Enrique C. Creel Cuilty

Enrique C. Creel came to diplomacy from banking and Chihuahua politics. The son of an American consul, he married into the Terrazas family and directed financial and industrial enterprises connected with it. His interests included the Banco Minero, mining, manufacturing, and food processing. Service in state and federal legislatures led to the Chihuahua governorship, where his attempts to centralize and reorganize administration encountered opposition from municipalities. ¹

As ambassador in Washington in 1907–08 he helped conduct the joint Mexican-American mediation of Central American conflicts. During the fighting between Nicaragua and Honduras he proposed simultaneous withdrawal of the opposing forces and a peaceful settlement through an arbitrator chosen by the governments concerned. He divided his attention between this assignment and his return to the Chihuahua governorship. ²

Creel represented Mexico at the Central American Peace Conference in Washington in November–December 1907. William I. Buchanan's official report records their participation alongside the five Central American delegations and credits Creel with helping the negotiations. The conference produced a general peace framework and a convention establishing the Central American Court of Justice. Creel subsequently attended the court's inauguration in Cartago. ^{3, 2}

He became foreign secretary near the end of Díaz's rule. The revolution forced him into exile and damaged the family's business empire. He returned in the early 1920s and advised Álvaro Obregón on financial matters. ¹