We explain what cardinals, its historical context was and how its economy was. In addition, what are its characteristics and agrarian reform.
What was Cardinalism?
It is known as cardinals to period of Mexican history in which the Republic was chaired by General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (1895-1970), as well as the ideological current identified with the six years of his government (from 1934 to 1940). Some of his detractors prefer the term “cardinal.”
Lázaro Cárdenas arrived at the presidency as Candidate of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR)predecessor of the Mexican Revolution Party (PRM) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Its electoral and government platform was the six -year plan, which established a series of reforms based on state intervention in the economy.
The Cárdenas government It was famous for measures such as the distribution of land to peasant sectors and the nationalization of the oil industry, as well as for the foster care of numerous Spanish exiles fleeing from the civil war.
See also: History of Mexico
The six -year plan
The six -year plan was The electoral and government platform of the National Revolutionary Partyheaded by Lázaro Cárdenas. Proposed a series of social and economic reforms that were distanced from the policies of the maximato (that is, of the period between 1928 and 1934 in which three presidents that ruled under the influence of Plutarco Elías Calles, nicknamed “Chief Maximum of the Revolution”).
The six -year plan raised a claim of some of the principles of the Mexican revolution that had been disregarded in recent years. Formulated a project for Promote agrarian, industrial and urban growth from Mexico during a period of government (a six -year period, that is, six years).
To this end, proposed an agrarian reform, a greater intervention of the State in the economy, the nationalization of industries and of oil exploitation, credit policies for peasants, support for union reorganization and the promotion of public education.
Historical context of Cardenism
At the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico lived a particularly turbulent period. In 1910 it began A revolutionary process, known as the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)which ended the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Díaz (the “Porfiriato”) and extended over ten years.
This decade of insurrections and civil war was so important that radically changed politics and various aspects of Mexican economy and society. Some of the revolutionary leaders went on to occupy government positions, even sometimes the presidency, while others rose in arms against the constituted governments.
In 1917 the Mexican Constitution of 1917 was proclaimed, which promoted the expropriation and fractionation of estates and consecrated labor rights. Although these principles sought to meet the demands of peasants and workers, political conflicts endured and the measures implemented They distant from solving land distribution problems.
Between 1928 and 1934, Mexico ruled three presidents who acted under the influence of Plutarco Elías Calles, who founded in 1929 the National Revolutionary Party. In 1933, the party made the six -year plan, which raised the recovery of some principles of the Mexican Revolution and became the Government Platform of Lázaro Cárdenas, who reached the presidency in 1934.
Who was Lázaro Cárdenas del Río?
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was born in Michoacán, Mexico, on May 21, 1895. It was A military and statesman who participated in the Mexican Revolution under the command of Martín Castrejón and Guillermo García Aragón. He then participated in the Prieta Agua Rebellion that overthrew Venustiano Carranza in 1920, and reached the general range with just 25 years.
Occupied different public positions, such as Governor of Michoacán (1928-1932)Secretary of the Interior under the presidency of Pascual Ortiz Rubio (1931) and Secretary of War and Navy under the presidency of Abelardo L. Rodríguez (1933). In addition, he was elected president of the National Revolutionary Party (1930-1931). As a candidate of said party, he arrived at the Presidency of the Republic in December 1934, a position he held until November 1940.
After concluding his presidential mandate, He exercised as Secretary of Defense (1942-1945) And, later, he retired from the public function, although for a time he continued to exert political influence. He settled in a modest house near Lake Pátzcuaro, in Michoacán. There he dedicated the rest of his life to social, educational and agricultural work, until his death for cancer on October 19, 1970.
THE ECONOMY OF CARDENISM
Cardinalism was characterized by being a Nationalist government that defended the need for a strong statecapable of satisfying the popular demands that had motivated the armed struggle during the revolutionary era. In this sense, he promoted state intervention in the economy.
During the cardinal government Various foreign companies were nationalizedespecially oil companies and railroads. In addition, the Agrarian Law was modified, the roads were expanded and the credit for the productive sectors was increased. This caused a significant increase in public spending.
Also A reorganization of unions was promoted through the creation of the Confederation of Workers of Mexico, which implied greater government control over trade union activity. However, the level of state spending and the international boycott due to oil expropriation caused economic difficulties that were notorious at the end of the Cárdenas mandate.
