the Jalisco farmers under his command, and believed he could turn them into a professional fighting force equal to the regular army. His importance as a Cristero leader was in bringing military discipline to an unorganized insurgency. He is credited with turning Cristero "armies" into a Cristero Army, which, for a time, was winning battles in the limited region where it operated: rural Jalisco, Michoacan, Colima and Zacatecas. However, without support from the Mexican church or the Vatican and torn by internal dissension, the Cristeros were largely irrelevant as a political or military force as a negotiated settlement was worked out between the Vatican and the Mexican state over interpretations of the Church's rights under the Constitution. Death Nineteen days before a cessation of hostilities, based on an agreement worked out by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow between Pope Pius XI and Mexican bishop Pascual Díaz y Barreto, was to take effect, Gorostieta was killed following a Mexican government intelligence operation (2 June 1929). With the movement rapidly collapsing, Gorostieta was attempting a retreat into Michoacán, where he hoped to recruit followers and continue the rebellion. A federal officer, who had infiltrated Gorostieta's inner circle, tipped off the Mexican cavalry to the general's presence in Atotonilco, Jalisco, and killed him in a short firefight. In popular culture Gorostieta was portrayed by Andy Garcia in the 2012 film Cristiada, aka "For Greater Glory", an epic historical drama also starring Eva Longoria, Eduardo Verástegui and Peter O'Toole. References Further reading Tuck, Jim. The Anti-Clerical Who Led a Catholic Rebellion. November 2000 Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 18, Number 3 Meyer, Jean A. La cristiada, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1976. Negrete, Marta Elena. Enrique Gorostieta Cristero Agnóstico, México, DF.: Universidad Iberoamericano, 1981. External links The Anti-clerical Who Led a Catholic Rebellion by Jim Tuck at Latin American Studies 1889 births 1929 deaths People from Monterrey Mexican people of Basque descent Cristero War Mexican generals Mexican rebels People of the Mexican Revolution Deaths by firearm in Mexico