CARRANZA DOCTRINE: CONTEXTS, PRINCIPLES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Carranza doctrine was a series of principles expressed by Mexican President Venustiano Carranza as the basis of his foreign policy. This president held the presidency between 1917 and 1920, just at the end of the Mexican Revolution.

The Mexican Constitution of 1917 included a series of articles that foreign businessmen, especially those from the United States, did not like, as they affected their interests in the country. For this reason, the United States government began to pressure Carranza and even threatened him with armed intervention.

Venustiano Carranza - Source: Harris & Ewing

As early as 1917, Carranza had begun to point out the principles on which foreign policy should revolve. On September 1, 1918, in a speech in Congress, the president outlined the points that constitute his doctrine. In short, it was about the most powerful countries respecting the sovereignty of the rest of the nations.

This doctrine was in direct opposition to the one proclaimed by US President James Monroe in 1823, which included the right of the US to intervene in any country if it considered that its interests were harmed. Carranza, for his part, defended non-intervention in the internal affairs of another nation and the equality of all countries.

Context

When Carranza reached the presidency, Mexico was involved in great instability. Revolutionary leaders, like Carranza himself, fought among themselves, and accusations of betraying the revolution were frequent.

The 1917 Constitution included some of the demands of the revolutionaries. During the Porfiriato, industry and agriculture had passed into foreign hands and the new constitution included measures to reverse this situation.

The foreign businessmen affected turned to their governments to defend their interests. The pressure was very intense, especially from the United States.

Jury of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (1917). Stories and Stories of Mexico

The Benton case

An antecedent of Carranza's thought on non-interventionism can be found in the so-called Benton case.

William S. Benton was a British man living in the state of Chihuahua. Like so many others, he had taken advantage of the laws enacted by Porfirio Díaz to accumulate large grazing lands that belonged to the town of Santa Maria de las Cuevas.

When Pancho Villa became governor of Chihuahua, he asked Benton to leave the country, since he could not guarantee his safety in the face of the claims of his neighbors. Villa and Benton met in February 1914. Villa's version was that the British tried to assassinate him and he ordered his arrest. The ensuing trial sentenced Benton to death.

Pancho Villa. Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-09255

The British government, which recognized the Huerta dictatorship as a legitimate government, accused Villa of having assassinated Benton and requested the United States to attack Mexico militarily.

Given this, Carranza communicated to the US president, Woodrow Wilson, that Great Britain had no right to claim anything from a legitimate government. Much less, he added, to ask a third country to invade it.

American President Woodrow Wilson. Harris & Ewing

American pressure

As noted, US companies with interests in Mexico received the provisions of the new constitution with displeasure.

Articles like the third, which imposed a 10% tax on oil production, or number 27, which established national ownership of wealth, caused foreign governments to begin to pressure President Carranza.

American businessmen launched a campaign against Carranza and his government. Oil companies even petitioned the United States government to attack the country. The Secretary of State even tried to impose a veto right on any economic decision made by Mexico.

Principles of the Carranza Doctrine

Carranza's response to all these pressures was specified in his speech before the Mexican Congress on September 1, 1918. It was then that he unraveled the principles that gave rise to the doctrine that bears his name.

In general terms, the Carranza Doctrine establishes that diplomacy should not be used to defend personal interests or to pressure less powerful countries. Likewise, the president defended the legal equality of the States and the rejection of the Monroe Doctrine.

Cartoon of the US press mocking the Carranza doctrine. Source: The US National Archives

Main points

- The doctrine establishes that all countries are equal in law. For this reason, it is mandatory to respect its institutions, sovereignty and laws. As a result, the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations must be respected.

- For Carranza, all those who reside in a country, whether nationals or not, must be equal before the sovereignty of that State. For this reason, no one should expect special consideration from the rest of the inhabitants.

- All states must legislate in a similar way so that there are no differences for reasons of nationality, with the exception of the exercise of sovereignty.

- The work of diplomacy is to ensure the general interests, as well as to try to ensure that all countries maintain good relations. This implies that it should not be used to protect private interests or to force less powerful countries to submit to the wishes of the powers.

Declaration of Carranza

At the end of his speech, Venustiano Carranza spoke a few words that can serve as a summary of his doctrine. In them he refers to the First World War, which was at an end:

"Today Mexico harbors the hope that the conclusion of the war will be the beginning of a new era for humanity And that the day when the interests of individuals are not the motive for international politics, a great number of causes of violence will disappear. war and conflicts between peoples… "

Consequences

The Carranza doctrine remained the principle of action for Mexico in its foreign policy. One of the best examples of its application occurred in 1961, when Colombia convened an OAS meeting to discuss Cuba.

Mexico decided to act on that occasion according to the Carranza doctrine, for which reason it rejected any type of action against Cuba. Despite the fact that the United States threatened sanctions, the Mexican government behaved according to the principle of non-intervention.

Other countries

When Venustiano Carranza enunciated the principles of his doctrine, he expected them to be adopted by other nations, especially by Latin America.

However, even though his doctrine was widely applauded, the actual application has been quite questionable. For several decades, the UN itself maintained the policy of non-intervention, but in the 1990s it began to support military interventions in specific cases, such as in the former Yugoslavia.

References

1. Serrano Migallón, Fernando. The Carranza Doctrine. Retrieved from inep.org
2. Carmona Dávila, Doralicia. The Carranza Doctrine. Obtained from memoriapoliticademexico.org
3. Serrano Álvarez, Pablo. One hundred years after the Carranza Doctrine. Obtained from relatosehistorias.mx
4. Sánchez Andrés, Agustín. The Carranza Doctrine and the beginning of the process of normalization of foreign relations in post-revolutionary Mexico, 1915-1919. Recovered from bagn.archivos.gob.mx
5. The Harvard Crimson. Mexico and the Monroe Doctrine. Retrieved from thecrimson.com
6. The biography. Biography of Venustiano Carranza. Retrieved from thebiography.us
7. McDonough, James F. Oil crisis in Mexico: The Carranza years. Retrieved from scholarworks.umt.edu