CARDENISMO: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, ECONOMY, SOCIETY - HISTORY - 2025

The cardenismo was a political movement associated with the figure of Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas, who ruled the country between 1934 and 1940. That presidency was characterized by reforms in all areas, from the social to the cultural, through political and the economic one.

Lázaro Cárdenas won the support of the Mexican working classes thanks to laws such as land distribution, in addition to offering unions greater participation in the political life of the country. Likewise, the Cardenismo tried to improve the conditions of the indigenous people and legislated to respect their rights.

Lázaro Cárdenas in 1937 - Source: Doralicia Carmona Dávila

Education was another of the priorities of the Cárdenas government. Thus, the educational system became secular, compulsory until the age of fifteen and free. On the other hand, Mexico positioned itself against the fascism that was appearing in Europe and became a host country for many Spanish exiles fleeing the civil war

Cardenismo maintained a nationalist and socialist approach to the economy. His most important measure was the nationalization of the oil industry, something that caused much friction with countries such as the United States or Great Britain.

Origin

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, promoter of cardenismo

The first two decades of the 20th century in Mexico were marked by the Revolution. It was started with the purpose of ending the Porfiriato, the government headed by Porfirio Díaz that had been in power for more than 30 years.

The overthrow of Díaz in 1911 did not lead to stability in the country. In addition to the dictatorship imposed by Huerta, the revolutionary leaders themselves fought among themselves to impose their positions. One of the most important events in this period was the proclamation of the Constitution of 1917.

Historians consider that the revolution ended in 1920, although it was not until four years later that the country began to stabilize. Thus, in 1924, the military Plutarco Elías Calles reached the presidency and did not hesitate to use arms and give the army more power to end political tension.

Plutarco Elías Calles

Currents within the National Revolutionary Party

The National Revolutionary Party (PNR), founded by Plutarco Elías Calles, divided into two internal currents in 1933. One of them was made up of those in favor of continuing with Calles' policies, while in the other there were those who demanded a renewal. This last faction was led by General Lázaro Cárdenas.

The ideas of Cárdenas, which would be the basis of Cardenismo, were based on giving power to civilians and relegating the military. In addition, they had a strong social, workerist and indigenous component.

Finally, Cárdenas managed to prevail within the party. In 1934, he was elected president of Mexico for a six-year term. In this video you can see the protest of Cárdenas as President of Mexico:

Characteristics of cardenismo

Cardenismo promoted a transformation of the PNR to give more representation to the workers and peasants. His intention was, in addition to obtaining the support of this sector, to neutralize the force that the military had traditionally had.

Indigenism

Cardenismo had indigenismo among its ideological principles. Although with a result that did not reach the desired ones, the government tried to improve the living conditions of the Mexican indigenous groups.

To do this, it tried to promote their integration and make technical advances available to them while protecting their culture.

Agrarian division

The great inequality in the distribution of land was one of the great problems in Mexico since its independence. Porfirio, in addition, had elaborated laws that allowed foreigners to seize large estates.

Cardenismo included part of the agrarian tradition of Emiliano Zapata. One of his first measures was to expropriate the estates that were in foreign hands and, from there, carry out a policy of distributing land to the peasants.

Emiliano Zapata

Anti-fascism

Lázaro Cárdenas was categorically against the fascism that was on the rise in Europe. His government condemned the various Nazi invasions, as well as Japanese colonialism in China.

However, his most important gesture was to open the Mexican borders to welcome those Spanish political exiles fleeing from Franco's troops.

Cultural and educational boost

The promotion of culture and education were two of the most important programmatic points of Cardenismo.

Cárdenas came to reform the constitution to make education, which he called socialist, secular and compulsory. Despite the complaints of the Church, control of public education passed to the State.

Nationalizations

The economic ideology of Cardenismo mixed nationalism with some aspects of socialism. Thus, he delved into those expressed by article 27 of the 1817 constitution to declare that the wealth of the subsoil should remain in Mexican hands.

Through this article, the government nationalized the oil industry, with which the State took charge of the entire production and commercial process. In this video you can hear a speech by Cárdenas about the expropriation:

Likewise, it also nationalized the National Railways of Mexico, then in the hands of foreign companies.

Economy

The economic policy of Cardenismo was based on economic nationalism. Its main characteristic was to put the national interest before the private. Legally, this principle had already been expressed in the Constitution of 1917, specifically in article 27.

Agrarian reform

After expropriating the large estates that were in the hands of foreigners, the government undertook a plan to distribute the lands among the peasants. During Cárdenas's mandate, some 20 million hectares were distributed, with the purpose of ending the traditional Mexican agrarian culture based on large estates.

The government founded in 1938 an organism to carry out the distribution: the National Peasant Confederation. Likewise, it also gave economic aid to farm workers.

