Matías Romero

Matías Romero Avendaño entered the Foreign Ministry as an unpaid young recruit from Oaxaca and became one of the republic's longest serving representatives in Washington. Trained in law, he accompanied the Liberal government during the War of Reform and arrived in the United States in 1859 to work with José María Mata. He soon assumed responsibility for the legation, seeking recognition, credit, and supplies for Benito Juárez's government. ¹

During the French intervention he worked to keep the United States committed to the Mexican republic rather than Maximilian's empire. His diplomacy included conversations with American officials, approaches to senators, and a campaign of publications explaining the republican cause. American support remained constrained by the Civil War and the Lincoln administration's wish to avoid a conflict with France; Romero's advocacy did not immediately overcome that caution. ^{2, 3}

In July 1865 he delivered to William Seward letters concerning former senator William Gwin's plan to settle disaffected Americans in northern Mexico under French protection. Romero presented the project as a threat to both republics and sent copies to Juárez's government. ⁴

Between diplomatic assignments Romero served as finance minister. His reform proposals sought more reliable federal revenue and a fiscal system compatible with economic development. Some proposals were implemented only gradually. Outside government he invested in coffee cultivation in the Soconusco and in railway schemes, including a venture with Ulysses S. Grant. His public advocacy of transport, trade, and agricultural exports overlapped with these private investments. ^{5, 3}

His later Washington work included negotiations with Guatemala over Chiapas and the Soconusco in 1882 and promotion of a reciprocal commercial agreement with the United States. Historian Mónica Toussaint shows how his knowledge of the disputed border and his commercial interests shaped those activities. The commercial project also attracted criticism over its prospective benefits to railway investors. ³

He died in the United States in December 1898, after repeated returns to the Washington mission. ⁵