DOCSLIB.ORG

1890-1920 a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

REVOLUTION AND THE INDUSTRIAL CITY: VIOLENCE AND CAPITALISM IN MONTERREY, MEXICO, 1890-1920 A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Rodolfo Fernández, M.A. Washington, DC November 22, 2013 Copyright 2013 by Rodolfo Fernández All Rights Reserved ii REVOLUTION AND THE INDUSTRIAL CITY: VIOLENCE AND CAPITALISM IN MONTERREY, MEXICO, 1890-1920 Rodolfo Fernández, M.A. Thesis Advisor: John Tutino, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Revolution and the Industrial City makes two major contributions to the field: it expands our understanding of the structure of the global economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it inserts the strategic, economic, and political value of Monterrey into the histories of the Mexican revolution. Specifically, this study analyzes international networks of trade, violence and social relations along the U.S.-Mexico border, focused on the city of Monterrey. The analysis begins by rethinking Monterrey’s origins under Spanish colonial rule and its transformation into the leading city of the Mexico-U.S. borderlands in the 1850s and 1860s. The study then details how Monterrey became a unique industrial city in the continental interior, making textiles for regional markets, steel for expanding Mexican railroads, beer and the glass to contain it for Mexican consumers, and refined silver for export to the U.S.—a precocious industrialization consolidated around 1900. The analysis turns to the challenges of sustaining industrial capitalism in the face of serial crises: a devastating flood in 1909, the political crises rooted in Monterrey that led to the outbreak of revolution in 1910, and the uncertainties of years of political and social conflict mostly away from the city in 1910-1914. Finally, this dissertation examines the culminating year of 1915, when an alliance forged by Pancho Villa, the Madero family, and General Felipe Ángeles worked to ground a revived revolutionary faction in the industrial economy of Monterrey. The attempt confirmed the pivotal importance of the northern iii industrial city and the fragility of industry in a time of revolution. The alliance could hold the city, but its opponents used mobile rural warfare to cut transport links, blocking supplies of raw cotton, mineral ores, and coal while limiting access to markets in Mexico and the U.S. While set during the early twentieth century, Revolution in the Industrial City is based on research that begins in the colonial period and introduces a new vision of the nineteenth century. Sources used in this study range from Foreign Service documents in Washington and London to state and municipal archives in northeastern Mexico. iv Through much of the time I spent researching this dissertation, I enjoyed the financial support of CONACyT and Georgetown University. I want to thank everyone in Georgetown’s Department of History for their intellectual and material support. In particular, I want to thank Katherine Benton-Cohen, Bryan McCann, David Painter, and especially John Tutino; his time and patience guided me through this project and his insight strengthened my work. My colleagues in the Latin American History Research Seminar (LAHRS) provided me with invaluable feedback in the classroom, in our seminars, and in happy hour. I also want to thank my students in Georgetown, Brandeis, and Tufts because they pushed me to be curious, creative, and ambitious. Finally, I have to recognize the difficult and indispensible labor of all those librarians and archivists who do great things with limited resources. I want to dedicate this dissertation to my grandfather who taught me to love history, to my mother who taught me to love writing, and to my sister who has shared so much with me. I especially want to dedicate my work to my beautiful wife Debbie. This project only exists because of her. For years, she has been my intellectual partner, my companion, my editor, my inspiration, and my friend. I am lucky to share my life with her. Many thanks, Rodolfo Fernández v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Reassessing the importance of Monterrey in Mexican history ........................................ 4 Chapter Breakdown ......................................................................................................... 8 Chapter I. Commerce, conflict, and adaptation on a Colonial Frontier, 1496-1850 ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Explorations and first settlements .................................................................................. 21 The Zavala reforms ........................................................................................................ 30 New attempts at reform: the late colonial period ........................................................... 41 Breakdown of peace in northeastern Mexico ................................................................ 48 The war for the North American Borderlands ............................................................... 54 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter II. Bordering on capitalsim: the rise of urban-industrial Monterrey, 1850-1908 ..................................................................................................................... 61 Santiago Vidaurri and the emergence of a new order .................................................... 65 The U.S. Civil War and the early capitalization of Monterrey ...................................... 74 Infrastructure construction and industrializing frenzy ................................................... 77 Local politics and the rise of Bernardo Reyes ............................................................... 87 The Mexican smelting boom of the late nineteenth century .......................................... 91 Economic growth and urban expansion ....................................................................... 110 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 117 vi Chapter III. Converging crises: disaster and political breakdown in the capitalist city ............................................................................................................................... 119 Challenges to Reyes ..................................................................................................... 122 Gerónimo Treviño’s revenge: the decline of Reyes .................................................... 126 The 1909 flood in San Luisito ..................................................................................... 130 Aftermath of the flood ................................................................................................. 136 Foreign relief ................................................................................................................ 139 The Flood: politics and crisis ....................................................................................... 143 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 148 Chapter IV. Revolutionary reverberations: Monterrey’s capitalists and the transformation of Mexican politics, 1910-1914 ....................................................................................... 150 Maderismo ant the new opposition to Díaz ................................................................. 152 The Madero presidency ............................................................................................... 159 The Failed revolution of Bernardo Reyes .................................................................... 163 Challenges to Madero .................................................................................................. 170 The Fall of Madero ...................................................................................................... 174 The Constitutionalist rebellion ..................................................................................... 185 The Fall of Huerta from Monterrey ............................................................................. 193 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 198 Chapter V. Turning the revolution: political coalitions and economic strategies, 1914-1915 ..................................................................................................................... 201 Breakdown of the Constitutionalist alliance ................................................................ 206 Attempts to save the Cosntitutionalist coalition .......................................................... 213 vii La Soberana Convención Revolucionaria de Aguascalientes ..................................... 216 Carranza’s escape and the Constitutionalist control of ports ....................................... 221 Carranza in Veracruz ................................................................................................... 225 Constitutionalist sabotage and forced recruitment ......................................................
Recommended publications
  • Perfil Histórico De La Guerra Cristera

