RURALES

federal corps of rural police established on May 6, 1861, by the Mexican president Benito Jurez to combat the banditry that threatened travel and commerce throughout Mexico. Such a force had been planned four years earlier but could not be established during the War of Reform. In 1869, after the overthrow of the empire of Maximilian, it was reconstituted under the Ministry of the Interior (Ministro de Gobernacin) and charged with patrolling the highways and railways, assisting the army, guarding special shipments of goods and bullion, and policing local elections. Under President Porfirio Daz (governed 18761911), its powers were considerably enlarged to include escorting prisoners, guarding public buildings, intimidating political opponents, and acting as a kind of praetorian guard for the dictatorship. It acquired a considerable reputation (rather exaggerated) for oppression and efficiency. By the end of Daz' reign, the Rurales numbered about 2,700 men. After the revolution, in 1914, the Rurales were disbanded. In 1929 a new force, the Cuerpos de Defensas Rurales (Rural Defense Corps) was created out of a number of volunteer forces that had developed during the 1920s for local self-protection. This corps still exists as an army reserve, its members receiving no pay but being subject to call in national emergencies. There were 120,000 such Rurales in 1975.