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Mexican history mexico historia mexicano PRI era
Mexican History: The PRI-Era (1928-2000)
Figure 1.--The Revolution was fought for boys like this. He is a mecapalero or cargador, often translated as porter which dies not capture tyhe nmeaning/ It meand aerson who made his living by crrying a nurden, often a heavy one. The PRI governed Mexico basically from the Revolution to 2000. It was left for the PRI to bring the ideals of the Revolution to fruition. The PRI brought a measure of social justice to Mexico through programs like land reform, institutionalizing rights for labor, nationaling the petroleum industry, and limiting foreign investment and property rights. What the PRI did not achieve, however, was either democracy, the rule of law, or prosperity. Millions of Mexicans are forced to enter the United States to find decent paying jobs. What we do not see in Mexico today is an informed debate as to why Mexico has been unable to create a modern economy providing decentbjobs for its people. Ideology guided many of the major PRI initiatives and continues to dominate the political discourse in Mexico. Source: Augustín Víctor Casasola
The Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) was founded by Plutarco Elias Calles. Calles became president after Obregón was assassinated (1928). (Historians differ on whether this was a Calles plot.) The PRI resolved the problem of sucession which had plagued Mexico since the foundation of the Republic. Sucession was determined by the dedazo (the big finger)--the outgoing president appointing the PRI candidate. And that candidate through the power of the PRI machine and varying degrees of voter fraud always won the election. It was hardly democratic, but brought stability. The gratest of the PRI president was General Lazaro Cardenas (1934-40). Cardenas instituted many major reforms, including widespread land reform, strengthened unions, and nationalized the largely foreign-owned petroleum industry. These reforms are highly regarded in Mexico. They did bring a degree of social justice. They did not, however, result in economic development. Mexico remained a Third World country with endemic levels of poverty. The reasons for Mexico's economic failure is complicated and not fully understood. Coruption flowing from one-party rule as well as an emphasis on state corportations that proved both inefficent and ineffective account for some of Mexico's economic failure, but it is a much more complex question. The land reform resulted in the Ejido system. This did prevent the loss of land by Native American groups, it did not result in a more productive agricultural system. And without this Mexici did not geneate the capital needed for development. Organized labor was strengthened, but became dominated by the PRI. The nationalization of the oil industry took it out of the hands of foreigners, but mismanagement and corruption by a state corporation disipated its benefit to the nation. In addition, nationalization discouraged foreign investment. Other factors are the lack of the rule of law and continuing support for Socialist, big-government sollutions. While the PRI brought stability, even its supporters can not claim that it succeeded in establishing a modern econommy providing a decent living to the Mexican people. This failure has meant that millions of Mexicans have crossed the border to seek decent paying jobs in the United States. The PRI governed Mexico with a thin veneer of democracy and law for 80 years. The middle class did expand during the PRI-era and increasingly they as well as dusatisfied working-class Mexicans began to demand real elections. The government violently suppressed a left-wing student protest in Mexico city (1968). Security forces killed hundreds of protestors, the actual number is unknown. New problems including Central Amerirican migrants and the illegal drug trade have brought new problems. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has brought economic gains, but has promted both nativist opposition (Native American guerillas in Chiapa) and left-wing criticism. The country was shocked by the assasination of PRI candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio (1994). A further shock came during the vote counting. When it became apparent that the PRI candidate had lost, the PRI simply turned off the electricity on the TV coverage. When the lights had returned the computers had been reset and PRI candidate Ernesto Zedillo had won. The country was so outraged that the PRI could not commit eldectiral fraud on the same scale. President Zedillo vowed to change Mexican politics and kept his commitment. The result was the defeat of the PRI and the election of Vicente Fox (2000).
The Mexican Revolution was the first of the great peasant revoluions of the 20th Century. The participants were men who were determined to remake Mexico into a modern, prosperous country. Some were men who wanyed to retain the older order. Most were men with different visions about a new Mexico.
An estimated million Mexicans died in the battles and disorders that accompanied the monumental battles of the Revolution. Most of course were not politically sophisticated. The Revolution began before the Russian Revolution (1917). Thus the participants had no idea where Communism would lead in the 20th century.
