Adolfo López Mateos
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Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as
President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...
from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of
José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities ...
during his run for president, López Mateos encountered repression from
Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
, who attempted to maintain hegemony within the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). He briefly abandoned politics and worked as a professor at the
Autonomous University of Mexico State The Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM) (Autonomous University of Mexico State) is a public university in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is the largest university institution in the state with over 84,500 students, with its centra ...
, becoming a member of the PNR (renamed Party of the Mexican Revolution) in 1941. López Mateos served as senator for the
State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
from 1946 to 1952 and Secretary of Labor during the administration of
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines (; 30 December 1889 – 3 December 1973) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, after winning the disputed 1952 elections as the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revoluti ...
from 1952 to 1957. He secured the party's presidential nomination and won in the 1958 general election. Declaring his political philosophy to be "
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...
within the Constitution", López Mateos was the first self-declared left-wing politician to hold the presidency since
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
. His administration created the
Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers The Mexican Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers or Civil Service Social Security and Services Institute ( es, Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado, or ISSSTE) is a federal governmen ...
, the National Commission for Free Textbooks and the
National Museum of Anthropology The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street withi ...
. An advocate of
non-intervention Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...
, he settled the
Chamizal dispute The Chamizal dispute was a border conflict over around on the Mexico–United States border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It was caused by a shift in the Rio Grande, as a survey presented in 1852 marked differences betw ...
with the United States and led the nationalization of the Mexican electrical industry during a period of economic boom and low inflation known as ''Desarrollo Estabilizador''. Despite acts of repression during his administration, such as the arrest of union leaders
Demetrio Vallejo Demetrio Vallejo (1912 – December 24, 1985) was a railroad worker and union activist from Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Vallejo began working as a railroad employee in 1928, later joining the Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM) in 1934. Vallejo was ...
and
Valentín Campa Valentín Campa Salazar (14 February 1904 – 25 November 1999) was a Mexican railway union leader and presidential candidate. Along with Demetrio Vallejo, he was considered one of the leaders of the 1958 railway strikes. Campa was also the ...
, and the murder of peasant leader
Rubén Jaramillo Rubén Jaramillo Méndez (1900 – May 23, 1962) was a Mexican military and political leader of ''campesino'' origin who participated in the Mexican Revolution. After the Revolution, he continued to fight for the land reform promised under the Me ...
by the Mexican Army. Adolfo engaged with a revolutionary named Marcos Ignacio Infante leader of the Zapata Movement (Political ally of John F. Kennedy), shortly before the killing of Jaramillo, Infante would visit the UN Demanding President Adolfo to step down or face a revolution. Infante attacked an Army Post outside of Mexico City, with over 300 men in 1962. Along with Cárdenas and Ruiz Cortines, he is usually ranked as one of the most popular Mexican presidents of the 20th century.


Early life and education

López Mateos was born, according to official records, in Atizapán de Zaragoza – a small town in the
State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
, now called Ciudad López Mateos – to Mariano Gerardo López y Sánchez Roman, a dentist, and Elena Mateos y Vega, a teacher. His family moved to Mexico City upon his father's death when López Mateos was still young. However, there exists a birth certificate and several testimonies archived at
El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Mex ...
that place his birth on 10 September 1909, in
Patzicía Patzicía () is a town, with a population of 21,249 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & tow ...
,
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. In 1929, he graduated from the Scientific and Literary Institute of Toluca, where he was a delegate and student leader of the anti-re-electionist campaign of former Minister of Education
José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities ...
, who ran in opposition to
Pascual Ortiz Rubio Pascual Ortiz Rubio (; 10 March 1877 – 4 November 1963) was a first Mexican President of Mexico from 1930 to 1932. He was one of three Mexican presidents to serve out the six-year term (1928–1934) of assassinated president-elect Álvaro O ...
, handpicked by former President
Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
. Calles had founded the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) in the wake of the assassination of President-elect Alvaro Obregón. After Vasconcelos's defeat, López Mateos attended law school at
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
and shifted his political allegiance to the PNR.


