Jorge Cruickshank García (July 29, 1911 – January 1989) was a Mexican politician. He was the general secretary of the Popular Socialist Party and a five-time parliamentarian.Camp, Roderic Ai.
Mexican Political Biographies: 1935–1993
'. ILAS special publication. Austin: Univ. of Texas Pr, 1995. pp. 175-176

Early life and activism

Jorge Cruickshank was born in Tehuantepec in the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. He attended primary and secondary education in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. He continued studies in the city, and obtained engineering and secondary teaching degrees. He became active in the communist youth movement, and between 1939-1940 was a national leader of the Communist Youth. He was also a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

organizer. He took part in the founding of ''

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación The National Educational Workers Union (, SNTE) is a trade union which represents teachers in Mexico. Its current Secretary-General and President is Alfonso Cepeda Salas. With over 1.4 million members, it is currently the largest teachers' un ...

'' (SNTE), and became the general secretary of SNTE local 10 in 1943. He later held various positions in the SNTE national organization.

In the PPS

In 1948 he took part in founding the Popular Party (which later became the Popular Socialist Party, PPS). He was a Popular Party candidate for parliament in the 1949 election. In 1958 he again stood for parliament. In 1960 he was included in the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the party (a position he would hold until 1982). He was the PPS Secretary for International Relations during 1962-1963. 1963-1965 he served as Secretary of Press and Publicity of the party 1963-1965 and Secretary of Organization 1965-1968. In 1968 he was the PPS candidate for governor of Oaxaca.

General secretary

Cruickshank was elected general secretary of PPS at the fourth national assembly of the party in January 1969. His candidature was opposed by a group of former POCM leaders, who were expelled at the meeting.Rodríguez Araujo, Octavio.
La reforma política y los partidos en México
'. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1989. p. 233 Cruickshank García served as PPS general secretary 1969-1979, 1979-1981.

Parliamentarian

In 1964 he was elected to the federal parliament (as a PPS candidate from electoral district 1, Oaxaca). His tenure lasted until 1967. In the parliament, he formed part in committees on culture, railroads and communications. In 1970 he was re-elected to parliament for the 1970-1973 tenure. In 1976 he was elected to the Senate from Oaxaca. He became the first Mexican senator not to come from 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 ...

(PRI) since the consolidation of that party's rule in 1929, but he ran in coalition with the PRI, and therefore was not an opposition senator. He was elected unopposed; it was speculated at the time that PRI had supported Cruickshank García's candidacy in return for the acceptance of the PPS to concede defeat in the 1975 Nayarit gubernatorial election (it was believed that PPS had won the governor's post in Nayarit, but lost it due to fraud). It would take until 1988 before actual opposition politicians would be elected to the Senate.Mainwaring, Scott.
Building Democratic Institutions Party Systems in Latin America
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Univ. Press, 1996. pp. 249, 275 Cruickshank's senatorial tenure lasted until 1982. In that year he was re-elected to the lower house of parliament. He became the coordinator of the parliamentary faction of the PPS. He was re-elected in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Jorge 1911 births 1989 deaths Politicians from Oaxaca Popular Socialist Party (Mexico) politicians Mexican trade unionists Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) 20th-century Mexican politicians