    Perfil Histórico De La Guerra Cristera

    Lusitania Sacra . 33 (Janeiro-Junho 2016) 269-290 Perfil histórico de la guerra cristera JUAN GONZÁLEZ MORFÍN jgonzalezmorfin@yahoo .com .mx Resumen: Después de más de diez años de constantes restricciones a la libertad religiosa, en 1926 el episcopado mexicano declaró que ya no existían las condiciones mínimas para que los sacerdotes siguieran ejerciendo su ministerio . En ese momento, muchos católicos mexicanos, después de haber agotado todos los recursos, eligieron el camino de las armas para defender la libertad religiosa: es lo que se conoce como “guerra cristera” . En este breve estudio se ofrecen los rasgos más importantes para conocer esta etapa de la historia de México . Palabras clave: Guerra, Resistencia, Licitud moral, Libertad religiosa, Legítima defensa . Perfil histórico da guerra cristera Resumo: Após mais de uma década de permanentes restrições à liberdade religiosa, em 1926 o episcopado mexicano declarou não existirem condições mínimas para que os sacerdotes continuassem a exercer o seu ministério . Nesse momento, muitos católicos mexicanos, depois de esgotados todos os recursos, escolheram a via das armas para defender a liberdade religiosa: aquilo a que ficou conhecido como “guerra cristera” . Neste estudo apresentamos em traços gerais esta etapa da história do México . Palavras-chave: Guerra, Resistência, Legitimidade moral, Liberdade religiosa, Legítima-defesa . Historical profile of the Cristero War Abstract: After more than ten years of continued restrictions on religious freedom, in 1926 the Mexican bishops declared that since there were no minimum conditions for the priests to continue ministering . In this moment, many Mexican Catholics, because they had no choice to defend their religious freedom, they chose the path of arms: this is what is known as “Cristero War” .
  • The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory

    The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory

    History in the Making Volume 13 Article 5 January 2020 The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory Consuelo S. Moreno CSUSB Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making Part of the Latin American History Commons Recommended Citation Moreno, Consuelo S. (2020) "The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory," History in the Making: Vol. 13 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making/vol13/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in History in the Making by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Articles The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory By Consuelo S. Moreno Abstract: Many scattered occurrences in Mexico bring to memory the 1926-1929 Cristero War, the contentious armed struggle between the revolutionary government and the Catholic Church. After the conflict ceased, the Cristeros and their legacy did not become part of Mexico’s national identity. This article explores the factors why this war became a distant memory rather than a part of Mexico’s history. Dissipation of Cristero groups and organizations, revolutionary social reforms in the 1930s, and the intricate relationship between the state and Church after 1929 promoted a silence surrounding this historical event. Decades later, a surge in Cristero literature led to the identification of notable Cristero figures in the 1990s and early 2000s.
  • The Army Lawyer Is Published Monthly by the Judge Advocate General's School for the Official Use of Army Lawyers in the Performance of Their Legal Responsibilities

    The Army Lawyer Is Published Monthly by the Judge Advocate General's School for the Official Use of Army Lawyers in the Performance of Their Legal Responsibilities

    Editor, Captain Scott B. Murray Editorial Assistant, Mr. Charles J. Strong The Army Lawyer is published monthly by The Judge Advocate General's School for the official use of Army lawyers in the performance of their legal responsibilities. The opinions expressed by the authors in the articles, however, do not necessarily reflect the view of The Judge Advocate General or the Department of the Army. Masculine or feminine pronouns appearing in this pamphlet refer to both genders unless the context indicates another use. The Army Lawyer welcomes articles on topics of interest to military lawyers. Articles should be submitted on 3 1/2” diskettes to Editor, The Army Lawyer, The Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army, ATTN: JAGS-ADL-P, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-1781. Article text and footnotes should be double-spaced in Times New Roman, 10 point font, and Microsoft Word format. Articles should follow A Uniform System of Citation (16th ed. 1996) and Military Citation (TJAGSA, July 1997). Manuscripts will be returned upon specific request. No compensation can be paid for articles. The Army Lawyer articles are indexed in the Index to Legal Periodicals, the Current Law Index, the Legal Resources Index, and the Index to U.S. Government Periodicals. Address changes for official channels distribution: Provide changes to the Editor, The Army Lawyer, TJAGSA, 600 Massie Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-1781, telephone 1 -800-552-3978, ext. 396 or e-mail: [email protected]. Issues may be cited as Army Law., [date], at [page number]. Periodicals postage paid at Charlottesville, Virginia and additional mailing offices.
  • The Diplomatic Battle for the United States, 1914-1917

    The Diplomatic Battle for the United States, 1914-1917

    ACQUIRING AMERICA: THE DIPLOMATIC BATTLE FOR THE UNITED STATES, 1914-1917 Presented to The Division of History The University of Sheffield Fulfilment of the requirements for PhD by Justin Quinn Olmstead January 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 1: Pre-War Diplomacy 29 A Latent Animosity: German-American Relations 33 Britain and the U.S.: The Intimacy of Attraction and Repulsion 38 Rapprochement a la Kaiser Wilhelm 11 45 The Set Up 52 Advancing British Interests 55 Conclusion 59 2: The United States and Britain's Blockade 63 Neutrality and the Declaration of London 65 The Order in Council of 20 August 1914 73 Freedom of the Seas 83 Conclusion 92 3: The Diplomacy of U-Boat Warfare 94 The Chancellor's Challenge 96 The Chancellor's Decision 99 The President's Protest 111 The Belligerent's Responses 116 First Contact: The Impact of U-Boat Warfare 119 Conclusion 134 4: Diplomatic Acquisition via Mexico 137 Entering the Fray 140 Punitive Measures 145 Zimmerman's Gamble 155 Conclusion 159 5: The Peace Option 163 Posturing for Peace: 1914-1915 169 The House-Grey Memorandum 183 The German Peace Offer of 1916 193 Conclusion 197 6: Conclusion 200 Bibliography 227 Introduction Shortly after war was declared in August 1914 the undisputed leaders of each alliance, Great Britain and Gennany, found they were unable to win the war outright and began searching for further means to secure victory; the fonnation of a blockade, the use of submarines, attacking the flanks (Allied attacks in the Balkans and Baltic), Gennan Zeppelin bombardment of British coastal towns, and the diplomatic search for additional allies in an attempt to break the stalemate that had ensued soon after fighting had commenced.
  • Mexico: a Decade of Falling Inequality: Market Forces Or State Action? Gerardo Esquivel, Nora Lustig, and John Scott