Career


Political career

Early in his career, he served as the private secretary to Col. Filiberto Gómez, the governor of the state of Mexico. In 1934, he became the private secretary of the president of the
Partido Nacional Revolucionario The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, ...
(PNR), Carlos Riva Palacio.Lainé, "Adolfo López Mateos", p. 758. He filled a number of bureaucratic positions until 1941, when he met
Isidro Fabela José Isidro Fabela Alfaro (28 June 1882 – 12 August 1964) was a Mexican judge, politician, professor, writer, publisher, governor of the State of Mexico, diplomat, and delegate to the now defunct League of Nations. Fabela was born in Atla ...
. Fabela helped him into a position as the director of the Literary Institute of
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...
after Fabela resigned the post to join the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
. López Mateos became a senator of the state of Mexico in 1946, while at the same time serving as Secretary General of the PRI. He organized the presidential campaign of PRI candidate
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines (; 30 December 1889 – 3 December 1973) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, after winning the disputed 1952 elections as the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revoluti ...
and was subsequently appointed Secretary of Labor in his new cabinet. He did an exemplary job, and for the first and only time, a Secretary of Labor was tapped to be the PRI's candidate for the presidency. As the candidate for the dominant party with only weak opposition, López Mateos easily won election, serving as president until 1964.


Presidency (1958–1964)

As president of Mexico, along with his predecessor, Ruiz Cortines (1952–1958), López Mateos continued the outline of policies by President Miguel Alemán (1946–1952), who set Mexico's postwar strategy. Alemán favored industrialization and the interests of capital over labor. All three were heirs to the legacy of the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
(1910–1920) but were too young to have participated directly. In the sphere of foreign policy, López Mateos charted a course of independence from the U.S. but cooperated on some issues despite his opposition to the hostile U.S. policy toward the 1959
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...
.


Domestic policy


Labor

López Mateos sought the continuation of industrial growth in Mexico, often characterized as the Mexican Miracle, but it required the cooperation of organized labor. Organized labor was increasingly restive. It was a sector of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and controlled through the
Confederation of Mexican Workers The Confederation of Mexican Workers (''Confederación de Trabajadores de México'' (CTM)) is the largest confederation of labor unions in Mexico. For many years, it was one of the essential pillars of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional ( ...
(CTM), led by
Fidel Velázquez Fidel most commonly refers to: * Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Cuban communist revolutionary and politician * Fidel Ramos (1928–2022), Filipino politician and former president Fidel may also refer to: Other persons * Fidel (given name) Film * ...
. Increasingly, however, unions pushed back against government control and sought gains in wages, working conditions, and more independence from so-called ''charro'' union leaders, who followed government and party dictates. López Mateos had mainly success when he served as his predecessor's Secretary of Labor, but as president, he was faced with major labor unrest. The previous strategy of playing off one labor organization against another, such as the CTM, the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), and the General Union of Workers and Peasants of Mexico (UGOCM), ceased to work. In July 1958, the militant railway workers' union, under the leadership of
Demetrio Vallejo Demetrio Vallejo (1912 – December 24, 1985) was a railroad worker and union activist from Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Vallejo began working as a railroad employee in 1928, later joining the Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM) in 1934. Vallejo was ...
and
Valentín Campa Valentín Campa Salazar (14 February 1904 – 25 November 1999) was a Mexican railway union leader and presidential candidate. Along with Demetrio Vallejo, he was considered one of the leaders of the 1958 railway strikes. Campa was also the ...
, began a series of strikes for better wages, which culminated in a major strike during
Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
1959. The Easter holiday was when many Mexicans traveled by train and so the choice of the date was designed for maximum impact on the general public. López Mateos depended on the forceful cabinet minister
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés ...
to deal with the striking railway workers. The government arrested all of the leaders of the union and filled Lecumberri Penitentiary. Valentín Campa and Demetrio Vallejo were given lengthy prison sentences for violating Article 145 of the Mexican Constitution for the crime of "social dissolution." The article empowered the government to imprison "whomever it decided to consider an enemy of Mexico." Also imprisoned for that crime was the Mexican muralist
David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
, who remained in Lecumberri Penitentiary until the end of López Mateos's presidential term. López Mateos depended on Díaz Ordaz as the enforcer of political and labor peace to allow president to attend to other matters. "Throughout the years of López Mateos, in every situation of conflict, Díaz Ordaz was directly involved." The government attempted to reduce labor unrest by setting up a National Commission for the Implementation of Profit Sharing which apportioned between 5% to 10% of each company's profits to organized labor. In 1960, Article 123 of the
Constitution of 1917 The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...
was amended. There were guarantees written into the constitution concerning salaries, paid holidays, vacations, overtime, and bonuses to government civil servants. However, government workers were required to join the Federation of Union Workers in Service to the State (FSTSE) and forbidden to join any other union. Tight price controls and sharp increases in the minimum wage also ensured that the workers' real minimum wage index reached its highest level since the presidency of
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
.


