Cardenas, Lazaro

Cardenas was born on May 21, 1895, came from a poor shopkeeper family, and had only primary education, self-education, when he was an apprentice in the printing house. During the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917, he took part in the struggle against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and was a supporter of Plutarco Calles ; received the rank of general (since 1928 - a division general ).

In 1928, Cardenas was appointed governor of Michoacan , where he proved himself to be an ally of workers and trade union movements. In 1930-1931 he headed the executive committee of the ruling National Revolutionary Party . In 1931 he was appointed Minister of the Interior, and in 1933 - Minister of War. In 1934, with the support of Calles, he became president of Mexico . Having come to power, he expelled from the country its former “shadow ruler” Calles, who mistakenly believed that Cardenas would be his puppet.

After the end of his presidency, Cardenas resigned in 1940 and since 1942 served as Minister of National Defense of Mexico in the cabinet of Avila Camacho . In 1945 he retired. Since the late 1940s, he has been the main figure of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the name of the NPP since 1946).

After leaving politics he led a modest life. In 1961, Cardenas was elected Chairman of the World Peace Council . He was a member of the Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal, founded by Bertrand Russell . He died of cancer on October 19, 1970 .

Laureate of the International Stalin Prize "For the consolidation of peace between peoples" of 1955 .

Cardenas was married to Amalia Solorsano. Their son, Quautemoc Cardenas , also became a famous left-wing politician, he served as the mayor of Mexico City and founded the Revolutionary Democratic Party , one of the leading political forces in the country.

The Cardenas government launched a broad reformist campaign. Agrarian reform was organized. From 1934 to 1940, 18.4 million hectares of land were transferred to community peasants. The share of community members in the agricultural population increased from 15.5% in 1930 to 41.8% in 1940. The share of communities (“ ejido ”) in arable land increased from 13.3% to 47.4%. The quality of land provided to the communities has improved: in 1930, 13.1% of the irrigated territories owned the ejido, and 57.3% in 1940. ^[1] Peasant communities were encouraged where land and equipment were used collectively. However, despite the fact that cooperative-communal forms of management were encouraged, with the involvement of communities in market relations, the stratification of the peasantry intensified ^[2] .

Workers have achieved wage increases, the establishment of a 40-hour week in a number of industries, and the consolidation of the collective bargaining system. With the assistance of Cardenas , the largest trade union center was created in 1936 - the Confederation of Workers of Mexico, which was led by Marxist Vicente Lombardo Toledano during his presidency, after which Fidel Velazquez Sanchez was the unchanged leader of the KTM for five decades since 1941. KTM supported the government in anti-imperialist and agrarian reforms, anti-reaction and anti-fascist policies and in the idea of ​​creating a classless society in the future. The number of members of KTM by 1940 increased from 200 thousand at the time of creation to 1.5 million people ^[3] .

In order to limit the activities of foreign monopolies in October 1936, a law was passed that provided the government with the opportunity to nationalize the property of foreign companies. In 1937, railways were partially nationalized. They were transferred to the management of the workers' administration of the railway workers union ^[4] .

Following the provision of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 that all the bowels of the country belong to the state, Cardenas nationalized the property of foreign oil companies. March 18, 1938 he began the expropriation of their property, which led to an aggravation of relations with the United States and Great Britain ^[5] . Diplomatic relations with Great Britain were severed ^[5] . In the course of nationalization, the state-owned Pemex oil company was created, turning Mexico into the fifth largest oil exporter in the world.

Cardenas took decisive steps to eliminate mass illiteracy, especially among the Indians. The number of schools and technical schools increased, and a working university (National Polytechnic Institute) was created ^[5] .

Cardenas foreign policy was aimed at ensuring national sovereignty. In light of the deterioration in relations with the United States and Great Britain, Mexico has established economic ties with Germany , Italy and Japan . However, she condemned fascism, and after the outbreak of Italian aggression against Ethiopia , an embargo was imposed on trade with Italy ^[6] . Under Cardenas, Mexico provided assistance to the Spanish revolutionaries , and in 1939 a significant number of Spanish Republicans who were defeated took refuge in Mexico. ^{[6] [5]} In 1937, contrary to protests by the Communist Party’s allies, the political exile Leo Trotsky arrived in Mexico at the invitation of Cardenas.

In March 1938, Cardenas and his supporters announced the transformation of the National Revolutionary Party into the Mexican Revolution Party (PMR). The PMR included various public organizations: the Confederation of Workers of Mexico, the National Peasant Confederation, and others. The number of PMR by 1940 totaled 4 million people. The party program envisaged the further development of transformations, including "preparing the people for the establishment of workers' democracy and the establishment of a socialist system." Thus, a popular front was created with the participation of workers , peasants, middle classes, the petty and middle bourgeoisie within the framework of a single mass government party ^[5] .

Cardenas and his supporters sought to prepare the country for socialism . But undermining the positions of landowners and foreign capital created the conditions for the development of local capital. Paternalistic methods of leadership made it easier for the general public to become involved in politics, but they were not ready for independent action. After the expiration of the presidency of Cardenas, he did not find an adequate replacement and the democratic transformation process was suspended, and the initiative passed to the bourgeois-reformist forces ^[7] .

Nevertheless, conditions were provided for accelerating capitalist progress, dependence on foreign capital was weakened, Mexican sovereignty strengthened, and the position of the masses improved ^[7] .

• Cárdenas, Lázaro // Encyclopedia of Latin America / Thomas M. Leonard. - New York: Facts On File, Inc. - T. 4. - ISBN 978-0-8160-7359-7 .
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