Lázaro Cárdenas
Encyclopedia
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (May 21, 1895 – October 19, 1970) was President
of Mexico
from 1934 to 1940.
, Michoacán
. He supported his family (including his mother and seven younger siblings) from age 16 after the death of his father. By the age of 18 he had worked as a tax collector, a printer's devil
, and a jailkeeper. Although he left school at the age of eleven, he used every opportunity to educate himself and read widely throughout his life, especially works of history.
Cárdenas set his sights on becoming a teacher, but was drawn into politics and the military during the Mexican Revolution
after Victoriano Huerta
overthrew President Francisco Madero. He backed Plutarco Elías Calles
, and after Calles became president, Cárdenas became governor of Michoacán in 1928. During his four years as governor, Cárdenas initiated a modest redistribution of land at the state level, encouraged the growth of peasant and labour organisations, and made improvements to education at a time when it was neglected by the federal government. Cardenas ensured that teachers were paid on time, made personal inspections of many classrooms, and opened a hundred new rural schools. His grassroots style of governing was such that during his time as governor, Cárdenas made important policy decisions based on direct information received from the public rather than on the advice of his confidants.
, in 1932. Instead they selected Cárdenas to be the ruling party's presidential candidate, and Calles went along with it, thinking he could control him as he had the previous two. This however, was not so. Cárdenas's first move once he took office late in 1934 was to have his presidential salary cut in half. Even more surprising moves would follow. After establishing himself in the presidency, Cardenas and the Mexican Congress turned on Calles and condemned his continued war-like persecution of the Catholic Church. In 1936, Cárdenas had Calles and twenty of his corrupt associates arrested and deported to the United States, a decision that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the majority of the Mexican public. During the course of his presidency, Cardenas became known for his progressive program of building roads and schools and promoting education, With twice as much federal money allocated to rural education than all his predecessors combined), land reform and social security.
During his time in office, Cárdenas openly sought the National Revolutionary Party's six-year plan of social and political reform. The plan called for 1) restoration of the system of ejidos (common lands) through a strong agrarian program to combat the domination of the large haciendas; 2) modern secular schools that would teach rationalist doctrines and combat the "fanaticism" of the Church; 3) workers' cooperatives to oppose the excesses of industrial capitalism. Cárdenas subsequently decreed the end of the use of capital punishment (in Mexico, usually in the form of a firing squad). Capital punishment has been banned in Mexico since that time. The control of the republic by Cárdenas and the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) predecessor Partido de la Revolución Mexicana without widespread bloodshed effectively signalled the end of rebellions that began with the 1910 Mexican Revolution
. Despite the fact that Cardenas enforced a policy of socialist education, relations with the church also improved greatly during his time in office.
Cárdenas was perhaps the only Mexican President
who never employed armored cars
or bodyguard
s to protect himself. In the presidential campaign of 1934, he travelled through much of the republic that was not accessible by train, by auto and horseback, accompanied only by a chauffeur
and an aide-de-camp
. This fearlessness generated widespread respect for Cárdenas by the electorate. He became the first occupant of the current official presidential residence of Los Pinos
, and converted the previous residence, the ostentatious viceregal and Mexican imperial palace, Chapultepec Castle
, into the National Museum of History.
Russian exile Leon Trotsky
was welcomed into Mexico by Cárdenas, reportedly to counter accusations that Cárdenas was a Stalinist
. Cárdenas, like his 1920s predecessor Álvaro Obregón
, understood that left wing and labor union support was critical to maintain control of the republic. The bloated and corrupt CROM
union of Luis Morones
was marginalized as Cárdenas promoted the "purified" Confederation of Mexican Workers of socialist Vicente Lombardo Toledano
. The CTM and Toledano in turn supported Cárdenas' deportation of ex-President Calles. Cárdenas was not as left-wing as Leon Trotsky and other socialists would wish, but still Trotsky described the Cárdenas's government as the only honest government in the world.
