Revolutionary Ideology and Political Destiny in Mexico, 1928-1934: Lāzaro Cārdenas and Adalberto Tejeda - Softcover

Ginzberg, Eitan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845197771 ISBN 13: 9781845197773

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 2016

Synopsis

Lázaro Cárdenas and Adalberto Tejeda, veterans of the Revolution and prominent governors of Michoacán and Veracruz from 1928 to 1932, strived to make Mexico a modern and just state on the basis of the revolutionary Constitution. Three key obstacles confronted them: the conservative approach of the political Center; the political weakness of their own power base; and the great opposing power of the farmers and their supporting elements, especially the Church and the army. This book discusses the different avenues to reform these leaders took and their short- and long-term implications. Cárdenas sought to strengthen his position through the ruling party (PNR), while reinforcing local agrarian forces and opening channels of direct empathetic communication with the Church and the army. Tejeda attempted to strengthen his position in the federative arena, bypassing the political Center via the National Peasant League (LNC – Liga Nacional Campesina), whose establishment he was deeply involved in, making a sweeping radical reform while attacking uncompromisingly all the traditional elements of Veracruzan society. Both political projects had unprecedented success but totally different implications. The Cardenista power base led its author to the next Presidency, during which he implemented a remarkable agrarian project. Tejeda's power base, however, led to the utter annihilation of his political power structure and many of his agrarian achievements, as well as to his failure in the struggle for presidency. From that point of view, only a heavy bureaucratic, center-based reform initiative could succeed, while a local, radical, adventurous transformation was doomed to failure. The fate of the two governors corresponded to the fate of national revolutionary reformism and thus to the destiny of Mexico.

About this title

About the Author

Eitan Ginzberg is the author of Lazaro Cardenas, gobernador de Michoacan, 19281932 (1999), and Revolutionary Ideology and Political Destiny in Mexico, 19281934: Lazaro Cardenas and Adalberto Tejeda (2015). His research focuses on questions of infra-political resistance, history and culture of Latin America, and the study of genocide. Dr. Ginzberg serves as a researcher at the Sverdlin Institute of Latin American History and Culture at the University of Tel Aviv.

About this edition

• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1845197771
• ISBN 13: 9781845197773
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320