Nationalization of the railways

Within its nationalist economic policy, the Cardenismo also nationalized the railway network. The situation of the National Railways company was very bad, with a debt that did not stop growing. The devaluation of the peso also made payment increasingly difficult.

Cárdenas's response was to expropriate the participation of foreign capitalists. As of July 23, 1937, the entire network was in the hands of the State.

Nationalization of the oil industry

The most important point of the economic policy of the Cardenas government was, without a doubt, the nationalization of the oil industry.

For quite some time, the union that grouped workers in the sector had demanded payment of their wages and benefits, since the responsible foreign companies owed them a lot of money.

Despite the fact that the courts ruled in favor of the workers, the companies refused to comply with the sentences. In 1937, the president chose to nationalize the entire oil industry.

The reaction of the British and Americans, the countries from which most of the companies that had controlled Mexican oil came, was to threaten the government with blockades and other reprisals. Although World War II allowed the US and Mexico to reach an agreement, with Great Britain it was much more complicated.

Cárdenas, meanwhile, created a state company to take over the exploitation of hydrocarbons: Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Society

Cardenismo got great support in many social sectors, especially among workers of all sectors, as well as indigenous people. The Church, on the other hand, maintained a fairly good relationship, despite the clashes over control of the educational system.

Promotion of education

The educational system that the Cardenismo implanted in the country was called socialist. Among its priorities was to improve the education of the working and peasant classes.

The reform that took place was also intended to end the Church's influence on education. This, in the long run, should mean a great social change in a country as Catholic as Mexico.

The Cárdenas government legislated for education to be free, secular and compulsory until the age of 15. This resulted in a large increase in literacy rates in rural areas.

Another measure that sought to change society based on education was the distribution of books that reflected the ethnic diversity of the country. Until then, only white people had been given attention.

Health

Health was another of the areas of interest of Cardenismo. As in other aspects, the intention was to improve care for the most disadvantaged, for which the government implemented specific programs.

critics

Not all social sectors supported the government's work. In addition to the landowners and the upper classes, there was also some criticism from groups ideologically closer to the president. The main complaint was that the Cardenismo had betrayed the spirit of the Revolution and had implemented a populist policy.

Consequences

Despite the fact that, like all leaders, Cárdenas had his supporters and his detractors, it is generally recognized that he was the only president of the PNR who did not get rich thanks to his position.

When he left the presidency, the promoter of the Cardenismo dedicated himself to promoting new projects and was appointed minister of education and health for a time.

Consequences of the nationalization of oil

When the Mexican government nationalized oil, the reactions of the powers with companies involved in the sector did not wait. Britain promptly broke off diplomatic relations and threatened to blockade the country.

For its part, the United States, despite the first claims, preferred to maintain better relations, as it sought Mexican support in the face of a looming World War II. Once the conflict broke out, the US president preferred to have the oil that Mexico could supply rather than defend the companies harmed by the nationalization.

Cárdenas's decision found great support among the country's population. Not only the supporters of his party joined, but many other normally critical sectors, such as the Catholic Church itself.

Agrarian reform

The land distribution measures did not make the large estates disappear, although they did reduce their importance. When Cardenismo left power, some of the expropriated lands were returned to their former owners.

Available data show that Cárdenas's decision did not cause a reduction in production. In fact, this increased by 50%, while the consumption of national products was increasing little by little.

On the other hand, the commitment to peasant ejidos allowed an improvement in the quality of life in rural areas.

The downside was that Cárdenas's plan to technically train the peasants failed to eliminate the backwardness of rural versus urban areas.

Restructuring of the ruling party

As noted, Lázaro Cárdenas reorganized his party, which was renamed the Party of the Mexican Revolution. In this new structure all kinds of social groups had a place, such as peasants, workers or the military.

The 1940 elections were won by Manuel Ávila Camacho, also from the PRM. However, he preferred to end the Cardenismo and rename his political group again. In this way, the Institutional Revolutionary Party was born, which ruled Mexico for several decades in a row.

Manuel Ávila Camacho and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1960)

References

1. Infogram. Cardenismo and the consolidation of the current Mexican State. Retrieved from infogram.com
2. Anaya Merchant, Luis. Cardenismo in the Mexican Revolution; conflict and competition in a living historiography. Recovered from historiamexicana.colmex.mx
3. Rojas Torres, Rubén C. Cardenismo and socialist education in Mexico. Obtained from lja.mx
4. Alexander, Robert J. Lázaro Cárdenas. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Minster, Christopher. Lázaro Cárdenas del Rio: Mexico's Mr. Clean. Retrieved from thoughtco.com
6. Carmona Dávila, Doralicia. The PNR becomes the Party of the Mexican Revolution. Obtained from memoriapoliticademexico.org
7. Knight, Alan. Cardenismo: Juggernaut or Jalopy ?. Recovered from latinamericanstudies.org
8. US Library of Congress. Cardenismo and the Revolution Rekindled. Recovered from countrystudies.us