The PRI was established nearly a decade after the last great battles of the Revolution. The occassion for its creation was the assasination of the last great figure of the Revolution--Álvaro Obregón. As a result, the PRI has to be viewed as a creatutre of the Revolution. The success or failure of the Revolution is thus essentially the accomplishments orv lack of accomplishments of the PRI.
Plutarco Elias Calles: Foundation
Plutarco Calles was a Sonoran and long-time ally of President Obregón. He had followed Obregón's term (1920-24). Calles during his first term (1924-28) sparked the Cristeros rebellion. Obregón was then reelected for a second, non-cosecutive term (1928). Calles became president again after Obregón was assassinated (1928). (Historians differ on whether this was a Calles plot.) Calles founded the National Revolutionary Party. This was the predecessor of the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) that began ruleing Mexico as a one-party state. The PRI resolved the problem of sucession which had plagued Mexico since the foundation of the Republic. Sucession was determined by the dedazo (the big finger)--the outgoing president appointing the PRI candidate. And that candidate through the power of the PRI machine and varying degrees of voter fraud always won the election. It was hardly democratic, but brought stability. Calles did not run for reelecyion, but he essentially controlled Mexico by playing a central role in selecting Mexico's next three presidents.
There are many times that Christians have been persecuted, of course with birth of the early Church in the Roman Empire. They have been persecuted both in countries where Christians were once a majority (Europe and the Americas) and in countries where they were a minority (Asia and the Middle East). The major example in Latin America was in Mexico with the Cristeros War (1926-29). A major theme in Latin America history is the competition between secular liberals and Catholic conservatives. The most extreme episode in this political and cultural conflict was the Mexican Cristeros War., actually more of a rebellion than a war. It coincided with the even more intense Soviet Atheist Campaign. Such atheist campaigns are a common feature of totalitarian societies. The current Mexican Constitution was adopted in the final tears of the Revolution--the same year the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia (1917). The Constitution had strong socialist leanings, explaining why Mexico made so little economic progress for so many years. It also had anti-clerical provisions. They included prohibitions on the clergy teaching primary school, open public worship, church property, clerical standing in legal matters, and monastic orders. Article 27 granted the state the power of expropriate which the Mexican Government used to seize the property of the Church. A reaction to the PRI's anti-clericalism was the Cristeros War. There is no exact accounting, but some 100,000 people were killed and many more displaced. Priests were executed and there were the forced renunciation of orders. The number of priests in Medico fell by 90 percent. Nuns were rapped or subjected to various forms of public v humiliation. The Catholic Church was so appalled that 26 martyrs of the rebellion were made saints and 14 more were beatified. This resulted in the first wave of Mexican immigrants to the United States. The Cristeros War is often neglected by Mexican and American historians because it does not project the narrative the mostly left-wing authors like to tell, but it was undeniably a major event in modern Mexican history.
General Lázaro Cárdenas: Major Reforms (1934-40)
The gratest of the PRI president was General Lazaro Cardenas (1934-40). Cardenas ended+ Calles hold on Mexico. He set in motion a 6-year plan to modernize the country. Cardenas instituted many major reforms, including widespread land reform, strengthened unions, and nationalized the largely foreign-owned petroleum industry. These reforms are highly regarded in Mexico. Cardenas distributed more land than did all of his predecessors combined. He began a major effort to built rural schools. He nationalized the country's expanding petroleum industry.
Manuel Ávila Camacho (1940-46)
Manuel Ávila Camacho served as President of Mexico (1940-46). He was a Army geberal wo served surung the Mexiucan Revolution. Like most other PRI presidents, he was personally choses by the previous president, Gen. Manuel Ávila Camacho
-- the dedazo. Unusually for Mexico, thee was some opposition wih the eldctiion results. He had been Chief of Cárdenas' General Staff during the Mexican Revolution and after. He was called affectionately by Mexicans, 'The Gentleman President' (El Presidente Caballero). Although appointed by Cardenas, he made major changes in both donestic and foreign policy. As president, he pursued polices aimed at national 'unity, adjustment, and moderation' [Cline, p. 153.] Ávila finally ended the series of military presidents, lading to the transition from military to civilian leadership, he ended the confrontational policies with the Church. He also ended the drive toward ocialist education. He was President duriung most of World War II. And he reversed his predecesor's confrontational poilicy toward the United Stares. Even before Pearl Harbor, he moved to create a policy of moderation and cooperation with the United States. [Camp, p. 244.] As a result, Mexico became a major supplier of critical raw material includung oil. In return, Mexico became elifible for Lend Lasee assust and received cinsuderabke economic aid leadung to the Mexican Economic Moracle.