Conflict with Lázaro Cárdenas

Although Cárdenas had set a precedent for the ex-president to turn over complete government control to his successor, he re-emerged from political retirement to push the López Mateos government more toward leftist stances. The January 1959 taking of power by
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
gave Latin America another example of revolution. Cárdenas went to Cuba in July 1959 and was with Castro at a huge rally at which Castro declared himself to be prime minister of Cuba. Cárdenas returned to Mexico with the hope that the ideals of the Mexican Revolution could be revived, with land reform, support for agriculture, and an expansion of education and health services to Mexicans. He also directly appealed to López Mateos to free jailed union leaders. López Mateos became increasingly hostile to Cárdenas, who was explicitly and implicitly rebuking him. To Cárdenas he said, "They say the Communists are weaving a dangerous web around you." Cárdenas oversaw the creation of a new pressure group, the National Liberation Movement (MLN), composed of a wide variety of leftists, which participants considered a way to defend the Mexican Revolution was to defend the Cuban Revolution. López Mateos found a way to counter Cárdenas's criticisms, by emulating his policies. The president nationalized the electric industry in 1960. It was not as dramatic an event as Cárdenas's expropriation of the oil industry in 1938, but it was nonetheless economic nationalism and the government could claim it as a victory for Mexico. Other reformist policies of his presidency can be seen as ways to counter the left's criticism, such as land reform, education reform, and social programs to alleviate poverty in Mexico. Cárdenas came back into the political fold of the PRI, when he supported López Mateos's choice for his successor in 1964, his enforcer,
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés ...
.


Land reform

A wide range of social reforms were carried out during his presidency.
Land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
was implemented vigorously, with 16 million hectares of land redistributed. It was the most significant amount of land distributed since the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas. The government also sought to improve the lives of '' ejidatarios''. The government expropriated land that had been owned by U.S. interests in the extreme south, which helped to reduce land tension in that part of the country.


Public health and social welfare programs

Public health campaigns were also launched to combat diseases such as polio, malaria, and tuberculosis. Typhus, smallpox, and yellow fever were eradicated, and malaria was significantly reduced. Tackling poverty became one of the priorities of his government, and social welfare spending reached a historical peak of 19.2% of total spending. A number of social welfare programs for the poor were set up, and the existing social-welfare programs were improved. Health care and pensions were increased, new hospitals and clinics were built, and the IMSS programme for rural Mexico was expanded. A social security institute was established, the ''Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores al Servicio del Estado'' (ISSSTE), to provide childcare, medical services, and other social services to workers, especially state employees. A 1959 amendment to the Social Security Law also brought part-time workers within the auspices of social security. He established the National Institute for the Protection of Children to provide medical services and other aid to children. A food distribution system was established to provide affordable staples for poor Mexicans and a market for farm produce. The government entered the housing business on a large scale for the first time in Mexican history, with a major program being initiated to build low-cost housing in major industrial cities, with over 50,000 units of low-income housing constructed between 1958 and 1964. One of the largest housing developments in Mexico City housed 100,000 people and contained several nurseries, four clinics, and several schools.


Museums and historical memory

López Mateos opened a number of major museums during his presidency, the most spectacular of which was the
National Museum of Anthropology The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street withi ...
in
Chapultepec Park Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...
. Also opened in Chapultepec Park was the Museum of Modern Art. His Minister of Education
Jaime Torres Bodet Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974) was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three President of Mexico, Presidents of Mexico. Life Torres Bodet was born in Mexico City. His mot ...
had played a major role in realizing the projects. Works from the colonial era were moved from the Historic Center of Mexico City to north of the capital in the former Jesuit colegio in Tepozotlan, creating the Museo del Virreinato. The Historical Museum of Mexico City was situated in Mexico City.


