..... Click the link for more information. , elected president. After a bitter conflict Cárdenas sent (1936) Calles into exile and organized a vigorous campaign of socialization of industry and agriculture based on the constitution of 1917. Large landholdings were broken up and distributed to small farmers on the ejido ejido [Span.,=common land], in Mexico, agricultural land expropriated from large private holdings and redistributed to communal farms. Communal ownership of land had been widely practiced by the Aztecs, but the institution was in decline before the Spanish arrived.
..... Click the link for more information. system, and many foreign-owned properties, especially oil fields, were expropriated. Cárdenas, determined to make Mexico a modern democracy, became anathema to large landowners, industrialists, and foreign investors, but—himself a mestizo—became a hero to native peoples and the Mexican working classes. He relinquished his office at the end of his term, acting in accord with his desire for democratic and orderly constitutional processes. Cárdenas was recalled to public service as minister of national defense (1942–45). His political influence as the leader of the Mexican left continued in the years after World War II.
Bibliography
See biography by W. Townsend (2d ed. 1979); study by J. C. Ashby (1967).
His son
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (k
-outā`môk, sōlôr`sänō), 1934–, seen since the 1980s as his father's political heir, held posts within the ruling Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) before 1988, when he formed the leftist Democratic Revolutionary party (PRD) in opposition. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988 (when he lost as a result of vote fraud) and 1994, but in 1997 he became the first elected mayor of Mexico City. He resigned in 1999 to make a third attempt at winning the Mexican presidency, running on a leftist nationalist platform that opposed free trade. Cárdenas lost to Vicente Fox Quesada Fox Quesada, Vicente , 1942–, Mexican political leader, president of Mexico (2000–6). Raised on a ranch in rural central Mexico's Guanajuato state, he became a successful rancher and business executive.
..... Click the link for more information. in the elections of July, 2000.
Cárdenas (del Río), Lázaro
(born May 21, 1895, Jiquilpan, Mex.—died Oct. 19, 1970, Mexico City) President of Mexico (1934–40). Of Indian descent, he joined the armed struggle against the dictatorial Victoriano Huerta, rising through the ranks of the revolutionary forces. His faction triumphed, and Cárdenas was made a general in the Mexican army in 1920. In 1928 he became governor of Michoacán, and in 1934 he became president. Noted for his efforts to carry out the social and economic aims of the revolution, he distributed a record amount of land to peasants, made loans available to them, organized workers' and peasants' confederations, and nationalized the oil industry, the principal railways, and other foreign-owned industries. He opposed U.S. influence in Mexico and later supported Fidel Castro. For many Mexicans he remains the foremost symbol of the political left. His son Cuauhtémoc, a prominent leader of the opposition to Mexico's ruling party, is widely believed to have been denied victory in the 1988 presidential elections by fraud; he has since served as mayor of Mexico City. See also Indigenismo.
Cárdenas, Lázaro
(full name, Lázaro Cárdenas y del Río). Born May 21, 1895, in the state of Michoacán; died Oct. 19, 1970, in Mexico City. Statesman and military and political figure of Mexico.
The son of an artisan weaver, Cárdenas in 1913 became involved in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–17. In 1928 he received the rank of division general. From 1928 to 1932 he was governor of Michoacan. He became minister of the interior in 1931 and minister of war in 1933. From 1934 to 1940, Cardenas was the president of Mexico. He opposed the predominance of British and American capital in the country. During his tenure, railroads (1937) and petroleum enterprises (1938) belonging to foreign companies were partially nationalized. Cardenas initiated an agrarian reform and fought against the interference of the Catholic Church in the political life of the country. The peasant and labor union movements were developed, and progressive organizations, including the Communist Party, became very active while he was in office. From 1943 to 1945 he was minister of national defense. After 1949 he was active in the peace movement. He was a laureate of the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Between Nations (1955). In 1969 he became honorary president of the World Peace Council.
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