Trotsky, Cárdenas and Chávez (4) - radical shift

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Cárdenas veers left

Cárdenas enhanced his reputation as a leftist with an aggressive agrarian policy. During his presidency around 50 million acres (18 millions hectares) of land were distributed to peasants, mainly in the form of collective ejidos – double the entire amount of land redistributed since the revolution. Around half of all cultivated land was under the control of ejidos by 1940. This gave Cárdenas a wide base of support, with two-thirds of the population still living in the countryside. (Burton Kirkwood, The history of Mexico, 2005 p.171)

Cárdenas’ social programmes also extended to education. He spent over 10 million pesos on education, earmarking twice as much than ever before for rural areas. As a result literacy improved from 33% to 42% of the population. Life expectancy rose between 1930 and 1940 by nearly four years for men and by ten years for women. (Robert Miller, Mexico: a history, 1985 p.370)

The most important event of the Cárdenas period was the oil workers’ strike in 1937, which led to the nationalisation of the petroleum industry in 1938. As Dan La Botz has put it: “The strike became a national issue, and in the course of the struggle, the interests of the Mexican working class were subordinated to those of the state. The union rallied to support the state in the struggle against imperialism, and, having won the battle against imperialism, the state immediately turned on the workers.” (1988 p.69)

The relationship between Cárdenas and the oil workers predated his presidency. In early 1934 during his election campaign, Cárdenas encouraged oil workers to unite their fragmented organisation. In May 1934 a strike by the Union of Oil Workers of Minatitlan won a paid day off a week, a shorter working week, holidays and pensions. Other oil workers also took strike action, over the next year and a half, including one six-month long dispute. In August 1935, with further encouragement from Cárdenas, a national oil workers’ union, STPRM was formed with 7,000 members. It joined the CTM in 1936.

A strike wave across almost the entire oil industry began in May 1937 and lasted for 13 days. It was declared legal and supported by the CTM. Workers agreed to return to work on 9 June after the government agreed to set up an inquiry to study the industry and what the union claimed was a “conflict of economic order”. The panel ruled that foreign oil companies such as Royal Dutch/Shell and Standard Oil could afford pay rises and cut the working week. They refused, so on 18 March 1938, Cárdenas nationalised Mexico's oil reserves and expropriated the equipment of the companies.

The announcement inspired a huge demonstration in Mexico City. Oil workers occupied the oil fields and refineries to prevent sabotage. The STPRM pushed for “worker administration” of the industry – but Cárdenas only agreed to a council with four government and three union representatives. Mexican oil immediately faced a boycott by the US and Britain, and was forced to sell barrels to Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

Cárdenas created the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM) on 30 March 1938. The PCM called for “the unification of popular sectors inside the new party”, describing it as “the special form of the People’s Front in Mexico” and becoming “more cardenista than Cárdenas”, in the words of José Revueltas. (Anguiano 1975 p.117, p.167)

The PRM slogan was “For a workers’ democracy” and the CTM, together with the remnants of the CROM, the CGT became the labour sector of the new party. (La Botz 1988 p.62) The new party had a corporative structure with four sectors represented: the labour movement, the peasants, the popular sector (of small holders and small businesses) and the army (until December 1940). The incorporation of the army allowed Cárdenas to reduce the power of the old revolutionary generals.

In May 1938 the government handed the administration of the railways over to the STFRM rail union. Cárdenas also passed a law on cooperatives, allowing workers to take over factories - though these tended to be bankrupt or small factories with aging machinery. On May Day a 100,000-strong uniformed workers’ militia paraded through the capital. (Anguiano 1975 pp.86-87, 93)

Cárdenas did not allow the CTM to hegemonise all workers. In August 1938 he created the National Confederation of Peasants (CNC) to include agricultural workers, coops and small property holders. He also forbade the organisation of government workers in the CTM, instead creating a separate federation, the FSTSE in December 1938. The CNC and FSTSE were also incorporated in the PRM ruling party.

As Dan La Botz explained, “In most cases membership in the party was mandatory for union members, and upon being hired one automatically became a member of both the union and the party. In some cases union dues and party dues were deducted from a workers’ pay cheque.” (1988 p.81)

However neither involvement in the ruling party nor a degree of workers’ control was sufficient to protect the oil workers. In February 1940 Cárdenas invited STPRM leaders to the National Palace, where he laid down his position on labour questions in the oil industry, including layoffs, pay cuts and management freedom to move workers. In July 1940 the government declared a “conflict of economic order” and its arbitration committee agreed. A new state-owned company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was created and a strike ban imposed. When a strike started in a refinery in September 1940, it was broken up by federal troops. (La Botz 1988 pp.76-79)

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