    Mexico: a Decade of Falling Inequality: Market Forces Or State Action? Gerardo Esquivel, Nora Lustig, and John Scott

    07-0410-2 CH 7:Cohen-Easterly 3/17/10 8:47 PM Page 175 7 Mexico: A Decade of Falling Inequality: Market Forces or State Action? gerardo esquivel, nora lustig, and john scott exico is among the most unequal countries in the world.1 However, it is Mmaking progress in becoming less unequal: from 1996 to 2006, Mexico’s Gini coefficient fell from 0.543 to 0.498 (or by 0.8 percent a year),2 and from 2000 to 2006 it fell by 1 percent a year.3 The decline in inequality coincided with 1. The authors are grateful to participants in the UNDP project “Markets, the State, and the Dynam- ics of Inequality in Latin America,” coordinated by Nora Lustig and Luis Felipe López Calva, as well as to participants in seminars at the United Nations offices in New York and Mexico City, the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association meeting in Rio de Janeiro, and the Latin American Studies Associa- tion meeting in Rio de Janeiro. We also are very grateful to Mary Kwak and anonymous reviewers for their very useful comments and suggestions and to Fedora Carbajal as well as Edith Cortés, Francisco Islas, and Mariellen Malloy Jewers for their outstanding research assistance. 2. The Gini reported in this paragraph is calculated by using total income (which includes monetary income and nonmonetary income, such as the imputed value of owner-occupied housing and auto- consumption, but does not include capital gains). The decomposition of income inequality by source pre- sented in this chapter uses current monetary income (which excludes capital gains and nonmonetary income).
  • Situacion Actual Del Recurso Agua

    Situacion Actual Del Recurso Agua

    Capítulo 7. Situación actual del recurso agua José Luís González Barrios Luc Descroix Jambon Ignacio Sánchez Cohen Introducción Ya desde el siglo XVI se documentaba al agua como el principal factor de los asentamientos humanos en el antiguo territorio de la Comarca Lagunera (Corona, 2005). La importancia de los ríos, arroyos y lagunas fue evidente para los primeros pobladores que asentaron sus comunidades cerca de los cauces y embalses naturales, mucho antes del panorama actual dominado por lagunas secas, canales de riego, extensas tierras de cultivo, presas y ciudades. El agua sigue siendo un recurso muy importante para el desarrollo económico de la Comarca Lagunera, sin embargo, con el paso del tiempo, ese desarrollo ha generado recíprocamente una demanda hídrica cada vez mayor y la derrama económica de las actividades productivas no ha ayudado a ordenar el consumo de este recurso, cuyas reservas aun mal estimadas y poco seguras, parecen disminuir hasta agotarse. La elevada extracción de aguas subterráneas, por ejemplo, se ha mantenido durante los últimos sesenta años, provocando un abatimiento sostenido de casi 1.5 m por año y un deterioro gradual de la calidad del agua. Los escenarios futuros con un consumo hídrico igual, son insostenibles para esta región desértica que requiere urgentemente de un ordenamiento en el uso y manejo del agua. Este capitulo presenta una aproximación del estado que guarda el recurso agua en la Comarca Lagunera y sus principales fuentes de abasto hídrico. La Comarca Lagunera inmersa en la cuenca hidrológica Nazas-Aguanaval La Comarca Lagunera es una importante región económica en el norte centro de México que abarca quince municipios (47,980 km2) de los estados de Coahuila y Durango, donde se generan abundantes bienes y servicios relacionados con la actividad agropecuaria e industrial.
  • Descendants of the Anusim (Crypto-Jews) in Contemporary Mexico

