born in 1890 in Palomas, a ranch belonging to the municipality of Ciudad del Maíz. He was one of seven siblings: Elena, Homobono, Magdaleno, Cleofas, Engracia and Higinia. It would be thanks to his brothers Cleofas and Magdaleno that Saturnino went into the revolution.

The first actions of dissent performed by the Cedillo family weren't against the government per se; they instead acted against the wealthy landowners who preyed on their small neighbor's lands and often served as government representatives. This type of practice was widespread throughout the Porfiriato.

At first, the Cedillos didn't show much interest in political issues, much less the anti-reelectionist movement that gained strength after the economic crisis of 1907. It was through a school teacher from the nearby Tula, Tamaulipas called Alberto Carrera Torres, a friend of Magdaleno Cedillo that the brothers began their involvement in politics. However, even after being introduced to politics, Cedillo didn't show much interest in the Maderista movement, in part due to its lack of positioning regarding the "agrarian question".

Ironically, the first armed revolt the Cedillo brothers were involved in was against the Maderista government which ruled San Luis Potosí at the time. On November 17, 1912 they participated in a group of coordinated attacks in Río Verde, Tula, and Ciudad del Maíz. At the end, Saturnino and Cleofas read the Plan of Ayala to the peasants. After hearing about the failure of their attack on Río Verde, the brothers retreated to Tula, where they decided to cross the border into the United States in order to flee. Cedillo then got arrested at the U.S. - Mexico border after trying to return to Mexico with weapons he had bought to arm his men. He was transferred to San Luis Potosí, where he spent a relatively short time in prison before being released.

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