Miguel Aleman Valdes (1946-52)
Miguel Aleman Valdes was president was another important PRI president (1946-52). He initiated a massive public-works program. The projects included irrigation schemes in the arid northwest as well as hydroelectric power in the south.
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-70)
President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz was president when the Olympics were held in Mexico City (1968). This was not a good year for represive regimes to host an international media event. Czech students stood up to the Soviets. American students escalated protests against the Vietnam War, unseating a sitting president. And Parisian students rioted forcing major reforms in France. Students in Mexico City decided to use the international press attention associated with the Olympics to publicize the need for political reform. The PRI could control the Mexican press, it could not control the internatinal press. The Olympics were preceded by months of political unrest. The students were demanding more political freedom and and end to the repressive use of police force.
President Diaz Ordaz decided to end the students protests which he found enbarassing. The Olympics were susposed to show case Mexico's emergence as a modern country. Thanks to the students, it was bringing to light that the PRI was a represive one-party state maintained by a represive police force. Students througout Mexico began strikes at their univesities (July). The President personally ordered the Army to occupy the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the country's largest and most prestigious university (September). The Army entered UNAM in force. Students were arrested and many were beaten. UNAM Rector Javier Barros Sierra resigned in protest (September 23). Student protestors were not deterred by the Government's use of force. In fact the Army's occupation of UNAM seems to have only stimulated more protests. The student protests reached a climax in Mexico City. Following 9-weeks of strikes, students from all over Mexico converged on the capital. An estimated 15,000 students from different universities marched through the streets carrying red carnations to protest occupation of UNAM (October 2). That night many of the students alonfg with workers and their family converged on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco. This is the very heart of the capital and it was here the Aztecs made their final stand against the Spanish led by Hernan Cortes (1521). Historians believe that 40,000 Aztecs died in the desperate fight. It was here that the Aztec Empire ended and modern Mexico was born. The size of the student-worker assemblage is not known with any certainty. Some estimate about 5,000 people. There were speaches and chants, including "ˇNo queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! ("We don't want Olympic games, we want revolution!"). Notice that this was the popular chant and not "ˇNo queremos olimpiadas, queremos eleciones!" The military and police began to position forces around Tlatelolco. They moved against the demostrators at sunset and shoot began. It is unclear who orderd this. The Government claims that provocatours among the demonstrators began shooting. The death toll remains highly controversial. Views are heavily influenced by political orientation. Leftists estimate the deaths in the thousands. Most sources report 200-300 deaths. The Government at the time reported only four deaths.
Luis Echeverria Alvarez (1970-76)
Luis Echeverria Alvarez in many ways oversaw a regime sinaled the eventusal end of one-party rule in Mexico. The Echeverria regime was forced to devalue the peso after nearly 25 years of parity with the United States dollar. Millions of Mexicans lost a substantial part of their savings. This caused many Mexicans to begin to ask questions about the PRI. It was clear to many that the PRI was failing.
Jose Lopez Portillo (1976-82)
Lopez Portillo oversaw the frentic economic expansion resulting from the oil boom. Increasing oil prices for a time masked Mexico's severe economic problems. Even more important were dollar remitences from Mexicans illegally entering the United States and sending their earmings home.