Cárdenas sought to actively help the Republican government in the Spanish Civil War
, but those efforts were largely thwarted by the Roosevelt administration. After the war ended with the defeat of the loyalist Republicans, Cárdenas gave specific instructions to his ambassador and envoys in Europe to give safe haven and protection to all exiles, including President Manuel Azaña
, actively sought for deportation by the Spanish fascist government and by French collaborationist authorities. Azaña died in France under Mexican diplomatic protection, but Cárdenas was able to bring to Mexico tens of thousands of refugees, among them distinguished intellectuals who left a lasting imprint in Mexican cultural life. But not only intellectuals were granted asylum in Mexico: from the 4,559 passengers who arrive to Mexico in 1939 on board the ships Sinaia, "Ipanema and Mexique, for example, the largest groups were formed by technicians and qualified workers (32%), farmers and ranchers (20%), along with professionals, technicians, workers, business people students and merchants – this last group representing 43% of the total.
Cárdenas is considered by many historians to be the creator of a political system that lasted in Mexico until the end of the 1980s. Central to this project was the organization of corporatist structures for trade unions, campesino (peasant
) organizations, and middle-class professionals and office workers within the reorganized ruling party, now renamed the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM). During Cárdenas's presidency, the government expropriated
, enacted a great deal of the land reform Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata
envisioned and redistributed 45 million acres (182,108.7 km²) of hacienda
land to peasants, and urban and industrial workers gained unprecedented unionization rights and wage increases. The railway Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
was nationalized in 1938 and put under a "workers administration." However, Cárdenas and subsequent presidents also used the PRM and its successor, the Institutional Revolutionary Party
or PRI, to maintain political control; leaders of the worker and campesino organizations delivered votes and suppressed protests in exchange for personal favors and concessions to their constituencies.
At first, the oil nationalization policy earned Cardenas great respect among Mexicans and in many other Latin America countries. In later years, however, Cardenas' oil policy proved to be unpopular. Vincente Lombardo Toledano took advantage of Cardenas' unpopularity and organized pro-Communist militias. This move by Lombardo would lead to the rise of ring-wing militias lead by General Juan Andreu
as well.
In the elections of 1940, Cárdenas, with hopes of preventing another uprising in the country, surprised people and endorsed the PRM nominee Manuel Ávila
, a moderate conservative who he hoped would also salvage some of his liberal policies and act as a compromise candidate between liberals and conservatives in the country, against Ávila's opponent, Juan Andreu
, but insisted on open debate and free elections. The elections, however, did not follow the pattern Cárdenas wished. The campaign was peppered with violent incidents and, on election day, the opposing parties hijacked numerous polling places and each issued their own "election results." After "official" results declared Ávila as winner, Andreu threatened revolt and then attempted to set up a parallel government and congress. Nevertheless, Ávila crushed Almazan's forces and assumed office. His inauguration was attended by US Vice President-elect Henry A. Wallace
, who was appointed by the US as a "special representative with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary" for Mexico.
, and which made Mexico the world's second-largest oil producer by 1921, supplying approximately 20 percent of domestic demand in the United States.
Cárdenas's efforts to negotiate with Mexican Eagle
, in the managerial control of Royal Dutch/Shell
, and Standard Oil of New Jersey
were unavailing, and the companies rejected a solution proposed by a presidential commission. So at 9:45 pm on the evening of March 18, 1938, Cárdenas nationalized Mexico's petroleum reserves and expropriated the equipment of the foreign oil companies in Mexico. The announcement inspired a spontaneous six-hour parade in Mexico City
; it was followed by a national fund-raising campaign to compensate the companies.
Even though compensation for the expropriated assets was included in this legislation, the act angered the international business community and vexed foreign governments, especially the United Kingdom. The government was more worried about the lack of the technical knowledge required to run the refineries. Before leaving, the oil companies had made sure they did not leave behind anything of help to the Mexican government, hoping to force Cárdenas to accept their conditions. Although Mexico was eventually able to restart the oilfields and refineries, production did not rise to pre-takover levels until WW2, during which technical advisers were sent by the United States as part of the over-all Allied war effort.