    Descendants of the Anusim (Crypto-Jews) in Contemporary Mexico

    Descendants of the Anusim (Crypto-Jews) in Contemporary Mexico Slightly updated version of a Thesis for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” by Schulamith Chava Halevy Hebrew University 2009 © Schulamith C. Halevy 2009-2011 This work was carried out under the supervision of Professor Yom Tov Assis and Professor Shalom Sabar To my beloved Berthas In Memoriam CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................7 1.1 THE PROBLEM.................................................................................................................7 1.2 NUEVO LEÓN ............................................................................................................ 11 1.2.1 The Original Settlement ...................................................................................12 1.2.2 A Sephardic Presence ........................................................................................14 1.2.3 Local Archives.......................................................................................................15 1.3 THE CARVAJAL TRAGEDY ....................................................................................... 15 1.4 THE MEXICAN INQUISITION ............................................................................. 17 1.4.1 José Toribio Medina and Alfonso Toro.......................................................17 1.4.2 Seymour Liebman ...............................................................................................18 1.5 CRYPTO‐JUDAISM
  • The Mexican General Officer Corps in the US

    The Mexican General Officer Corps in the US

    University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Latin American Studies ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-1-2011 Valor Wrought Asunder: The exM ican General Officer Corps in the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847. Javier Ernesto Sanchez Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ltam_etds Recommended Citation Sanchez, Javier Ernesto. "Valor Wrought Asunder: The exM ican General Officer Corps in the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847.." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ltam_etds/3 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Latin American Studies ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Javier E. Sánchez Candidate Latin-American Studies Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: L.M. García y Griego, Chairperson Teresa Córdova Barbara Reyes i VALOR WROUGHT ASUNDER: THE MEXICAN GENERAL OFFICER CORPS IN THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR, 1846 -1847 by JAVIER E. SANCHEZ B.B.A., BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO 2009 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December 2011 ii VALOR WROUGHT ASUNDER: THE MEXICAN GENERAL OFFICER CORPS IN THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR, 1846-1847 By Javier E. Sánchez B.A., Business Administration, University of New Mexico, 2008 ABSTRACT This thesis presents a reappraisal of the performance of the Mexican general officer corps during the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847.
  • Socioeconomic Factors to Improve Production and Marketing of the Pecan Nut in the Comarca Lagunera

    Socioeconomic Factors to Improve Production and Marketing of the Pecan Nut in the Comarca Lagunera

    Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas volume 10 number 3 April 01 - May 15, 2019 Article Socioeconomic factors to improve production and marketing of the pecan nut in the Comarca Lagunera José de Jesús Espinoza Arellano1§ María Gabriela Cervantes Vázquez2 Ignacio Orona Castillo2 Víctor Manuel Molina Morejón1 Liliana Angélica Guerrero Ramos1 Adriana Monserrat Fabela Hernández1 1Faculty of Accounting and Administration-Autonomous University of Coahuila-Torreón Unit. Boulevard Revolution 153 Oriente, Col. Centro, Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. CP. 27000. 2Faculty of Agriculture and Zootechnics-Juarez University of the State of Durango. Ejido Venecia, Gómez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. CP. 35170. §Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract In the Comarca Lagunera 9 957 ha have been established with pecan walnut, with the region being the third in national importance. The studies of socioeconomic type in walnut in Mexico are mainly descriptive, studies that analyze the relationships between the different variables of the crop that allow making recommendations to boost their growth are required. The objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between various socioeconomic factors such as garden size, training and financing with variables such as yields, price, gross income, infrastructure for harvesting and sale of selected nuts. To obtain the information, a survey was applied during 2014 to a sample of 27 orchards distributed throughout the region. The data were analyzed by Analysis of Variance of a factor to compare the means of the groups: orchards that receive vs those that do not receive training, orchards that receive vs those that do not receive financing; and orchards of up to three hectares vs.
  • The Politics of Economic Restructuring in Mexico: Actors, Sequencing, and Coalition Change

    The Politics of Economic Restructuring in Mexico: Actors, Sequencing, and Coalition Change

