ESTRADA DOCTRINE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT, ESTABLISHMENT, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Estrada Doctrine is the fundamental rule that has governed Mexican foreign policy since the 30s of the 20th century. Established by Genaro Estrada, Secretary of Foreign Relations of the country, it establishes that no country should rule on the legitimacy of a foreign government.

Mexico had experienced recognition problems from the moment of its independence, in 1821. During its history, numerous governments had arisen from revolutions, coups d'état or insurrections, which had caused them not always to obtain official recognition from other nations.

Genaro Estrada - Source: sinaloaarchivohistorico, via Wikimedia Commons

This situation was repeated after the Mexican Revolution, when the insurgents managed to overthrow the government of Porfirio Díaz. Mainly, problems had always arisen with the United States, which was always opposed to recognizing governments that could promote progressive policies contrary to its interests.

From the establishment of the Doctrine, Mexico did not interfere in internal situations in other countries, with the exceptions, for example, of the non-recognition of the government that emerged after the Pinochet coup in Chile. To this day, although in recent decades it seemed to have been forgotten, the Estrada Doctrine is still in force.

Historic context

The history of Mexico, since its constitution as an independent country in 1821, had been characterized by the formation of governments that emerged from revolts, revolutions and / or counterrevolutions. Having not been elected by legal means, these governments found many problems to be recognized by foreign powers.

In most cases, a great deal of diplomatic effort was required to achieve recognition. In addition, the powers took advantage of the need for legitimacy of the new authorities to achieve economic and political advantages.

Tobar Doctrine

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ecuadorian foreign minister Carlos R. Tobar had proposed a doctrine to the rest of the Latin American governments. Thus, in 1907, he proposed that those arising from revolutionary uprisings should not be recognized as legitimate governments.

Mexican Revolution

The governments that emerged from the Mexican Revolution suffered from the problems of having to seek official recognition from other countries. During those years it was common for each government change to send diplomatic missions to seek recognition, especially to the United States.

Furthermore, the situation was aggravated by the US interventionist attitude. Her embassy in Mexico took part in some insurrections against the revolutionary governments.

One of the best known examples was that led by Huerta against President Francisco Madero and his Vice President. Both ended up being murdered.

Constitution of 1917

The 1917 Constitution, promulgated under the presidency of Venustiano Carranza, exacerbated the problem. The Magna Carta collected the end of many of the economic privileges that other countries had had in Mexico. The country that was most affected was the USA.

This provoked a reaction from the Americans. His government refused to recognize the Mexican government if it did not repeal the articles that affected its interests.

Establishment of the Estrada Doctrine

The Estrada Doctrine was published on September 27, 1930. Its name comes from the Secretary of Foreign Relations during the presidency of Pascual Ortiz, Genaro Estrada. The rule was made known through a public statement.

As its main contribution, the Estrada Doctrine established that no government needed the recognition of other countries to assume its own sovereignty. From that statement, there was an absolute rejection of any type of foreign intervention in the affairs of the government of another country.

Fundamentals

The foundations that supported the Estrada Doctrine were the principle of non-intervention and the right of self-determination of the peoples. Thus, it supported a closed concept of national sovereignty, since it established that no foreign government should judge the governmental changes that occurred in other nations.

The experts summarize the fundamental principles of the Estrada Doctrine in five different points: self-determination, non-intervention, right of political asylum, recognition of de facto governments and condemnation of wars of aggression.

The statement with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the doctrine public indicated the following:

"The government of Mexico does not grant recognition because it considers that this practice is degrading, since in addition to hurting the sovereignty of other nations, it places them in the event that their internal affairs can be qualified in any sense by other governments"

Likewise, he explained what the Mexican behavior would be from that moment on:

"The Mexican government only limits itself to maintaining or withdrawing, when it deems appropriate, its diplomatic agents, without hastily qualifying, or a posteriori, the right of nations to accept, maintain or replace their governments or authorities."

U.S

Although the communiqué was very general, most historians point out that the doctrine was primarily addressed to the United States, whose international policy was very interventionist. Thus, it had already denied recognition to some governments, especially those that emerged from revolutionary processes.

The United States had established its own doctrine of international relations in the 19th century. It was known as the Monroe Doctrine, the name of the president who promulgated it. Through this, the United States promoted the non-intervention of the European powers in America, while strengthening its privileged position.

The Monroe Doctrine is summed up in the well-known maxim "America for the Americans." Experts point out that when Monroe spoke of Americans, he was only referring to Americans.

Consequences

As mentioned above, the Estrada Doctrine was promulgated on September 27, 1930. Estrada did not choose the date at random, since it was the anniversary of the consummation of the country's independence.

Mexico soon began to spread its position on the practice of international recognition. One of the clearest examples was when she rejected the expulsion of Cuba from the Organization of American States. The driving force behind this expulsion attempt was the United States, moved by the rejection of the Cuban revolution.

70's

The decade during which Mexico used the Estrada Doctrine the most was that of the 70s of the 20th century. As a general rule, the country only reacted to changes of government by withdrawing or maintaining its embassies.

Historians affirm that the last time it was applied uninterruptedly was during the government of Vicente Fox. The reason was the coup against the government of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, in April 2002.

The first time the Estrada Doctrine was set aside was in 2009. In June, there was a coup in Honduras and Felipe Calderón, Mexican president, supported the ousted government.

Despite this, in theory the Estrada Doctrine remains in force as the central rule of Mexican foreign policy.

References

1. López Betancourt, Eduardo. Estrada Doctrine. Obtained from lajornadaguerrero.com.mx
2. Definition ABC. Definition of Doctrine Estrada. Obtained from definicionabc.com
3. Guzmán, Andrea. What is the Estrada doctrine and the principle of non-intervention. Obtained from culturacolectiva.com
4. Irwin Law. Estrada doctrine. Retrieved from irwinlaw.com
5. Revolvy. Estrada Doctrine. Retrieved from revolvy.com
6. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Estrada Doctrine. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
7. Walls, Martin. Estrada Doctrine. Retrieved from elp.net