ADOLFO LÓPEZ MATEOS: BIOGRAPHY AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT - HISTORY - 2025

Adolfo López Mateos (1908-1969) was a Mexican professor, lawyer and politician for the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) who reached the presidential chair of his country in 1957 to assume the position for the presidential period of 1958-1964. In addition to his occupations, he is remembered for being an excellent speaker, a lover of literature and other artistic manifestations, in addition to boxing.

The contributions of Adolfo López Mateos as the fifty-third president of the Republic of the United Mexican States were, among others, the creation of the ISSSTE, the construction of educational and cultural spaces for the country, the modernization of communication routes or the establishment of the "Christmas bonus" for workers.

He also highlights the national economic growth during his term of government, the nationalization of the electric power company, the election of Mexico for the XIX Olympic Games, the reintegration of Chamizal into the Mexican territory and the signing of the Pact of Tlatelolco.

Biography

Adolfo López Mateos was born in the Atizapán de Zaragoza municipality, located in central Mexico. There is no true birth certificate, as a consequence, there are two versions in relation to his date of birth, which indicate different data.

One version indicates that he was born on May 26, 1909. This information appears in some personal documents of López Mateos, such as the marriage certificate and his registration as a candidate for the presidency on behalf of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

The second version establishes the date of birth of López Mateos in 1910. This information was given by his sister Esperanza, so it is generally considered the true option.

Family

His mother's name was Elena Mateos y Vega, who dedicated herself to teaching. Elena's father was the cadillo José Perfecto Mateos, who participated in the war against the intervention of France and obtained a decoration for her work in the conflict.

His father was Mariano Gerardo López y Sánchez Roman, born in Tlaltenanco, in Zacatecas. He was a dentist specialized in surgeries, who died shortly after Adolfo was born.

They both lived in Mexico City and used to go on vacation to Atizapán de Zaragoza. While there, Elena felt the symptoms of the state of labor and gave birth to Adolfo.

Spanish father

There is another version of Adolfo's origins that indicates that his father was not Mariano López and Sánchez Roman, but was born after his death (in 1904) and that his real father was Gonzalo de Murga y Suinaga, a Spanish businessman.

There are no certified documents that indicate this consanguineous relationship, there is only a personal letter giving this information, as well as other records that confirm that Gonzalo and Elena had a relationship.

This diatribe about his origin was very important for Mexico, since the legislation of that country stipulates that a person must have both Mexican parents as his origin in order to be eligible for the presidency of the nation.

When the fact that López Mateos was the son of a Spanish citizen was discovered, it was concluded that he was illegally president.

In any case, Adolfo was the last of five siblings who were orphaned by the father figure at an early age. After Adolfo's birth, the family settled in Mexico City.

Studies

When Adolfo was five years old, he received a scholarship from the Dondé Foundation and thanks to it he began studying at the French School. This institution was highly appreciated by Adolfo throughout his life, he even vividly remembered what his school directors and teachers were called.

While he was studying at this school, he dedicated himself to work as an office assistant and messenger, and later traveled to Toluca, where he continued training, this time in secondary school. This training was carried out at the Scientific and Literary Institute in 1927.

In his high school days, Adolfo worked as a librarian and led several student protests when José Vasconcelos was running for the presidency of Mexico. These demonstrations were in favor of this politician.

López Mateos was an active student, since he also dedicated himself to writing for the student newspaper Impetu. In addition, he also taught Ibero-American literature and world history at the Normal School of Teachers of Toluca, when he had not yet graduated.

In 1929 Pascual Ortiz Rubio, a candidate opposed to José Vasconcelos, won the elections. Fearing reprisals, López Mateos traveled to Guatemala, where he stayed for a short time.

Later, López Mateos continued his training at the National School of Jurisprudence, where he entered in 1930. From this institution he graduated in 1934 as a lawyer. Parallel to this, López Mateos showed interest in boxing, even practicing this sport.

Laboral life

The first job that López Mateos had was in the Public Ministry in Tlanepantla, where he worked as an agent. Very soon he left this job because he was elected as a representative of the Socialist Labor Party in the Antirelectionist Convention of Aguas Calientes.

In 1931 he was a speaker in the presidential campaign of Miguel Alemán Valdez. In addition, he was the personal secretary of the president of the National Revolutionary Party, Carlos Riva Palacios; López Mateos got this job after giving a speech to Riva Palacios while he was at the Toluca Institute.

In 1937 López Mateos married Eva Sámano Bishop, who would later become the first lady of Mexico and as such had an activity positively recognized by the Mexican community.

Political performance

Starting in 1940, Adolfo López Mateos held various positions in the political sphere. In that year he was in charge of leading the Popular Publishing Office, and the following year, in 1941, he began to serve as general secretary of the Extracurricular and Aesthetic Education Directorate of the Public Education Secretariat. He was there until 1943.

While fulfilling these obligations, in 1942 he was a senator before Congress representing the State of Mexico; Furthermore, he was also a member of the Editorial Board of Ruta magazine.