Educational reform

In an effort to reduce illiteracy, the idea of adult education classes was revived, and a system of free and compulsory school textbooks was launched. In 1959, the National Commission of Free Textbooks (''Comisión Nacional de Libros de Textos Gratuitos'') was created. The textbook program was controversial since the content would be created by the government, and the textbooks' use would be obligatory in schools. It was opposed by the ''Unión Nacional de Padres de Familia'', a conservative organization, and the Roman Catholic Church, which also saw education as a private family matter. Education had become the largest single item in the federal budget by 1963, and there was a renewed emphasis on school construction. Almost every village was assisted in the construction of schools and provided with teachers and textbooks. Free student breakfasts for primary-school pupils were also restored.


Student activism

Increasingly, students were becoming politically engaged beyond the limited demands that affected them personally. The triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 captured leftist students' imagination. However, the government's repression of union and peasant activists was soon replicated against students. Students at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
(UNAM) and the
National Polytechnic Institute National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
(IPN) became more politicized, and their participation in demonstrations was met with government repression. The scale of the phenomenon would become much larger later in the 1960s, when Díaz Ordaz became president, but the early 1960s marked the beginnings of the antagonism.


Electoral reform

An attempt was made at political liberalization, with an amendment to the constitution that altered the electoral procedures in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
by encouraging greater representation for opposition candidates in Congress. The electoral reform of 1963 introduced so-called "party deputies" (''diputados del partido'') in which opposition parties were granted five seats in the Chamber of Deputies if they received at least 2.5 percent of the national vote and one more seat for each additional 0.5 percent (up to 20 party deputies). In the 1964 elections, for instance, the Popular Socialist Party (PPS) won 10 seats, and the National Action Party (PAN) won 20. By giving opposition political parties a greater voice in government, the country, controlled by the
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
, had the appearance and greater legitimacy as a democracy.


Armed forces

The army was the enforcer of government policy and intervened to break strikes. López Mateos created more social security benefits for the military in 1961. The army had been incorporated as a sector into the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM) under Lázaro Cárdenas, and when the
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
was formed in 1946, the army was no longer sector, but remained loyal to the government and enforced order. During the presidency of López Mateos, the peasant leader
Rubén Jaramillo Rubén Jaramillo Méndez (1900 – May 23, 1962) was a Mexican military and political leader of ''campesino'' origin who participated in the Mexican Revolution. After the Revolution, he continued to fight for the land reform promised under the Me ...
, an ideological heir to peasant revolutionary
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...
was murdered along with his family in 1962, "apparently at the instigation or with the foreknowledge of General Gómez Huerta, chief of the Presidential General Staff" under the president's personal command. Young writer and intellectual,
Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christophe ...
wrote a report of the murder for the magazine ''
Siempre! ''Siempre!'' is a news and political magazine published in Mexico. The magazine is published on a weekly basis. By the end of the 1960s the magazine became a significant part of Mexican politics and an important publication for democratization ...
'', recording for an urban readership the grief of the peasant residents of Jojutla. The use of the army against a government opponent and the concern of a young urban intellectual about such an act being committed in his name were indicators marking a change in the political climate in Mexico.


Foreign policy

An important position for López Mateos's foreign policy was its stance on the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...
. As Cuba moved leftward, the U.S. pressured all Latin America to join it to isolate Cuba, but Mexican foreign policy was to respect Cuba's independence. The U.S. had imposed an economic blockade on Cuba and organized Cuba's expulsion from the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
(OAS). Mexico took on principle the "nonintervention in the internal affairs of countries" and the "respect for the self-determination of nations." However, Mexico supported some U.S. foreign policy positions, such as barring China, as opposed to Taiwan, from holding a seat in the United Nations. During the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
in October 1962, when the Soviet Union placed missiles on Cuban territory, Mexico voted in favor of an OAS resolution for the removal of the weapons, but it also called for a ban on invading Cuba. Mexico supported Cuba's sovereignty but had its government begun a crackdown on demonstrations at home in solidarity with Cuba, which begun fomenting revolutionary movements abroad in Latin America and Africa, and Mexico could potentially have been fertile ground. Recently-released documentation shows that Mexico's stance toward Cuba allowed it to claim solidarity with another Latin American revolution and raise its profile in the Western Hemisphere with other Latin American countries, but its overall support for revolution was weak for fear of destabilization at home. López Mateos welcomed U.S. President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
to Mexico for a highly-successful visit in July 1962 although Mexico's relationship with Cuba differed from what U.S. policy sought. Mexico's firm stance on Cuba's independence despite U.S. pressure meant that Mexico had bargaining power with the U.S., which did not want to alienate Mexico, both of which had a long land border. At that juncture, the Chamizal conflict with the U.S. was resolved and a majority of the Chamizal area was granted to Mexico. Negotiations led to the successful conclusion of the Chamizal dispute, which had festered since the aftermath of the mid-19th-century
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, a success for the López Mateos government.


