On 6 February 1836, José Bernardo Couto, senator for Veracruz, wrote to his exiled friend, Mora, who had retreated to Paris after the fall of the Gómez Farías administration. Couto, together with other friends, took the trouble to write often to keep him up to date with the political and other changes that were taking place during his absence. He explained the latest developments and his own sense of disillusion, which had reached the point that he no longer bothered to attend the Senate. In 1834, he wrote, a coalition of people and opposing interests had been formed to bring about the downfall of the radicals but that had been the only common objective. Once it was achieved, it became clear that there were no firm ideas or plans for the future, and when discussion began on what was to replace the radical programme, ‘everyone has a plan of his own’. Hence, when the issue of the form of government arose and the destruction of the federal charter became certain, many people abandoned the coalition to form a ‘mass of deserters who are wandering about, not knowing what to join’.

When Mora received this letter from Couto, he was in the process of writing his own analysis of the political situation which he was to publish in Paris the following year. Using the information from Couto and other correspondents, he summarized the party political situation as follows. There were four main groups or classes.