Salvador,

Thank you for your very well written explanation of how modern Mexico evolved, especially since I don't think English is your first language. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Americans like me whose father came to the US in 1913 at the age of 10 really have a poor understanding of Mexico.

I am going to edit what you wrote to include the exact dates that the various Mexican presidents served (that will force me to learn more Mexican history) and pass it around to others who need a clear and concise telling of the story of Mexico.

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA

> Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 12:07:00 -0500
> From: squirartetcn@gmail.com
> To: announce@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] THE TRUE OUTCOME OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION - FULL VERSION
>
> SORRY TO ALL OUR FRIENDS OF NUESTROS RANCHOS. I JUST DISCOVER THAT MY
> PREVIOUS MESSAGE BY SOME TECHNICAL REASON WAS CUTED AFTER THE FIRST
> PARAGRAPH, SO HERE IT GOES AGAIN THE FULL TEXT:
>
>
>
> 1. The true outcome of the Mexican Revolution (Salvador Quirarte)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> The Mexican revolution started is 1910 as the first social movement in the
> world of the 20th. century, even before the Russian revolution happened.
> The original factors triggering the social explosion of this country was a
> reaction to a social and political model established by the Spaniards 400
> years before.
>
>
>
> Let us remember Mexico was not a single country when the Spanish conquers
> arrived. The most advanced group at that time was the Aztec kingdom, but
> there were many other different groups and tribes across our lands.
>
> The centralized monarchic model of the Spanish government was imported and
> imposed for 300 years by their soldiers to all those tribes, after they have
> been defeated or invaded. The Virreinato of the New Spain was divided
> in several regional divisions. One of them was Nueva Galicia.
>
> Central Mexico was the richest and more civilized geographical area, so the
> conquerors settled in the former Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)
> and expanded their control in all directions to reach all kind of human and
> material resources, such as slaves, gold, silver, good land for agriculture,
> etc.
>
> The borders were defined all the way down to the limits with South America,
> where the other large Spanish Virreinato was established based on the former
> Inca´s territory. To the North the borders were defined by the capacity of
> the Spanish army to maintain secure Spanish colonial populations under the
> attacks of the Indian tribes of North America, that were not so culturally
> advanced as the tribes in the south.
>
> Without formal roads and the only way to travel was using mules and horses,
> which may take weeks and months. Maintain control and governance over remote
> regions was a really hard task. Imagine what means to keep control and rule
> over Arizona or California from Mexico City or Madrid.
>
> In the 17th. century the new generations of Spanish descendants already born
> in America started to claim their rights to the lands, people and richness
> of the Nueva España, that continue to be exported to the Kingdom in Spain.
> Most of the economic, social and political decision powers still remained
> back there..
>
> It took 300 years to allow that movement to really evolve and empower the
> people in America to succeed fighting the war of Independence.
>
> At that point , after the Independence war ended, the government model was
> still centralized, that is the same than before. Dozens of internal fights
> and local wars between different groups, leaders and former local
> tribes happened until Porfirio Diaz took control as President and
> established two important values:
>
> - Unification - Either peaceful or enforced with weapons and blood
>
> - Progress - Implementing wide modernization and investment works,
> funded by a financial system based in the fortune of a very small number of
> rich families, fully aligned with the President Diaz.
>
> Porfirio Diaz remained in power for 30 years consolidating many good and bad
> things:
>
> For the first time Mexico was a true country.
>
> There were peace and progress and Mexico moved in to start having industries,
> communications as railroads, telegraph &, postal services, education and
> universities, roads, corporate businesses, cultural development, art, music
> and an identity as one single nation.
>
> On the other side, the price paid by the Mexican people after all those 30
> years was very high. No freedom, no democracy, high corruption and no social
> evolution and justice.
>
> Those were the critical drivers that triggered the explosion happened in
> 1910.
>
> A small thinking and educated middle class and the outstanding leaders of
> the oppressed and poor people in the lands initiated diverse movements in
> different cities and regions, some more civilized as Madero and Carranza and
> others with guns and blood as Zapata and Villa, fight hard and offered their
> own lives with hundreds of thousands of their followers to change things
> around.
>
> After many tries to settle a consolidated government, a new generation took
> over and Avila Camacho became president.
>
> He and the three presidents that followed him were the key builders of the
> Mexican nation in the 20th. century.
>
> Avila Camacho established a democratic system based in the participation of
> all citizens. How he do it?
>
> He invented the PRI, a unique political party that host all political and
> social groups and ideologies, assuring their loyalty to the system by
> allowing them, and only them to participate and share the benefits of manage
> the politics and the public budgets. He was a general, leading the new armed
> forces that won over all other groups during the revolution.
>
> Avila Camacho was followed by Lazaro Cardenas, who was also a general of the
> army.
>
> He was a socialist, influenced in some way by the innovating ideas of the
> ideologists that created the communist movements in Europe. Cardenas
> continued and improved the political and social developing and management
> system of the government based in one single party (PRI).
>
> But perhaps the three top contributions he had were the following:
>
> 1 – He anticipated the importance of the petroleum industry as a great
> generator of cash revenue and nationalized the oil industry just when the
> WWII was generating great demand and many producers were affected by the
> war. So the national oil company started generating a new income to the
> Mexican government which by that time did not have a relevant fiscal
> capability.
>
> 2 – He prepared the future by assigning a civil (not military) candidate to
> follow him after his six years period. This change kept out definitively the
> military out of the politics and the power.
>
> 3 – And may be his most important contribution, was to promote, fund and
> sponsor the creation of a new Mexican identity. Musicians as Silvestre
> Revueltas, painters as Diego Rivera and David A. Siqueiros, writers as
> Salvador Novo, among many others artists and i8ntelectuals contributed to
> build a Mexican image, full of roundness and traditions, with a mix of
> pre-Hispanic and Hispanic values.
>
> Miguel Aleman became president and leverage in all the successful strategies
> of Cardenas, eliminating those that he does not need any more.
>
> Aleman with the new and relevant income of the oil and the global economic
> growth opportunity after the WW, implemented a country wide impressive
> growth model.
>
> He erased the socialist flavor form the PRI, making attractive the country
> for local and foreign investment. As a civilian president he generated
> confidence and trust abroad. He built massive public works like highways,
> dams, ports, housing, airports, social security. etc. The loyalty model of
> the PRI based in sharing of power and budget evolved to become a very
> sophisticated model of corruption where almost all participants in the
> productive chain of the government budget receive a piece of the benefits.
>
> The result in the short term was peace, progress and jobs.
>
> It is important to mention that as a following trend of the Mexican identity
> strategy started by Avila Camacho and Cardenas, Miguel Aleman supported the
> development of an outstanding first class film industry. The gold stage of
> the Mexican movies with great Mexican actors like Cantinflas, Pedro Infante
> and Jorge Negrete, actresses such as Maria Felix, Dolores del Rio and Sara
> Garcia and music flourished at that time, displacing Hollywood in almost all
> Spanish speaking markets in the world.
>
> When corruption started to spread to all levels, President Aleman was wise
> enough to choose a very honest and tough successor.
>
> Ruiz Cortines came in, and realign the rules of corruption placing strict
> controls in the government top officials performance.
> After Ruiz Cortines, the magic and beauty of the PRI system started to
> degenerate. Twenty four years later the PRI lost the presidential
> elections.
>
> I am convinced all of the above was the outcome of the Mexican Revolution
> Salvador Quirarte