The British severed diplomatic relations with Cárdenas's government, and Mexican oil and other goods were boycott
ed, despite an international ruling in favor of Mexico's government. However, with the outbreak of World War II, oil became a highly sought-after commodity. Mexico began to export oil to Nazi Germany
and Fascist Italy
.
Throughout Latin America, Franklin Roosevelt's “Good Neighbor Policy
” was necessary at such a delicate time, and in the case of the Mexico, ultimately led to the Douglas-Weichers Agreement in June 1941 that secured Mexican oil only for the United States, and the Global Settlement in November 1941 that ended oil company demands on generous terms for the Mexicans, a rare example of the U.S. putting national security concerns over fairness for American oil companies. Mexican Eagle
and Royal Dutch/Shell held out longer and received a better deal after the conclusion of the war.
The company that Cárdenas founded, Petróleos Mexicanos (or Pemex
), would later be a model for other nations seeking greater control over their own oil and natural gas resources and, 70 years later, it remains the most important source of income for the country, despite weakening finances. Seeing the need to assure the technical expertise needed to run it, Cárdenas founded the National Polytechnic Institute
.
It is often said that Lázaro Cárdenas was the only president associated with PRI
who did not use the office to make himself wealthy. He retired to a modest home by Lake Pátzcuaro
and worked the rest of his life supervising irrigation projects and promoting free medical clinics and education for the nation's poor. He also continued to speak out about international political issues and in favor of greater democracy and human rights in Latin America and elsewhere. For example, he was one of the participants in the Russell Tribunal
for investigating crimes of war in Vietnam.
Lázaro Cárdenas died of cancer in Mexico City on October 19, 1970 (at the age of 75). His son Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
and his grandson Lázaro Cárdenas Batel
have been prominent Mexican politicians.
In his honor, his name was given to a number of cities, towns, and a municipality in Mexico; including Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
, the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo
and other smaller communities. There are also many streets that have been named after him, including the Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico City, and highways in Guadalajara
, Monterrey
and Mexicali
. Šetalište Lazaro Kardenasa (Lázaro Cárdenas promenade) in Belgrade
, Serbia is also named after him. There is also a street in Barcelona, Spain, and a monument in a park in Madrid dedicated to his memory, in recognition of his role in admitting defeated Spanish Republicans in Mexico after the Civil War in that country.
Lázaro Cárdenas was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1955, which was later renamed for Lenin as part of de-Stalinization
.
. Toward the end of his Presidency, unhappy landowners and foreign capitalists began to challenge his programs and his power.
Cárdenas's party, the PRI, continued in power until 2000. This is attributed by some to electoral fraud and coercion. This legacy led his son, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
, to form the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) to contest the 1988 presidential election. Since that year, the PRD has become one of the three major parties in Mexico, gaining working class support that was previously enjoyed by the PRI.
In his Political Testament, written the year before his death and published posthumously, he acknowledged that his regime had failed to make the changes in political distribution and corruptness that were the basis for his presidency and the revolution. He expressed his dismay in the fact that some people and groups were making themselves rich to the detriment of the mainly poor majority. It was said about Cárdenas at his eulogy that, “he was the greatest figure produced by the revolution… an authentic revolutionary who aspired to the greatness of his country, not personal aggrandizement.”
Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay
patterned his people–oriented government on the principles which he found in the 1952 edition of the biography of past President Lázaro Cárdenas, which was written by William Cameron Townsend
, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators
and the Summer Institute of Linguistics
(SIL International).
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
from 1934 to 1940.
Early life
Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of JiquilpanJiquilpan
Jiquilpan is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán...
, Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. He supported his family (including his mother and seven younger siblings) from age 16 after the death of his father. By the age of 18 he had worked as a tax collector, a printer's devil
Printer's devil
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
, and a jailkeeper. Although he left school at the age of eleven, he used every opportunity to educate himself and read widely throughout his life, especially works of history.
