Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1974 The aC rdenas Doctrine and Twentieth-Century Mexican Foreign Policy. Jerry Edwin Tyler Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Tyler, Jerry Edwin, "The aC rdenas Doctrine and Twentieth-Century Mexican Foreign Policy." (1974). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2768. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2768 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. t INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 481 OS 75-14,291 TYLER, Jerry Edwin, 1939- THE CARDENAS DOCTRINE AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY MEXICAN FOREIGN POLICY. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1974 History, modern Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 0 1975 JERRY EDWIN TYLER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE CARDENAS DOCTRINE AND TWENTIETH- CENTURY MEXICAN FOREIGN POLICY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Jerry Edwin Tyler M.A., Louisiana State University, 1970 December, 1974 TABLE OP CONTENTS t M S L ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION viii Chapter I Laz&ro Cardenas the Revo­ 1 lutionary Chapter II The Cardenas Doctrine and 21 Mexican Foreign Policy Chapter III Mexican Relations with Spaini *7 the Civil War Chapter IV Mexico and International Coa- 87 aunisai the Cardenas Years Chapter V Mexican Relations with the 130 United States, Part It the Oil Expropriations Chapter VI Mexican Relations with the 178 United States, Part II< the Questions of Silver and Ter­ ritorial Rights Chapter VII Mexican Relations with Great 201 Britaini Oil and Isperial- isa Chapter VIII Cardenas the Elder Statesaan 237 of Mexico Chapter IX Analysis of the Cardenas 270 Adninistration BIBLIOGRAPHY 291 VITA 309 . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to acknowledge in particular two professors whose help made this dissertation possible: Dr. Jane DeGrummond, who as major professor directed the work; and Dr. James R. Hawkes, who helped organize the final format. Besides these and others in the academic community whose contributions are greatly appreciated, I must al­ so thank my wife, Cecilia Sanchez Tyler, not only for her understanding and moral support, but for the long hours she spent with me in Mexico searching through old newspapers and documents. In addition, when I was un­ able to return to Mexico to get answers to my last few questions, she went in my place and conducted inter­ views based on questions I supplied her. The parents of my wife must also be given a large share of the credit for the completion of this work. My father-in-law, Josd Luis Sanchez Munguia, not only supplied us with a place to stay in his home during our frequent visits to Mexico, but actively searched for research materials and put me in touch with other in­ dividuals who had an interest in my subject. My mother- in-law, Irma Faz Sanchez, obtained all necessary data iii pertaining to research in the C&rdenas papers in the Mexican archives prior to our arrival so that no time was lost. There were others in Mexico who helped in various ways too numerous to mention. But I must single out one other for special thanks. This was Dr. Luis Quintanilla, who not only invited me into his home and granted me time to ask him questions about his relationship with C&rdenas, but who was kind enough to help set up other interviews. I will always be grateful to this extremely cultured and intelligent man. iv ABSTRACT When L&zaro Cdrdenas became president of Mexico in December 1934, a large part of Mexico's economy was under the control of foreign investors who successfully had fought off all attempts by previous Mexican govern­ ments to apply the constitutional principles which had come out of the Mexican Revolution and which would have infringed on that control. C&rdenas had joined the Revolution at the age of eighteen, had been a revolu­ tionary general at twenty-five, and temporary governor of his home state of Michoacdn at the same age. Only thirty-nine when he was elected president, Cdrdenas was ready to fight politically for the same ideals for which he had fought militarily during the Revolution. The Cdrdenas Doctrine, although formalized by the Socialist Front of Lawyers of Mexico only after Cdrdenas already had served four years of his term, was from the beginning the central doctrine of the C&r- denas administration. Based on precedents such as the Calvo Clause, the C&rdenas Doctrine held that the terms "citizenship" and "nationality" could be applied only to specific territorial limits, and that no foreigner in Mexico could use his citizenship of another nation v as justification for turning to his own government in disputes with Mexico. CArdenas insisted that all per­ sons residing in Mexico consider themselves the same as Mexican nationals, with no more nor fewer rights under the law. The application of the principles of the CArdenas Doctrine was the cause for CArdenas and his government's being labeled radical in many parts. Some even accused him and his government of being communist when as early as 1936 Mexico began giving aid to the Spanish Republican government. The other major help given to the Spanish Republicans came from the Soviet Union, thus making Mexico guilty by association in the minds of many. But when Mexico started giving asylum to Spanish refugees, no stipulation was made as to the political beliefs of those seeking asylum. Mexico only insisted on adher­ ence to the principles of what was to become the CAr- denas Doctrine. If the case of Spain served to confuse the issue, the grant of asylum to Leon Trotsky in 1937 should have indicated that CArdenas was not under any kind of in­ fluence from the Soviet Union. Not only was his de­ fiance of that nation in granting the asylum of tre­ mendous importance, but his refusal to renew relations with the U.S.S.R. during his term wsb further evidence that he was pursuing an independent course. vi In international impact, however, these cases were minor compared with the most outstanding example of the application of the CArdenas Doctrine— the expropriation of British and American-owned oil properties on March 18, 1938. The United States recognized the right of Mexico to expropriate the properties, hut demanded immediate and adequate compensation. Great Britain demanded the return of the properties, and the dispute reached the point where Mexico broke relations and did not renew them until after CArdenas left office. CArdenas remained a key figure in Mexican politics after leaving office, and his outspoken attitude, es­ pecially on economic independence, sometimes irritated other powers such as the United States. The Cuban- United States' conflict of the 1960*3 provided CArde­ nas with one more opportunity to attack economic im­ perialism before he died on October 19, 1970. vii INTRODUCTION Entire books have been written about Mexican- United States foreign policy, or even one incident in the relations between these two countries. It is not, therefore, the intention of this work to cover all of Mexico's foreign policy in the 20th Century. Neither will an attempt be made to write a complete political biography of the man who some feel was the most domi­ nant individual in Mexican politics in this century up to the present.