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Mexico, Good Neighbor’s Dilemma

Violence and controversy surround the Mexican presidential elections as the people’s cry of ‘Land for the landless’ upsets the old order and causes concern north of the Rio Grande.

1941 19 mins

Overview

‘Mexico for the Mexicans!’ The heartfelt plea of Mexico’s impoverished peasants found an answer in the reforms of President Lázaro Cárdenas, who redistributed land, took control of all foreign oil holdings and invested in irrigation and education: to the anger of the Mexican aristocracy and foreign businesses alike. The effects of these seismic changes are shown in this powerful film, which sees Mexico poised on a knife edge between a semi-feudal state and an emerging modern democracy.

The dramatic events of the Presidential Elections of 1940 form the backdrop to this issue which gives a largely positive portrayal of the reforms of Cárdenas. Footage of voters being prevented from putting their slips in the ballot box and the mass funerals of some of the ninety people who died in the unrest during the elections captures the instability of the country, but Cardenas’s canny handling of the situation show him to be a formidable politician, who was, according to Leon Trotsky, the leader of the only honest government in the world.

Original title

The March of Time 6th Year No. 9

Country

USA

Language

English

Subjects

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