In 1951 López Mateos was secretary general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and coordinated the presidential campaign of candidate Adolfo Ruiz Cortines. When Ruiz Cortines won the victory, he appointed López Mateos as the leader of the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevention.

López Mateos' work also covered the international arena, since this politician came to represent the Mexican nation in the United Nations Economic Social Council.

Presidency

Adolfo López Mateos obtained the presidency of Mexico, and took office specifically on December 1, 1958.

The most relevant aspect of his government is that the areas of services and industry experienced significant growth, which had a positive influence on the country's economic environment.

For this development, the López Mateos government used internal capital and the participation of foreign investors, who intervened with large sums of money.

Under his mandate, the electric power companies had a greater number of shares owned by the State. In addition, there was a reform in the Constitution of the Republic thanks to which both minorities and party deputies could participate in the Congress of the Union.

Education

In the educational field, López Mateos advocated the creation of institutions such as the National Institute for the Protection of Children and the Corn and Wheat Research Center, among other organizations.

A primary element of his management was that textbooks were delivered free of charge to primary schools; in this way, education was being promoted in the most disadvantaged sectors. Likewise, there was an increase in the number of school breakfasts, which also contributed to greater inclusion.

Workers

Adolfo López Mateos was a promoter of the setting of minimum wages, determining the guidelines to be taken into account for it.

In addition, his policy followed the line of land distribution in favor of those who worked in the fields.

Repression

In the López Mateos period, the State Workers' Social Security and Services Institute was created. Despite all the social demands, the López Mateos government also carried out repressive actions.

For example, railroad strikes at one time were considered illegal by the government, and in this context various abuses were perpetrated: railroad facilities were taken over by the army, thousands of people were fired and people were imprisoned. leaders of the demonstrations.

Likewise, at this time in general there was a very marked persecution of political figures with a left tendency. For example, the states of Guerrero and Morelos were among the most intense focuses, where even a political leader, the peasant Rubén Jaramillo, was assassinated and Genaro Vásquez, leader of the protest, was imprisoned.

Similarly, both David Alfaro Siqueiros (painter) and Filomeno Mata (journalist) were imprisoned during López Mateos' period.

At international level

The government of Adolfo López Mateos was firmly dedicated to building relationships with other countries that were favorable to Mexico.

In addition, it carried out important actions, such as promoting the signing of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, a document through which the prohibition of nuclear weapons in that area was achieved.

University City of Toluca

This project by López Mateos deserves a separate mention, since it involved the construction of the Faculty of Medicine, the Preparatory School, the General Hospital and other areas dedicated to sports. All these constructions were erected on twelve hectares of land.

The University City of Toluca was inaugurated by López Mateos on November 5, 1964, the year in which his term of government ended.

Death

Adolfo López Mateos died in Mexico City on November 22, 1969. His death was very strong for his family members, given that he suffered from an illness that left him unconscious for 2 years.

In the center of the University City promoted by him, a monument was erected in his honor, which began to be built in the months after his death.

Contributions of Adolfo López Mateos

In the following list we describe the most important public policies of Adolfo López Mateos during his presidential regency.

Created the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE)

One of the first steps taken by López Mateos was the creation of the Social Security and Services Institute for State Workers in 1959.

This government organization continues to this day and is responsible for providing social benefits such as health care, old age, disability, job risks and death to workers or bureaucrats of the federal government.

On December 7, 1959, López Mateos sent a legislative proposal to the Congress of the Union to transform the General Directorate of Civil Retirement Pensions, a branch of the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers.

This was created in 1925 and only granted pension and disqualification assistance, although it was extended in 1947 to death, orphanhood and widowhood.

This measure favored 300 thousand public servants and their families in 1960 (Carrillo Castro, 2017, p. 1)

He built educational and cultural spaces for the country

Adolfo López Mateos was fond of literature, sculpture, artistic works, paintings and music. If they had not been involved in politics, letters would have built their favorite occupation (Economía, 2017).

López Mateos ordered the construction of the National Museum of Anthropology between 1963 and 1964 and it was inaugurated on December 17 of the last year in question. For the same year, the Tepotzotlán Convent was also inaugurated, which today houses the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.

Continuing with his policy of institutionalizing culture, López Matos inaugurates the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of the City. All in 1964.

The National Commission for Free Textbooks (CONALITEG) created it on February 12, 1959 and until today it is in charge of producing and distributing free textbooks required by students enrolled in the National Educational System (Commission National Free Textbook, 2017).

Other institutions opened by him were the International Corn and Wheat Research Center, the National Institute for Child Protection (INPI), the ISSSTE Hospital Center and the Zacatenco Professional University.

Modernized the infrastructure of communication routes

In addition to the policy of institutionalization of culture, Adolfo López Matos directed the modernization of land, air and wire communication routes such as airports, some streets, the telegraph, telephone networks and the railroad that runs from the North Pacific of the country to the pacific coast.

The improvement of the communication channels also contributed to the economic growth that the nation experienced during his mandate and which we will talk about later.

