He saw combat in the Cristero War, the religious conflict that broke out in the late 1920s when President Plutarco Elías Calles began strictly enforcing the anti-clerical laws of the 1917 Mexican Constitution.
[2] According to historian Enrique Krauze, Maximino participated in the 1929 mass murder of student supporters of José Vasconcelos, following the 1929 election for president.
"[4] He amassed a significant personal fortune in land, cattle, and horses as well as making alliances with enormously wealthy foreign businessmen, such as the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren and U.S. businessman William O.
[5][6] Ruthless, temperamental and arrogant, Maximino was the opposite of his younger brother, the affable Manuel Ávila Camacho, whose good manners, even temper and diplomatic skills were famous.
The party nominated Maximino's hated enemy, Miguel Alemán Valdés, who went on to succeed Manuel Ávila Camacho as president.