Background
- By 1934, the revolutionary spirit of Mexico had stagnated under the authoritarian Maximato (1929–1934), when Plutarco Elías Calles dominated politics behind puppet presidents.
- When Lázaro Cárdenas assumed the presidency, he redefined leadership by restoring the revolution’s social justice mission i.e. land redistribution, labor empowerment, and national sovereignty.
- Cárdenas shifted power from elites to the masses, institutionalizing reform through the state and reasserting Mexico’s independence from foreign and domestic oligarchies.
Aims of Cárdenas’s Presidency
- Renew Revolutionary Ideals
- Restore the social and economic principles of 1910 i.e. justice for peasants, laborers, and Indigenous peoples.
- Agrarian Reform
- Redistribute land to rural communities through the ejido system (communal ownership).
- Labor Empowerment
- Strengthen unions, protect workers’ rights, and integrate labor into the national project.
- Economic Nationalism
- Reduce foreign control of resources and industries, promoting self-sufficiency and sovereignty.
- Political Democratization
- End the dominance of Calles and transform the ruling party into a mass organization representing peasants and workers.
Definition
Ejido
Traditional communal land used by Indigenous and peasant communities, dismantled under Díaz’s privatization policies.
