We explain what Cardenismo was, its historical context and what its economy was like. Also, what are its characteristics and agrarian reform.
Lázaro Cárdenas was president of Mexico between 1934 and 1940.
What was Cardenismo?
Cardenism is known as period of Mexican history in which the republic was presided over 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 “cardenato.”
Lázaro Cárdenas became president as candidate of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), predecessor of the Party of the Mexican Revolution (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 Cardenas government He was famous for measures such as the distribution of land to peasant sectors and the nationalization of the oil industry, as well as the reception of numerous Spanish exiles fleeing the Civil War.
The Six-Year Plan
The Six-Year Plan was the electoral and government platform of the National Revolutionary Partyheaded by Lázaro Cárdenas. It proposed a series of social and economic reforms that distanced themselves from the policies of the Maximato (that is, the period between 1928 and 1934 in which there were three presidents who governed under the influence of Plutarco Elías Calles, nicknamed “supreme leader of the Revolution”).
The Six-Year Plan presented a vindication of some of the principles of the Mexican Revolution that had been neglected in recent years. Formulated a project for boosting agricultural, industrial and urban growth of Mexico during a period of government (a six-year term, that is, six years).
To this end, he proposed an agrarian reform, greater State intervention in the economy, the nationalization of industries and oil exploitation, credit policies for farmers, support for union reorganization and the promotion of public education.
Historical context of cardenism
At the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico experienced a particularly turbulent period. In 1910 it began a revolutionary process, known as the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)which put an end to the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Díaz (the “Porfiriato”) and lasted for ten years.
This decade of insurrections and civil war was so important that radically changed politics and various aspects of the Mexican economy and society. Some of the revolutionary leaders went on to occupy government positions, sometimes even the presidency, while others took up arms against the established governments.
In 1917, the Mexican Constitution of 1917 was proclaimed, which promoted the expropriation and division of large estates and enshrined labor rights. Although these principles sought to satisfy the demands of peasants and workers, political conflicts persisted and the measures implemented were far from solving the problems of land distribution.
Between 1928 and 1934, Mexico was governed by three presidents who acted under the influence of Plutarco Elías Calles, who founded the National Revolutionary Party in 1929. In 1933, the party formulated the Sexennial Plan, which proposed the recovery of some principles of the Mexican Revolution and became the government platform of Lázaro Cárdenas, who became president in 1934.
Who was Lazaro Cardenas del Rio?
Cárdenas retired from public office but continued to exert political influence.
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was born in Michoacán, Mexico, on May 21, 1895. He was a military man and statesman who participated in the Mexican Revolution under the command of Martín Castrejón and Guillermo García Aragón. He later participated in the Agua Prieta Rebellion that overthrew Venustiano Carranza in 1920, and achieved the rank of general at just 25 years old.
He held various public offices, 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 became president of the republic in December 1934, a position he held until November 1940.
After completing his presidential term, He served as Secretary of Defense (1942-1945) and, later, he retired from public service, although for a time he continued to exercise 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 from cancer on October 19, 1970.
The economy of Cardenism
During the Cardenismo, various foreign companies were nationalized.
Cardenismo 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 period. In this sense, it promoted state intervention in the economy.
During the Cardenista government Various foreign companies were nationalized, especially oil companies and railways. In addition, the Agrarian Law was modified, roads were expanded and credit for the productive sectors was increased. This caused a significant increase in public spending.
Also a reorganization of the unions was promoted through the creation of the Confederation of Mexican Workers, which implied greater government control over union activity. However, the level of state spending and the international boycott due to oil expropriation caused economic difficulties that became noticeable at the end of Cárdenas’ term.
The nationalization of oil
One of the most radical measures of Cardenismo was the nationalization of the oil industry in 1938, which Until then it had been in the hands of foreign private companies.especially Americans and British.
After the oil companies refused to increase the salaries of their workers, Cárdenas signed the nationalization decree, protected by the 1917 Constitution, which recognized state ownership of resources. This caused international tensionsespecially with Great Britain, and several countries promoted a boycott of the Mexican economy: they stopped buying silver and demanded immediate compensation for the expropriated companies.
With the nationalization Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was createda state company dedicated to the production, transportation, refining and marketing of hydrocarbons that continues to exist today.
Despite international discontent, the advent of World War II caused the US government maintained a cooperative relationship with MexicoThe intention was to preserve access to oil and prevent the opposition sectors to the Cárdenas government that seemed to be close to Nazism and fascism from gaining a foothold in Mexico.
Agrarian reform
The Cárdenas government distributed 18 million hectares among the farmers.
Mexican agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century still had the imprint 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 land, which was partially addressed 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 previous years.
The distribution of arable land, some of it expropriated from foreign landowners, reached the figure of 18 million hectares during the Cardenismowhich benefited approximately one million farmers.
The distributed lands were organized mainly in the form of ejidos, that is, small productive units that belonged to communities peasants but they could not be sold. Although these ejidos did not become 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 an agrarian movement known as “The Assault on the Lands” in northern Baja California, which sought to seize land from the large 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 peasants who had benefited from the distribution of land.
- He founded rural schools that offered children and young people the knowledge necessary to form productive agricultural centers.
Education under Cardenism
A secular education was aimed at, focused on the agricultural sector and national industry.
The Cárdenas government implemented a secular 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 that was at once technical, scientific and humanistic. Its focus was on the defense of the proletariat and the role of the agricultural sector and national industry as engines of economic growth.
As part of this educational policy, the Cardenista government founded rural schools, created the National Polytechnic Institute and distributed books with approaches related to their political and social ideology.
The legacy of Cardenism
Cardenismo was a model that sought to satisfy popular demands.
Cardenismo was characterized by being a government supported, to a large extent, by the working and peasant masses. The distribution of land during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas was the largest in the history of Mexico and his nationalization policy had a significant economic impact, although at the end of his term the economy went through serious difficulties.
One of Cárdenas’ legacies was the creation of the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM), successor of the National Revolutionary Party and which integrated military, worker and peasant sectors. Later, this party became the current Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Among the reproaches that have been made to Cardenismo is the difference between the model of a self-sufficient, prosperous and modern nation 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 earned him many detractors.
The Cardenista Party
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