Later life

López Mateos was the first chairman of the Organization Committee of the
1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
and called the meeting that led to the creation of the
World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...
. Plagued with
migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...
s during his adult life, he was diagnosed with several
cerebral aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circul ...
s, and after several years in a coma, he died in Mexico City 1969 of an aneurysm.Lainé, "Adolfo López Mateos", p. 759. His wife, Eva Sámano, was buried next to him, in the Panteón Jardín in Mexico City, after her death in 1984. In the last year of his presidency, López Mateos was visibly unwell. He looked worn-out and increasingly thin. On his very last months as president, a friend, Víctor Manuel Villegas, went to see him and later remembers asking him how he was; he replied that he was "screwed up." It turned out that López Mateos had seven aneurysms. After finishing his presidential term, he briefly served as head of the Olympic Committee, responsible for the organization of the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968. He had to resign because of failing health.
Manuel Velasco Suárez Manuel Velasco Suárez (San Cristóbal de las Casas 28 December 1914 – Ciudad de México 2 December 2001) was a Mexican neurologist, neurosurgeon, scientist and humanist. He became governor of the state of Chiapas. Career Velasco founded a ...
quoted him as saying, "In every way, life has smiled at me. Now I must accept whatever may come." He rapidly became an invalid and was unable to walk, and after an emergency tracheotomy, he lost his voice.
Enrique Krauze Enrique Krauze (Mexico City, September 16, 1947) is a Mexican historian, essayist, editor, and entrepreneur. He has written more than twenty books, some of which are: ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', ''Redeemers'', and ''El pueblo soy yo'' (''I a ...
exclaimed in one of his books, "Gone was the voice of a once great orator."


Postmortem exile

When
Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...
became president of Mexico (1988-1994), he had the remains of López Mateos and his wife exhumed and moved to López Mateos's birthplace in Mexico State. A monument to the late president was erected there. :es:Eva Sámano This unusual step was likely due to Salinas' family animus toward López Mateos. Salinas's father Raúl Salinas Lozano had been a cabinet minister in López Mateos's government and was passed over for the party nomination to be the next president of Mexico.Bussey, Jane. "Carlos Salinas de Gortari" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', vol. 2, p. 1330. The town is now formally named Ciudad López Mateos.


See also

*
List of heads of state of Mexico The Head of State of Mexico is the person who controls the executive power in the country. Under the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, current constitution, this responsibility lies with the President of Mexico, President of the ...


References


Further reading

* * Camp, Roderic A. ''Mexican Political Biographies''. Tucson, Arizona:
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
, 1982. * *de María y Campos, Armando. ''Un ciudadano: Cómo es y cómo piensa Adolfo López Mateos''. Mexico 1958 *Díaz de la Vega, Clemente. ''Adolfo López Mateos: Vida y obra''. Toluca 1986 * * * Krauze, Enrique. ''Mexico: Biography of Power'' especially Chapter 20, "Adolfo López Mateos: The Orator." New York: HarperCollins 1997. * * *Pellicer de Brody, Olga. ''México y la Revolución Cubana''. Mexico 1973. * *Smith, Arthur K. ''Mexico and the Cuban revolution: foreign policy-making in Mexico under President Adolfo López Mateos (1958–1964)''. No. 17. Cornell University., 1970 * *Utley, Robert Marshall. ''Changing course: the international boundary, United States and Mexico, 1848–1963''. Western National Parks Assoc, 1996. *Wilkie, James W. ''The Mexican Revolution: Federal Expenditure and Social Change Since 1910, Second Edition'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970). *


External links

*
Biography at Mexico ConnectBiography at Historical Text Archive


, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Mateos, Adolfo 1909 births 1969 deaths Presidents of Mexico People from Atizapán de Zaragoza 20th-century Mexican politicians * Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Founders of sporting institutions