    1 The Politics of Economic Restructuring in Mexico: Actors, Sequencing, and Coalition Change Maria Lorena Cook, Kevin J. Middlebrook, and Juan Molinar Horcasitas The parallel movements toward political democratization and economic liberalization that have swept many countries in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa, since the early 1980s are a challenging subject of scholarly inquiryybifferent analysts have examined the origins and timing of these developments, the combinations of interna­ tional and domestic factors that produced such historically significant changes, and the interaction between political opening and market reforms (including trade and exchange rate liberalization, deregulation of commercial and investment opportunities, and privatization of state- owned enterprises) in different national contexts. It is certainly the coincidence of shifts toward political democratization and economic liberalization that makes these developments a particularly compelling subject for students of comparative political economy. Wet in many instances, one of these processes clearly antedated the other, often by a substantial period of time. In recognition of this fact, some analysts underscore the potential importance that the sequencing of political and economic opening may have for the timing of regime change and the political profile of newly inaugurated democracies.1 For example, if economic liberalization leads to more rapid growth, an authoritarian regime may bolster its perfor- 1See, for example, Haggard and Kaufman
  • A Guide to the Leadership Elections of the Institutional Revolutionary

    A Guide to the Leadership Elections of the Institutional Revolutionary

    A Guide to the Leadership Elections of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the National Action Party, and the Democratic Revolutionary Party George W. Grayson February 19, 2002 CSIS AMERICAS PROGRAM Policy Papers on the Americas A GUIDE TO THE LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS OF THE PRI, PAN, & PRD George W. Grayson Policy Papers on the Americas Volume XIII, Study 3 February 19, 2002 CSIS Americas Program About CSIS For four decades, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has been dedicated to providing world leaders with strategic insights on—and policy solutions to—current and emerging global issues. CSIS is led by John J. Hamre, formerly deputy secretary of defense, who has been president and CEO since April 2000. It is guided by a board of trustees chaired by former senator Sam Nunn and consisting of prominent individuals from both the public and private sectors. The CSIS staff of 190 researchers and support staff focus primarily on three subject areas. First, CSIS addresses the full spectrum of new challenges to national and international security. Second, it maintains resident experts on all of the world’s major geographical regions. Third, it is committed to helping to develop new methods of governance for the global age; to this end, CSIS has programs on technology and public policy, international trade and finance, and energy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CSIS is private, bipartisan, and tax-exempt. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views expressed herein should be understood to be solely those of the author. © 2002 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
  • Mexico's Presidential Candidates Hernán Ancona C.*

    Mexico's Presidential Candidates Hernán Ancona C.*

    Voices of Mexico /April • June, 1994 19 Mexico's presidential candidates Hernán Ancona C.* he political scene is set, the lights are on and the entire cast of nine actors have begun to deliver their fines with a vengeance; their supporters and the circumstances demand no less. TThe Mexican electorate can look forward to a wide range of political options including Luis Donaldo Colosio (PRI), Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (PRD), Diego Fernández de Cevallos (PAN), Pablo Emilio Madero (UNO), Cecilia Soto (PT), Jorge González Torres (PVEM), Marcela Lombardo Otero (PPS), Rafael Aguilar Talamantes (PFCRN) and Alvaro Pérez Treviño (PARM). The candidates' initially lackluster performance was followed by a radical change, largely as a result of the uprising launched by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Although experts say the EZLN will not guarantee the transition to democracy with acts of violence, it has made the country's leaders aware that democracy has become a necessary pre-requisite for social peace. The terms of the new Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures have forced minority and so-called satellite ' parties to offer presidential candidates. The forthcoming August 21 elections will be the most hotly contested in the country's modem history. Yet while the number of candidates is the largest in recent years, only ina. t three candidates are thought to be really in the running: la Luis Donaldo Colosio, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and Diego en Fernández de Cevallos. / Imag The long list of candidates includes two women, who, Cruz io although little-known in the national political scene and ton virtually outside of the hard-fought contest, also form part An of this smorgasbord of options: Marcela Lombardo Otero Marco and Cecilia Soto González.