Juan Andreu Almazán

Juan Andreu Almazán
Gen. Juan Andreu Almazán in May 1916
Born	May 12, 1891 Olinalá, Guerrero, Mexico
Died	October 9, 1965 Mexico City, Mexico
Allegiance	Liberation Army of the South
Years of service	1912 — 1939
Rank	General Officer
Battles/wars	Mexican Revolution

Gen. Juan Andreu Almazán (May 12, 1891 – October 9, 1965) was a Mexican revolutionary general, politician and businessman. He held high posts in the Mexican Army in the 1920s and ran for the presidency of Mexico in 1940 in a highly disputed election, after having accumulated great wealth from construction.

Juan Andreu Almazán was born on May 12, 1891, in the municipality of Olinalá in the State of Guerrero. He was born to Juan Andreu Pareja, a farmer of Catalan ethnicity, and María Almazán Nava, who was, according to Juan Andreu Almazán, a descendant of Moctezuma I.

In 1907 he enrolled in a medical school in Puebla, where he started political and military opposition against the then-dictator Porfirio Díaz. He worked for Francisco I. Madero's presidential campaign to prevent Díaz's re-election. When the Mexican Revolution began, he joined the revolutionary party and abandoned his studies.

As an early supporter of Madero, he followed him into exile in October 1910. In April 1911 he appeared in Morelos and made contact with Emiliano Zapata. There he presented himself as an agent of Madero, and convinced Zapata to fight under Madero’s banner.

In November 1911, almost immediately after Madero was elected president, Zapata broke with Madero and renewed his fight against the government of Mexico City. Juan Andreu Almazán sided with Zapata and joined the rebellion against Madero.