Established the "Christmas bonus" for workers

In the company of the ISSTE initiative, what would become the Federal Law of Workers at the service of the State was accepted, regulating section B to article 123 that sought to equalize the rights of public workers at the constitutional level.

In this section, a special payment is established every December, the value of which is calculated based on the days worked (Presidents of Mexico, 2017) and which was called “Christmas bonus”.

Economic growth of the country during his presidential term

The two main focuses of its economic policy were the maintenance of monetary stability and the maintenance of prices.

With the help of his Secretary of the Treasury, Antonio Ortiz Mena, he achieves favorable economic indicators such as the exchange rate, the trade balance, inflation and the unemployment rate.

For the first objective, that of monetary stability, made some fiscal adjustments to maintain foreign investment and attract more to the country and promoted tourism.

The most favored economic sectors of his management were the industrial (petrochemical, automotive, paper and mechanical) which grew 51% (Economy, 2017) and capital service.

In the second measure, that of price maintenance, he took care of keeping the 2.2% annual inflation under control (Coparrán Ferrer, 2017), a very good macroeconomic index.

Annual economic growth was variable, however, its zenith was reached in 1964 with 12% (Coparrán Ferrer, 2017) and its worst year was 1959 with just 3%.

On average, the growth of the 60s was 8% (Coparrán Ferrer, 2017), so we can say that López Mateos' economic management was the best of the 60s.

On the other hand, he created the Balsas Commission in order to encourage hydrological development in the Balsas region and take advantage of the basin economically. Additionally, he nationalized the electric power company on September 27, 1960.

He persuaded the International Olympic Committee for Mexico to host the XIX Olympics

Due to the economic growth that Mexico had experienced since 1940 and the advance in the construction and modernization of the country's infrastructure, López Matos attacks for the fourth time to nominate his nation as the stage for the Olympic Games.

His persistence and charisma led to Mexico City being chosen as the setting for the XIX Summer Olympic Games that were held from October 12 to 27, 1968.

He made arrangements for the reintegration of Chamizal into Mexican territory

Since 1910, the United States and Mexico signed the 1864 Treaty in which they established the arbitration rules in case the course of the Rio Grande changed and this affected the borders between the two countries.

However, there began to be specific disputes over a neighboring territory of Chamizal called Isla de Córdoba and even with the Treaty of 1864, there were still objections on the part of Mexico.

Finally, on February 14, 1963, the respective ambassadors ratified the arbitration treaty and the United States handed over to Mexico the adjacent area of ​​the Island of Córdoba.

The presidents of the respective nations, Lyndon Johnson and Adolfo López Matos meet to symbolically mark the new border limits.

He lobbied for the signing of the Pact of Tlatelolco

Except for the interruption of diplomatic relations with Guatemala due to the invasion of its airspace on one occasion, López Mateos had a foreign policy of good neighborliness and cooperation.

His neo-institutionalist line and the events of the Cold War determined his decision for an international treaty between the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean to prohibit the development, acquisition, testing and emplacement of nuclear weapons in the region (Tratato de Tlatelolco, 2017).

On February 14, 1967 in Mexico City, the host country and 20 Latin American countries signed the Pact of Tlatelolco, which came into force the following year.

Although the Treaty is signed in the government following López Matos, he is the one who organizes and does all the pertinent lobbying for Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, his successor, to sign it.

References

1. Carrillo Castro, A. (25 of 7 of 2017). ISSSTE: Health and social security for workers in the service of the State. Obtained from Journals of the Institute of Legal Research of the UNAM.
2. CDMX. (25 of 7 of 2017). The Museum in the Chapultepec Forest. Obtained from Museum of Natural History.
3. National Commission for Free Textbooks. (25 of 7 of 2017). What do we do? Obtained from the National Commission for Free Textbooks.
4. Congress of the United Mexican States. (25 of 7 of 2017). Federal Law of Workers at the service of the State, regulating section B of article 123 of the Constitution. Obtained from Organization of Ibero-American States.
5. Coparrán Ferrer, A. (25 of 7 of 2017). Mexican economy, were the sixties better? Obtained from La Gaceta of the University of Guadalajara.
6. Economy. (25 of 7 of 2017). History of the Mexican economy: Adolfo López Mateos. Obtained from Economics, finance and the stock market.
7. Government of Mexico. (25 of 7 of 2017). ISSSTE. Obtained from the Government of Mexico.
8. Museum of Modern Art. (2017, 7 25). History Museum of Modern Art. Recovered from the Museum of Modern Art: museoartemoderno.com.
9. National Museum of the Viceroyalty. (25 of 7 of 2017). Former College of Tepotzotlán History. Obtained from the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.
10. Presidents of Mexico. (25 of 7 of 2017). Adolfo López Mateos. Obtained from Presidents of Mexico: presidentes.mx.
11. Tlatelolco Treaty. (25 of 7 of 2017). Text of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. Obtained from Tlatelolco Treaty: opanal.org.