Cárdenas set his sights on becoming a teacher, but was drawn into politics and the military during the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
after Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
overthrew President Francisco Madero. He backed Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles was a Mexican general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler from 1928–1935, a period known as the maximato...
, and after Calles became president, Cárdenas became governor of Michoacán in 1928. During his four years as governor, Cárdenas initiated a modest redistribution of land at the state level, encouraged the growth of peasant and labour organisations, and made improvements to education at a time when it was neglected by the federal government. Cardenas ensured that teachers were paid on time, made personal inspections of many classrooms, and opened a hundred new rural schools. His grassroots style of governing was such that during his time as governor, Cárdenas made important policy decisions based on direct information received from the public rather than on the advice of his confidants.
Presidential career
Calles continued to dominate Mexico after his presidency with administrations that were his puppets. After having two of his hand-picked men put into the position, the PNR balked at his first choice, Manuel Pérez TreviñoManuel Pérez Treviño
General Manuel Pérez Treviño was a Mexican politician and was an important military and political leader during and after the Mexican Revolution....
, in 1932. Instead they selected Cárdenas to be the ruling party's presidential candidate, and Calles went along with it, thinking he could control him as he had the previous two. This however, was not so. Cárdenas's first move once he took office late in 1934 was to have his presidential salary cut in half. Even more surprising moves would follow. After establishing himself in the presidency, Cardenas and the Mexican Congress turned on Calles and condemned his continued war-like persecution of the Catholic Church. In 1936, Cárdenas had Calles and twenty of his corrupt associates arrested and deported to the United States, a decision that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the majority of the Mexican public. During the course of his presidency, Cardenas became known for his progressive program of building roads and schools and promoting education, With twice as much federal money allocated to rural education than all his predecessors combined), land reform and social security.
During his time in office, Cárdenas openly sought the National Revolutionary Party's six-year plan of social and political reform. The plan called for 1) restoration of the system of ejidos (common lands) through a strong agrarian program to combat the domination of the large haciendas; 2) modern secular schools that would teach rationalist doctrines and combat the "fanaticism" of the Church; 3) workers' cooperatives to oppose the excesses of industrial capitalism. Cárdenas subsequently decreed the end of the use of capital punishment (in Mexico, usually in the form of a firing squad). Capital punishment has been banned in Mexico since that time. The control of the republic by Cárdenas and the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) predecessor Partido de la Revolución Mexicana without widespread bloodshed effectively signalled the end of rebellions that began with the 1910 Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
. Despite the fact that Cardenas enforced a policy of socialist education, relations with the church also improved greatly during his time in office.
Cárdenas was perhaps the only Mexican President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
who never employed armored cars
Armored car (VIP)
A civilian armored car is a security vehicle which made by replacing the windows of a standard vehicle with bulletproof glass and inserting layers of armor plate into the body panels...
or bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s to protect himself. In the presidential campaign of 1934, he travelled through much of the republic that was not accessible by train, by auto and horseback, accompanied only by a chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
and an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
. This fearlessness generated widespread respect for Cárdenas by the electorate. He became the first occupant of the current official presidential residence of Los Pinos
Los Pinos
Los Pinos is the official residence and office of the President of Mexico. Located in the Bosque de Chapultepec in central Mexico City, it became the presidential seat in 1934, when Gen...
, and converted the previous residence, the ostentatious viceregal and Mexican imperial palace, Chapultepec Castle
Castillo de Chapultepec
Chapultepec Castle is located on top of Chapultepec Hill. The name Chapultepec stems from the Náhuatl word chapoltepēc which means "at the grasshopper's hill". It is located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters above sea level...
, into the National Museum of History.
Russian exile Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
was welcomed into Mexico by Cárdenas, reportedly to counter accusations that Cárdenas was a Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. Cárdenas, like his 1920s predecessor Álvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón
General Álvaro Obregón Salido was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term....
