Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

power for thirty-five uninterrupted years. 1 When Díaz Ordaz came to power, Mexico
was in the midst of a long period of social peace and economic stability known as the
‘milagro mexicano’. 2 Mexico – it was thought – should serve as a model for other
developing countries. 3
More broadly, the world was in the middle of the Cold War; Latin America had
witnessed the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and its gradual turn toward the Soviet
Union. These facts influenced Díaz Ordaz’s political decisions. He was concerned about
how external events could risk the political interests of the PRI. 4 From his first
presidential speech he demonstrated a concern to maintain and safeguard the apparent
political and economic stability in order to defend the status quo built by his party. 5
During his presidential term he proved intolerant of any sign of subversion and
responded categorically to the social movements that arose. 6 In this international
context, and in a country in which the president is considered the highest patriarchal
figure, 7 Díaz Ordaz acted as the guardian of a nation threatened by internal and external
forces. 8
1
The PRI was established in 1929 under the name Partido Nacional Revolucionario. After some years of
consolidation it changed its name in 1938 to Partido de la Revolución Mexicana, finally taking the name
of Partido Revolucionario Institucional in 1946. PRI | Línea del tiempo
[accessed 23 December
2011]
2
Elsa Margarita Gracida Romo, El siglo XX mexicano. Un capítulo de su historia, 1940-1982 (Mexico:
UNAM, 2002), pp. 76-79.
3
Soledad Loaeza, ‘Gustavo Díaz Ordaz: Las insuficiencias de la presidencia autoritaria’, in Presidentes
Mexicanos Tomo II (1911-2000), coord.. by Will Fowler, colección Biblioteca INEHRM, 2 vols (Mexico:
Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 2004), 2, 285-346 (p. 301)
4
According to Enrique Condés Lara, the heart of PRI ideology was the Mexican Revolution and the Cold
War. The government used these ideologies to promote authoritarianism, prejudice against other cultures
and values, and state paternalism. Enrique Condés Lara, ‘Años de rebelión y de esperanzas’, in Asalto al
cielo. Lo que no se ha dicho del 68, Rubén Arechiga Robles and others (Mexico: Oceano, 1998), pp. 21-
41 (p. 23).
5
Loaeza, ‘Gustavo Díaz Ordaz…’, p. 303.
6
José Agustín, La contracultura en México. La historia y el significado de los rebeldes sin causa, los
jipitecas, los punks y las bandas, 2nd ed. (Mexico: Debolsillo, 2007), p. 35.
7
Rafel Barajas Durán (El Fisgón), Sólo me río cuando me duele, (México: Planeta, 2009), p. 123.
8
Even Gustavo Díaz Ordaz called himself ‘siervo de la nación’ and his party fellow called him
‘Guardián de la paz de México. Eulalio Ferrrer Rodríguez, De la lucha de clases a la lucha de frases: de
la propaganda a la publicidad, 2nd ed. (Mexico: Taurus, 1995), p. 275.
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