Historical Context

Historical Context of the Left from 1920-1958

Before starting to describe this historical period regarding the left in Mexico, we will talk about the background that helped this ideology to develop. It all starts with the Porfiriato in which political parties and public elections were organized as politicians “clubs” that generally were president Porfirio’s friends, so there was not really any formal or stable party. Díaz chose federal or regional candidates taking in consideration forces correlation, candidate’s merits in terms of loyalty, discipline, and even administrative capacity. Governors were perpetuated in their charges, establishing an élite group that closed any party system that represented government alternatives.
In this period a lot of political parties were created because there were no specific rules to form a party. These parties were based on the right of association which was established in the Constitution of 1917. The political clubs began to become party organizations until 1906, when the Mexican Liberal Party was created by the Magonistas ideologues, which created an ideological revolution because of the social approaches that the party had. These approaches were to return cooperative farming lands and distribute idle lands between the farmers, to limit the maximum working hours to eight hours, and to fix a minimum wage in the countryside and in the city. Even though the founders of PLM could not overthrow Porfirio’s regime, the document had great influence in the labor struggles of the moment and years later it served as a reference for the Constitution of 1917.
After 30 years in the power, Díaz confirmed in an interview made by the American journalist Mr. Creelman, that he would support new parties so a democratic ideology could develop. Because of this, many parties like “Partido Democrático”, “Partido Reeleccionista”, and “Centro Antirreeleccionista” founded by Madero were created. Madero failed to make the change...