, understood that left wing and labor union support was critical to maintain control of the republic. The bloated and corrupt CROM
Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers
The Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana is a federation of labor unions in Mexico....
union of Luis Morones
Luis Napoleón Morones
Luis Napoleón Morones was a Mexican union boss who served as secretary general of the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers and as secretary of economy under President Plutarco Elías Calles....
was marginalized as Cárdenas promoted the "purified" Confederation of Mexican Workers of socialist Vicente Lombardo Toledano
Vicente Lombardo Toledano
Vicente Lombardo Toledano was one of the foremost Mexican labor leaders of the 20th century. He founded the Confederation of Mexican Workers , the national labor federation most closely associated with the ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party , for most of the last sixty-five years...
. The CTM and Toledano in turn supported Cárdenas' deportation of ex-President Calles. Cárdenas was not as left-wing as Leon Trotsky and other socialists would wish, but still Trotsky described the Cárdenas's government as the only honest government in the world.
Cárdenas sought to actively help the Republican government in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, but those efforts were largely thwarted by the Roosevelt administration. After the war ended with the defeat of the loyalist Republicans, Cárdenas gave specific instructions to his ambassador and envoys in Europe to give safe haven and protection to all exiles, including President Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz was a Spanish politician. He was the first Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic , and later served again as Prime Minister , and then as the second and last President of the Republic . The Spanish Civil War broke out while he was President...
, actively sought for deportation by the Spanish fascist government and by French collaborationist authorities. Azaña died in France under Mexican diplomatic protection, but Cárdenas was able to bring to Mexico tens of thousands of refugees, among them distinguished intellectuals who left a lasting imprint in Mexican cultural life. But not only intellectuals were granted asylum in Mexico: from the 4,559 passengers who arrive to Mexico in 1939 on board the ships Sinaia, "Ipanema and Mexique, for example, the largest groups were formed by technicians and qualified workers (32%), farmers and ranchers (20%), along with professionals, technicians, workers, business people students and merchants – this last group representing 43% of the total.
Cárdenas is considered by many historians to be the creator of a political system that lasted in Mexico until the end of the 1980s. Central to this project was the organization of corporatist structures for trade unions, campesino (peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
) organizations, and middle-class professionals and office workers within the reorganized ruling party, now renamed the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM). During Cárdenas's presidency, the government expropriated
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
, enacted a great deal of the land reform Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
envisioned and redistributed 45 million acres (182,108.7 km²) of hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
land to peasants, and urban and industrial workers gained unprecedented unionization rights and wage increases. The railway Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 a major railroad controlled by the government that linked Mexico City to the major cities of Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border...
was nationalized in 1938 and put under a "workers administration." However, Cárdenas and subsequent presidents also used the PRM and its successor, the Institutional Revolutionary Party
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
or PRI, to maintain political control; leaders of the worker and campesino organizations delivered votes and suppressed protests in exchange for personal favors and concessions to their constituencies.
At first, the oil nationalization policy earned Cardenas great respect among Mexicans and in many other Latin America countries. In later years, however, Cardenas' oil policy proved to be unpopular. Vincente Lombardo Toledano took advantage of Cardenas' unpopularity and organized pro-Communist militias. This move by Lombardo would lead to the rise of ring-wing militias lead by General Juan Andreu
Juan Andreu Almazán
General Officer Juan Andreu Almazán was a Mexican revolutionary soldier, politician, and businessman.-Early life:Juan Andreu Almazán was born on May 12, 1891 in the municipality of Olinalá in the State of Guerrero...
as well.
In the elections of 1940, Cárdenas, with hopes of preventing another uprising in the country, surprised people and endorsed the PRM nominee Manuel Ávila
Manuel Ávila Camacho
Manuel Ávila Camacho served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946.Manuel Ávila was born in the city of Teziutlán, a small town in Puebla, to middle-class parents, Manuel Ávila Castillo and Eufrosina Camacho Bello. He had several siblings, among them sister María Jovita Ávila Camacho and...