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (1982-88)
President de la Madrid inherited an economy that had to adjust to a rapid decrease in international oil prices and the huge foreign debts contracted during the oil boom. Another peso devaluation and seized dollar acounts. This convinced many Mexicans, especially the growing middle-cl;ass that political change was needed.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-94)
PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected president in a campaign marred by charges of widespread voter fraud. This was not new in Mexico. The PRI had instituionalized voter fraud to ensure that its candidates were elected. What was new was that the Mexican press began to report what the PRI ws doing and the PRI allowed them to do so. Many Mexicans were outraged at the press reports. Another highly visible problem and growing problem in Mexico was pollution. The problem was especially severe in Mexico City, a huge city in Mecico's Central Valley. The mountains surromnding the city hemmed in the pollution and it was adversely affecting the health of the city residentrs. President Salinas ordered the closing of the City's largest government-operated petroleum refinery to reduce the air-pollution crisis (1991). The huge refinery was replaced by public parks and green spaces.
Assessment
The Cardenas Reforms did bring a degree of social justice. The Revolution and the PRI reforms did finally destroy the feudal system imposed by the Spanish after the 16th century conquest. The PRI did not, however, suceed in building a modern, productive Mexico, Mexico remained a Third World country with endemic levels of poverty. The reasons for Mexico's economic failure is complicated and not fully understood. oruption flowing from one-party rule as well as an emphasis on state corportations that proved both inefficent and ineffective account for some of Mexico's economic failure, but it is a much more complex question. The land reform resulted in the Ejido system. This did prevent the loss of land by Native American groups, it did not result in a more productive agricultural system. And without this Mexico did not geneate the capital needed for development. Organized labor was strengthened, but became dominated by the PRI. The nationalization of the oil industry took it out of the hands of foreigners, but mismanagement and corruption by a state corporation disipated its benefit to the nation. In addition, nationalization discouraged foreign investment. Other factors are the lack of the rule of law and continuing support for Socialist, big-government solutions. While the PRI brought stability, even its supporters can not claim that it succeeded in establishing a modern econommy providing a decent living to the Mexican people. This failure has meant that millions of Mexicans have crossed the border to seek decent paying jobs in the United States. The PRI governed Mexico with a thin veneer of democracy and law for 80 years. The middle class did expand during the PRI-era and increasingly they as well as dusatisfied working-class Mexicans began to demand real elections. The government violently suppressed a left-wing student protest in Mexico city (1968). Security forces killed hundreds of protestors, the actual number is unknown. New problems including Central Amerirican migrants and the illegal drug trade have brought new problems. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has brought economic gains, but has promted both nativist opposition (Native American guerillas in Chiapa) and left-wing criticism.
Election Shock (1994)
The country was shocked by the assasination of a genuinely popular PRI candidate--Luis Donaldo Colosio (1994). A further shock came during the vote counting. When it became apparent that the PRI candidate had lost, the PRI simply turned off the electricity on the TV coverage. When the lights had returned the computers had been reset and PRI candidate Ernesto Zedillo Ponce had won. The country was so outraged that the PRI could not again commit electoral fraud on the same scale. President Zedillo vowed to change Mexican politics and kept his commitment. Zedillo and the the country's principal opposition parties signed a landmark agreement instituting political reform (July 1996). The pact eliminated the PRI's control of the election process, especially ballot counting. It also limited campaign spending. To implement the agreement, 17 new amendments were added to Mexico's constitution. The result was the first free elections in Mexico since the establishment of the PRI. Voter fraud was not eliminated, but itwas severely comtained.
Free Elections (1997-2000)
The first free elections were Congressional elections. The PRI lost control of the lower house (July 1997). Thids was the first time since the PRI was created that it did not dominate Congress. While the PRI won the largest share of the vote (39 percent). Control of the housse passed to a nominal alliance beteen the two principal opposition parties. The National Action party (PAN) finished second (27 percent) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) finidsh third (26 percent). Political analysts reported that this was one of the freest elections in Mexican history. Especially noteworthy was the landslide victory of PRD leader Cuahtemoc Cardenas Solorzano in the Mexico City mayoral election. Mexico's transition to multi-party democracy was finally capped by the defeat of the PRI and the election of PAN candidate Vicente Fox (2000).
Sources
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture Vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996).
Cline, Howard F. Mexico: Revolution to Evolution: 1940-1960 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963).
