Genovevo de la O

Genovevo de la O
Born	3 January 1876 Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Morelos, Mexico
Died	12 June 1952 Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Morelos, Mexico
Allegiance	Liberation Army of the South, Alvaro Obregon
Years of service	1910–1941
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Mexican Revolution
Other work	Politician

Genovevo de la O (January 3, 1876 – June 12, 1952) was an important figure in the Mexican Revolution in Morelos.

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 long-lasting figure in national politics.

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.

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.

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