Petroleum nationalization
One of the most radical measures of cardinalism was the nationalization in 1938 of the oil industry, which Until then, he had been in the hands of foreign private companiesespecially Americans and British.
After the oil companies refused to increase the salaries of their workers, Cárdenas signed the decree of nationalization, covered by the 1917 Constitution, which recognized the state property of resources. This caused international tensionsespecially with Great Britain, and several countries promoted a boycott to the Mexican economy: they stopped buying money and claimed immediate compensation for expropriated companies.
With nationalization Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was createda state company dedicated to the production, transport, refining and marketing of hydrocarbons that continue to exist today.
Despite the international discontent, the advent of World War II caused The US government had a cooperation relationship with Mexico. The intention was to conserve access to oil and prevent the opposition sectors from the Cárdenas government from becoming strong in Mexico that seemed related to Nazism and fascism.
Agrarian reform
Mexican agriculture of the early twentieth century He still had the footprint of colonial society. The lands were owned by large landowners and the peasants suffered exploitation and poverty.
Peasant demands during the Mexican Revolution They demanded a change in the distribution of the Earthwhich was partially attended by the Constitution of 1917 and the constitutional governments of the following decade. However, the modifications introduced by the Government of Lázaro Cárdenas implied a much greater distribution of land than in the preceding years.
The distribution of arable land, some of them expropriated to foreign landowners, reached the figure of 18 million hectares during cardinalismwhich benefited approximately one million peasants.
The distributed lands were mainly organized in the form of ejidos, that is, small productive units that belonged to communities peasants but could not be sold. Although these ejidos were not economically relevant units until some time later, the standard of living of the peasant class improved.
The Mexican State also took other measures:
- He supported a agrarian movement known as “The assault on the lands”, in the north of Baja California, which sought to take the lands of the estate of an American company.
- He promoted the creation of the National Peasant Confederation, in order to organize the peasants under the influence of the National Revolutionary Party.
- He created the National Ejidal Credit Bank, which granted loans to the peasants who had benefited from the distribution of land.
- He founded rural schools that offered children and young knowledge necessary to form productive agricultural centers.
Education under Cardinalism
The Cárdenas government implemented A lay educational modelwhich sought to instill among peasants and workers the importance of work and productivity for a national economy.
This new educational model, which was called “socialist”, promoted an instruction at the same time technical, scientific and humanistic. His focus was put in the defense of the proletariat and in the role of the agricultural sector and the national industry as engines of economic growth.
As part of this educational policy, the Cardinal Government founded rural schools, created the National Polytechnic Institute and He distributed books with approaches related to your political and social ideology.
The legacy of cardinalism
Cardinalism was characterized by being a sustained government, to a large extent, in the workers and peasant masses. The distribution of land during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas was the largest in the history of Mexico And its nationalizations policy had an important economic impact, although at the end of its mandate the economy went through serious difficulties.
One of Cárdenas’s legacies was The creation of the Mexican Revolution Party (PRM)successor to the National Revolutionary Party and that integrated military sectors, workers and peasants. Subsequently, this party became the current Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Among the reproaches that have been made to cardinalism is the difference between the self -sufficient, prosperous and modern nation model that he advocated and the reality of Mexico when he concluded his mandate, punished by inflation and other economic difficulties. On the other hand, His anticlericalism and socialist preaching added many detractors.
The cardinal party
The National Reconstruction Cardenista Party, or simply a cardinal party, was a political group that existed between 1987 and 1997. He claimed the figure of Lázaro Cárdenas as its intellectual author.
For the 1988 elections, The party adhered to the National Democratic Front and nominated as a candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, son of the former president of the Republic. This was defeated by the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
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References
- Córdoba, A. (1974). The mass policy of Cardenism. Was.
- Delgado de Cantú, GM (2015). History of Mexico. Historical legacy and recent past. Third edition. Pearson.
- Von Wobeser, G. (coord.) (2014). History of Mexico. Economic Culture Fund.
- Government of Mexico (2020). The INEHRM commemorates the 50th anniversary of Lázaro Cárdenas del Río with a forum. Government of Mexico. Release.
- “Lázaro Cárdenas” Alexander, RJ (2022) in Britannica Encyclopedia.