, a moderate conservative who he hoped would also salvage some of his liberal policies and act as a compromise candidate between liberals and conservatives in the country, against Ávila's opponent, Juan Andreu
Juan Andreu Almazán
General Officer Juan Andreu Almazán was a Mexican revolutionary soldier, politician, and businessman.-Early life:Juan Andreu Almazán was born on May 12, 1891 in the municipality of Olinalá in the State of Guerrero...
, but insisted on open debate and free elections. The elections, however, did not follow the pattern Cárdenas wished. The campaign was peppered with violent incidents and, on election day, the opposing parties hijacked numerous polling places and each issued their own "election results." After "official" results declared Ávila as winner, Andreu threatened revolt and then attempted to set up a parallel government and congress. Nevertheless, Ávila crushed Almazan's forces and assumed office. His inauguration was attended by US Vice President-elect Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
, who was appointed by the US as a "special representative with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary" for Mexico.
Oil expropriation
Also central to Cárdenas's project were nationalistic economic policies involving Mexico's vast oil production, which had soared following strikes in 1910 in the area known as the "Golden Lane," near TampicoTampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
, and which made Mexico the world's second-largest oil producer by 1921, supplying approximately 20 percent of domestic demand in the United States.
Cárdenas's efforts to negotiate with Mexican Eagle
Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Compañía Mexicana de Petróleo El Aguila SA, , called in English the Mexican Eagle Oil Company or Mexican Eagle Petroleum Corporation, was a Mexican oil company in the 20th century.-History:Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart...
, in the managerial control of Royal Dutch/Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, and Standard Oil of New Jersey
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
were unavailing, and the companies rejected a solution proposed by a presidential commission. So at 9:45 pm on the evening of March 18, 1938, Cárdenas nationalized Mexico's petroleum reserves and expropriated the equipment of the foreign oil companies in Mexico. The announcement inspired a spontaneous six-hour parade in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
; it was followed by a national fund-raising campaign to compensate the companies.
Even though compensation for the expropriated assets was included in this legislation, the act angered the international business community and vexed foreign governments, especially the United Kingdom. The government was more worried about the lack of the technical knowledge required to run the refineries. Before leaving, the oil companies had made sure they did not leave behind anything of help to the Mexican government, hoping to force Cárdenas to accept their conditions. Although Mexico was eventually able to restart the oilfields and refineries, production did not rise to pre-takover levels until WW2, during which technical advisers were sent by the United States as part of the over-all Allied war effort.
The British severed diplomatic relations with Cárdenas's government, and Mexican oil and other goods were boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ed, despite an international ruling in favor of Mexico's government. However, with the outbreak of World War II, oil became a highly sought-after commodity. Mexico began to export oil to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy
Fascist Italy
"Fascist Italy" refers to Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism. The Fascists led two polities:*The Kingdom of Italy , under the National Fascist Party, and,...
.
Throughout Latin America, Franklin Roosevelt's “Good Neighbor Policy
Good Neighbor policy
The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America...
” was necessary at such a delicate time, and in the case of the Mexico, ultimately led to the Douglas-Weichers Agreement in June 1941 that secured Mexican oil only for the United States, and the Global Settlement in November 1941 that ended oil company demands on generous terms for the Mexicans, a rare example of the U.S. putting national security concerns over fairness for American oil companies. Mexican Eagle
Mexican Eagle
Mexican Eagle can refer to:*Golden Eagle, a type of eagle*Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company, a former Mexican oil company...
and Royal Dutch/Shell held out longer and received a better deal after the conclusion of the war.
The company that Cárdenas founded, Petróleos Mexicanos (or Pemex
Pemex
Petróleos Mexicanos or Pemex is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. As of 2010, with a total asset worth of $415.75 billion, it is the second non-publicly listed largest company in the world by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009...
), would later be a model for other nations seeking greater control over their own oil and natural gas resources and, 70 years later, it remains the most important source of income for the country, despite weakening finances. Seeing the need to assure the technical expertise needed to run it, Cárdenas founded the National Polytechnic Institute
National Polytechnic Institute
The National Polytechnic Institute colloquially known as the Polytechnic is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 153.027 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels...
