Manuel Torres Bueno
Encyclopedia
Manuel Torres Bueno was a Mexican
politician and jefe (leader) of the National Synarchist Union
. He was aged 30 in 1943.
A lawyer by profession, Torres Bueno abandoned his practice in December 1941 to take over as leader of the Union from Salvador Abascal
, who had left to start a sinarquista colony in Baja California
. As leader he sought to define the movement along more moderate lines than his predecessor. Continuing the themes of anti-communism
and opposition to liberal democracy
, Torres Bueno argued that fascism
and Nazism
were equally dangerous to the "Christian Order" that he sought to establish in Mexico. He saw this order, which he also called "Christian democracy
" despite its differences from that concept, as being based on a plot of land for each family that had been afforded legal recognition. His comparatively moderate views, as well as Torres Bueno's desire to consider changing the Union into a political party, saw Abascal leave the movement altogether and he was soon joined by the brothers Jose and Alfonso Truebas Olivares, the movement's two leading ideologues.
Under his leadership the UNS fell into disarray and factionalism, even leading to a public fist fight between Torres Bueno and a rival for power, Carlos Athie, in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
in Mexico City
. A ban was placed on the movement on 23 June 1944 which also ceased publication of their organ El Sinarquista and Torres Bueno attracted criticism for his lack of resistance to this law.
He lost power to Athie in early 1945 and soon broke away, heading up his own dissident splinter group. Later that same year he turned leadership of the faction over to his ally Gildardo González Sánchez. Despite having been replaced as leader Torres Bueno received a single write-in vote in the 1946 Presidential election
. Torres Beuno was also involved in the creation of the Partido Fuerza Popular as a short-lived political arm of the sinarquista movement.
Although Torres Bueno would drift from politics, the split in the UNS remained in place and indeed has continued to date. The Torres Bueno faction fully politicised in the late 1970s as the Mexican Democratic Party
, a group that is now defunct.
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...
politician and jefe (leader) of the National Synarchist Union
National Synarchist Union
The National Synarchist Union is a Mexican political organization. It was historically a movement of the Roman Catholic extreme right, in some ways akin to clerical fascism and falangism, violently opposed to the leftist and secularist policies of the revolutionary governments that ruled Mexico...
. He was aged 30 in 1943.
A lawyer by profession, Torres Bueno abandoned his practice in December 1941 to take over as leader of the Union from Salvador Abascal
Salvador Abascal
Salvador Abascal was a Mexican politician and leading exponent of Mexican synarchism. For a time the leader of the National Synarchist Union , Abascal represented the orthodox Catholic tendency within the movement.-Background:...
, who had left to start a sinarquista colony in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. As leader he sought to define the movement along more moderate lines than his predecessor. Continuing the themes of anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
and opposition to liberal democracy
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
, Torres Bueno argued that fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
were equally dangerous to the "Christian Order" that he sought to establish in Mexico. He saw this order, which he also called "Christian democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
" despite its differences from that concept, as being based on a plot of land for each family that had been afforded legal recognition. His comparatively moderate views, as well as Torres Bueno's desire to consider changing the Union into a political party, saw Abascal leave the movement altogether and he was soon joined by the brothers Jose and Alfonso Truebas Olivares, the movement's two leading ideologues.
Under his leadership the UNS fell into disarray and factionalism, even leading to a public fist fight between Torres Bueno and a rival for power, Carlos Athie, in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic church, minor basilica and National Shrine of Mexico in the north of Mexico City. The shrine was built nearby the place where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin...
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...
. A ban was placed on the movement on 23 June 1944 which also ceased publication of their organ El Sinarquista and Torres Bueno attracted criticism for his lack of resistance to this law.
He lost power to Athie in early 1945 and soon broke away, heading up his own dissident splinter group. Later that same year he turned leadership of the faction over to his ally Gildardo González Sánchez. Despite having been replaced as leader Torres Bueno received a single write-in vote in the 1946 Presidential election
Mexican general election, 1946
General elections were held in Mexico on 7 July 1946. The presidential elections were won by Miguel Alemán Valdés, who received 77.9% of the vote. In the Chamber of Deputies election, the Institutional Revolutionary Party won 141 of the 147 seats.-President:...
. Torres Beuno was also involved in the creation of the Partido Fuerza Popular as a short-lived political arm of the sinarquista movement.
Although Torres Bueno would drift from politics, the split in the UNS remained in place and indeed has continued to date. The Torres Bueno faction fully politicised in the late 1970s as the Mexican Democratic Party
Mexican Democratic Party
The Mexican Democratic Party was an ultra-Catholic social conservative political party in Mexico that existed between 1979 and 1997.-Origins:...
, a group that is now defunct.