Mexico and the Cold War: The International Context of the

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Mexico and the Cold War The International
Context of the Perfect Dictatorship

• Halbert Jones, Ph.D.
• Office of the Historian
• U.S. Department of State
• JonesHM_at_state.gov

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• The views expressed and interpretations presented
  in this session are those of the presenter and
  not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of
  State or the U.S. Government.

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Foreign Relations of the United States

• Official documentary record of U.S. foreign
  policy and diplomatic activity
• Published since 1861
• Documentary history Documents from the
  archives, selected and annotated
• Congressional mandate a thorough, accurate, and
  reliable documentary record of major United
  States foreign policy decisions and significant
  United States diplomatic activity

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The Office of the Historian Online

• http//history.state.gov

• Newly redesigned
• Provides access to FRUS and other resources

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Other Online Resources

• http//digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/
• For access to scanned images of pre-1960 FRUS
  volumes, fully searchable.
• http//www.archives.gov or www.nara.gov
• For information on the National Archives and for
  direct online access, through AAD link, to
  post-1973 diplomatic records (cables).
• Contact the Office of the Historian via e-mail at
  history_at_state.gov.

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• Mexico is the perfect dictatorship. The perfect
  dictatorship is not communism. It is not the
  USSR. It is not Fidel Castro. The perfect
  dictatorship is Mexico.
• - Mario Vargas Llosa, 1990

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Mexico and the Cold War
Cold Wars impact on Mexico less obvious than its
effects on many other countries in the region

• Unlike Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, no coups or
  anti-communist military dictatorships
• Unlike Cuba, no Marxist revolution
• Unlike Central America, no civil conflicts that
  became proxy wars

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Mexico as an Exceptional Case

• Political stability, marked by dominance of a
  single party, 1929-2000
• No extreme repression, though Mexico did have
  its own dirty war
• Alliance with US, but with displays of
  independence

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Explaining Mexicos Stability

• Historians have pointed to
• Regimes use of revolutionary rhetoric
• No Re-election principle
• Economic growth, Mexican Miracle
• Sectoral organizations
• Cooptation when possible
• Repression when necessary

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International Factors Also Important

• Cold War atmosphere made possible
• A tacit understanding with the United States that
  enabled Mexico to enjoy an enhanced degree of
  independence in exchange for the maintenance of
  stability
• The implementation of anti-subversion laws
  justified by alleged threats from abroad

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Social Dissolution

• Federal Penal Code
• Article 145
• Imprisonment from two to twelve years and a fine
  from a thousand to ten thousand pesos will be
  applied to the foreigner or Mexican national who
  in spoken or written form, or by any other means,
  carries out political propaganda among foreigners
  or among Mexican nationals, spreading ideas,
  programs or norms of action of any foreign
  government that disturb public order or affect
  the sovereignty of the Mexican State.

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Article 145

• 1941 Enacted as WWII-era measure aimed at
  saboteurs and propagandists
• 1951 Expanded in light of Korean War penalties
  stiffened, new clauses added
• 1952-59 Law used against striking workers,
  opposition figures, students

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Article 145

• 1959 Striking railroad workers arrested and
  charged leaders later convicted
• 1960 Communist muralist Siqueiros imprisoned for
  social dissolution, pardoned in 1964

• 1968 Repeal of Article 145 included among demands
  of student movement

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Tlatelolco

• Student movement calling for reforms arose
  following heavy-handed police response to July
  1968 clash between rival student groups
• Tense stand-off with President Díaz Ordaz, who
  suspected communist involvement
• Movement suppressed by troops at Plaza de Tres
  Culturas, October 2, 1968, just before opening of
  Olympics

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After Tlatelolco

• 1970 Article 145 repealed (replaced by new
  clauses on sabotage and terrorism)
• 1970-76 Echeverría administration sought to win
  over an increasingly disillusioned younger
  generation (despite continuing, often
  extrajudicial, repression of urban and rural
  guerrilla groups and others)

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Early Cold War Leaders

• Miguel Alemán (1946-1952)
• Quietly pledged support to US, while adopting a
  more nationalist stance
• Curtailed labor independence through the
  charrazo
• Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (1952-1958)
• Promised a more honest administration
• Cracked down at various points on striking
  workers, students
• Limited objections to 1954 Guatemala coup

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The 1960s

• Adolfo López Mateos (1958-1964)
• Maintained relations with Cuba after Revolution
• Welcomed JFK to Mexico
• Applied Article 145 against RR workers,
  Siqueiros Jaramillo murdered
• Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-1970)
• Remembered as most repressive figure in Mexicos
  Cold War history
• Held responsible for Tlatelolco

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International Populism

• Luis Echeverría (1970-1976)
• GDOs interior minister
• Sought Third World leadership roles, asserting
  independence from the United States
• José López Portillo (1976-1982)
• Bolstered by new oil discoveries, continued to
  pursue an independent foreign policy
• Faced extreme economic problems by end of term

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Debt Crisis and Economic Reform

• Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988)
• Faced debt crisis inherited from JLP
• Legitimacy of regime further undermined by
  ineffective response to 1985 earthquake
• Carlos Salinas (1988-1994)
• Faced charges of electoral fraud
• Carried out neoliberal reforms
• Signed NAFTA (shaped by end of Cold War)

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Key Points

• Mexicos Cold War experience was distinctive
• Cold War created conditions that facilitated the
  endurance of stable, single-party rule
• East-West conflict imposed limits but also
  created opportunities for Mexico and its leaders

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• Nikita Khrushchev, in response to the suggestion
  that Soviet aircraft could land in Mexico after
  bombing the United States
• What do you think Mexico is our mother-in-law?
  You think we can simply go calling any time we
  want?