.
Post presidential career
After his presidential term, Cárdenas served as Mexico's secretary of defense until 1945.It is often said that Lázaro Cárdenas was the only president associated with PRI
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
who did not use the office to make himself wealthy. He retired to a modest home by Lake Pátzcuaro
Lake Pátzcuaro
Lake Pátzcuaro is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.The natives believe that the lake is the place where the barrier between life and death is the thinnest....
and worked the rest of his life supervising irrigation projects and promoting free medical clinics and education for the nation's poor. He also continued to speak out about international political issues and in favor of greater democracy and human rights in Latin America and elsewhere. For example, he was one of the participants in the Russell Tribunal
Russell Tribunal
The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal or Russell-Sartre Tribunal, was a public body organized by British philosopher Bertrand Russell and hosted by French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre...
for investigating crimes of war in Vietnam.
Lázaro Cárdenas died of cancer in Mexico City on October 19, 1970 (at the age of 75). His son Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
and his grandson Lázaro Cárdenas Batel
Lázaro Cárdenas Batel
Lázaro Cárdenas Batel is a Mexican politician. He served as governor of Michoacán from 2002 to 2008), representing the Party of the Democratic Revolution...
have been prominent Mexican politicians.
In his honor, his name was given to a number of cities, towns, and a municipality in Mexico; including Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Lázaro Cárdenas is a port city that with its surrounding municipality is located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, a Michoacán-born politician who was president of Mexico from...
, the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo
Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo
Lázaro Cárdenas is one of the ten municipalities that make up the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Its municipal seat is the town of Kantunilkín, which was founded on 10 October 1859...
and other smaller communities. There are also many streets that have been named after him, including the Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico City, and highways in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
and Mexicali
Mexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
. Šetalište Lazaro Kardenasa (Lázaro Cárdenas promenade) in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia is also named after him. There is also a street in Barcelona, Spain, and a monument in a park in Madrid dedicated to his memory, in recognition of his role in admitting defeated Spanish Republicans in Mexico after the Civil War in that country.
Lázaro Cárdenas was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1955, which was later renamed for Lenin as part of de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
.
Legacy
President Cárdenas and his administration are given credit by socialists for expanding the distribution of land to the peasants, establishing new welfare programs for the poor, nationalizing the railroad and petroleum industries, including the oil company that Cárdenas founded, Petróleos MexicanosPemex
Petróleos Mexicanos or Pemex is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. As of 2010, with a total asset worth of $415.75 billion, it is the second non-publicly listed largest company in the world by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009...
. Toward the end of his Presidency, unhappy landowners and foreign capitalists began to challenge his programs and his power.
Cárdenas's party, the PRI, continued in power until 2000. This is attributed by some to electoral fraud and coercion. This legacy led his son, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
, to form the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) to contest the 1988 presidential election. Since that year, the PRD has become one of the three major parties in Mexico, gaining working class support that was previously enjoyed by the PRI.
In his Political Testament, written the year before his death and published posthumously, he acknowledged that his regime had failed to make the changes in political distribution and corruptness that were the basis for his presidency and the revolution. He expressed his dismay in the fact that some people and groups were making themselves rich to the detriment of the mainly poor majority. It was said about Cárdenas at his eulogy that, “he was the greatest figure produced by the revolution… an authentic revolutionary who aspired to the greatness of his country, not personal aggrandizement.”
Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay
Ramon Magsaysay
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...
patterned his people–oriented government on the principles which he found in the 1952 edition of the biography of past President Lázaro Cárdenas, which was written by William Cameron Townsend
William Cameron Townsend
William Cameron Townsend was a prominent American Christian missionary whose ministry began in the early twentieth century...
, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Wycliffe Bible Translators is an interdenominational organization mandated to making a translation of the Bible in every living language in the world, especially for cultures with little existing Christian influence. Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend and is associated with...
and the Summer Institute of Linguistics
SIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
(SIL International).