Sport Development and Mexican Nationalism - LA84 Foundation

Sport, Development, and Mexican Nationalism, 1920-1970
This interpretation of the sporting realm seems consistent with the much
broader observation of political scientist H.C.F. Mansilla that, “despite all
attempts by the peripheral societies to redefine national identity and establish an
autonomous development model, they have not succeeded in drawing up a real
contrast program and a qualitative alternative to Western capitalism and Eastern
socialism, an alternative that would differ in decisive and not merely secondary
characteristics.” They lack, in other words, an “autonomous formulation of
goals.“ 53 And, to the extent that they really enjoy playing or watching these
imported (now global) sports, they may not wish to formulate truly autonomous
goals. 54
As in Mexico, there has been throughout the hemisphere an increased
emphasis on hosting international sporting events, at various geographical and
competitive levels, as a means to impress the world, to cultivate domestic pride,
to prove the competency of regime and society, perhaps even to make a bit of
money, though it is questionable if such results have been achieved at all, let
alone sustained over the long haul. For example, Uruguay, perhaps the premier
soccer power of the 1920s, hosted and won the first Mundial in 1930, using the
opportunity to inaugurate the Estadio Centenario and to celebrate a century of
national independence. Whether that made the coming Great Depression easier
for Uruguayans is doubtful. 55
Two decades later Brazil dedicated Rio’s magnificant Maracanã in anticipation
of winning the fourth Mundial, only to see its dreams shattered by another
courageous Uruguayan squad captained by the independent-minded and controversial
Obdulio Varela. Subsequently, President Getúlio Vargas committed
suicide in 1954 and Brazil’s political and social situation continually worsened,
despite eventual World Cup victories in 1958, 1962, and 1970. 56 Also in
1950 the regime of Juan Jose Arévalo sought vigorously to legitimize the
Guatemalan Revolution through the elaborate sponsorship of the Sixth Central
American and Caribbean Games. The Ciudad Olímpica still stands; the successor
regime of Jacobo Arbenz lasted only three years, ending in the infamous
invasion and coup which initiated decades of often brutal military rule and civil
violence. 57 Cali, self-proclaimed sports capital of Colombia, was equally
53. H.C.F. Mansilla, “Latin America Within the Third World: The Search for a New Identity,” New World: A
Journal of Latin American Studies 3 (1988-1989): 23.
54. #en the contextual reworking of an imported sport or other cultural expression makes it more
“indigenous” than foreign is a question discussed in Jay R. and Joan D. Mandle, Grass Roots Commitment:
Basketball and Society in Trinidad and Tobago (Parkersburg, IA: Caribbean Books, 1988). John Krich contends
that in Latin America baseball was not forced on the local populations and that now it is as much “their” game as it
is “ours”; see El Béisbol: Travels Through the Pan-American Pastime (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989).
55. Enrique E. Buero, Negociaciones internacionales (Brussels: Imp. Puvrez, 1932); Arturo Carbonell
Debali, Primer Campeonato Mundial de Football (Montevideo: Impresora Uruguaya, 1930).
56. On Brazil’s suffering in the face of that 1950 defeat, see Paulo Perdigão, Antonomia de uma derrota (Porto
Alegre: L&PM Editores, 1986). On the role of soccer as a potential force for social cohesion and political
manipulation since the 1950s, see Janet Lever, Soccer Madness (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).
57. Among various sources which brag on Guatemala’s success in running the Games are Boletín de la
Oficina de Publicidad de los VI Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe (Issued irregularly between
February and April 1950) and Benjamin Paniagua S., et al., Guatemala (Guatemala: Tipografía Nacional, 1950).
A slogan frequently seen in relation to the Games was “Haciendo Deporte, Haremos Patria” [“Doing Sport, We
Build the Fatherland”]
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