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

gave money in secret to Scherer to continue production. Ultimately, the businessmen
gave up and Excélsior survived. 81 The president had reasons to support Excélsior: Julio
Scherer was a good friend, but, above all, he wanted to control the newspaper and by
doing so, control criticism of the government. However, Excélsior never came into line,
and in 1976 Echeverría organised another boycott, this time from inside the newspaper,
in order to remove the leadership. The case of Excélsior shows that not all the
journalists and mass media were co-opted. Some retained their professional ethics. In
the film Tívoli there is a journalist whose luck is similar to those from Excélsior. He
criticises on the front page of the newspaper he works for the decision to close the
Tívoli. Afterwards, he is downgraded and sent to a different section of the newspaper.
In the Excélsior affair, when businessman Sánchez Navarro discovered this
betrayal he redoubled his efforts against the government, supported by other
businessmen in Mexico who were displeased with Echeverría. Investment in Mexico
declined, capital left the country, and rumours began of a possible devaluation. 82
Ultimately, all these events did result in a devaluation at the end of Echeverría’s
presidency. The devaluation was not only a consequence of private sector actions, but
also the result of many poor economic decisions taken by Echeverría as well as external
factors such as global recession and the increasing cost of oil. 83 By the end of his
sexenio it was impossible to contain the crisis, although Echeverría and his cabinet tried.
The economy was taking a turn for the worse, despite the fact that some authorities and
businessmen believed that it was returning to normality. 84 By September 1976,
devaluation had resulted in increased prices, a flight of capital, and the decline of the
81
A complete description of the Excélsior boycott can be found in Julio Scherer’s book, Los presidentes,
pp. 122-133.
82
José Agustín, Tragicomedia mexicana 2… pp. 111-112.
83
Manuel Gollás, ‘Breve relato de cincuenta años de política económica’, in Una historia contemporánea
de México… pp. 223-312 (pp. 238-239).
84
Carlos Tello, La política económica en México, 1970-1976, 11th ed. (Mexico: siglo veintiuno editores,
1993), p. 156.
57