Bajatripper
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Happy "Dia de la Expropiacion del Petroleo"
Ask a Mexican who their favorite president is, and more than a few will answer “Lazaro Card##as,” a president few Americans have even heard of. Like
so many other Mexican presidents of the era, he’d been a general in the Revolution, but it wasn’t his war exploits that made him a national hero. In
Mexico, he’s best known as the president who expropriated the Mexican oil fields from foreign control, announcing his decision at 10:00 p.m. on the
evening of March 18th, 1938 in a fifteen minute speech broadcast over all of the nation’s radio stations.
Mexico entered the oil production era in the late 1800s, during the 36 year-reign of don Porfirio Diaz, the dictator who fled into exile to begin the
Mexican Revolution in 1910. During his administration the nation signed over control of most of the country’s mineral rights to foreign enterprises in
an effort to “modernize” the nation. Seventeen foreign companies from the United States, Britain and the Netherlands controlled all aspects of the oil
industry in Mexico. In exchange for its oil wealth, the nation received a token tax that amounted to whatever the companies felt like paying.
One of the outcomes of the Revolution of 1910 was the Constitution of 1917 which, among other things, stated that all of the nation’s mineral deposits
were the property of the Mexican people and that the government was to overseer them to the nation’s benefit. The trouble was the foreign enterprises
simply refused to recognize the new rules and said they were “grandfathered” (their previous mineral rights continue to be recognized) and kept doing
business-as-usual. If any president got too uppity about the amount the companies paid, the companies and their home governments would exert economic
and military pressure to get him to see things in a more agreeable manner.
Many in Mexico objected to this arrangement, but nothing changed year after year. Making matters even more humiliating for the host nation, Mexican
workers were paid inferior wages, had less comfortable living quarters and had to do the dangerous work. The nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the
companies had to change their ways, especially when it came to human rights and equal pay, rulings that the foreign oil conglomerates continued to
ignore. Some administrations showed little interest in upholding the law and were even brought in as associates by some of the companies.
That all changed when General Lazaro Card##as came to power in1935. He immediately championed workers’ rights and supported their right to unionize
and petition for better treatment and higher pay. When strikes shut down the nation’s oil—and gasoline—production for 12 days, the president stepped
in to get both sides back to the negotiating table. This process repeated itself until Card##as concluded that the foreigners had no interest in
reaching an agreement and decided to enforce Article 27 of the Constitution, which basically took back the nation’s mineral deposits to be exploited
for the nation’s benefit—though Card##as focused solely on the oil reserves.
In the days after his famous speech, a massive march in Mexico City reportedly drew over 100,000 people as a show of support for the president’s
decision, and the rest of the nation let the president know they felt likewise. Even the Catholic Church, which had been engaged in open warfare
against the president previous to the oil crisis, supported the president in his hour of need.
President Card##as, being a fair man, attempted to reach a settlement with the oil companies, but all of them initially refused to even meet for
talks. And when they did finally start talking about indemnities, they wanted to be compensated for the value of the crude oil that was still in the
ground and which they still considered their property. Card##as argued that this went contrary to the whole point of the Constitution which was, that
the oil was and always will be the property of the Mexican people.
To support American oil company claims, the US government quit buying Mexican silver—which was a price support for the Mexican peso—only to reconsider
it the following year when US mining companies with interests in Mexican silver mines began complaining that the silver embargo was costing them
money. US companies that made tools for the oil industry refused to sell to the newly-formed, government-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and
American refineries refused to buy Mexican crude. But the boycott by tool-makers didn’t last long since they were losing the Mexican business to the
European companies that made the same things. Ironically, the US and British boycott of Mexican crude helped fuel the German and Italian war machines
for a little while. Once the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, all sales ceased (and the Mexicans began losing oil tankers to German U-Boat attacks).
In the end, all of the oil companies reached agreement with the Mexican government and were paid for their capital investments, and handsomely so.
And that is the story behind why Mexicans celebrate March 18th. My kid didn’t have to attend school on Monday to honor the day.
[Edited on 3-18-2014 by Bajatripper]
There most certainly is but one side to every story: the TRUTH. Variations of it are nothing but lies.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajatripper
And that is the story behind why Mexicans celebrate March 18th. My kid didn’t have to attend school on Monday to honor the day...........
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..........as well as Benito Juarez's birthday.
March 21 Benito Juárez's birthday Natalicio de Benito Juárez Commemorates President Benito Juárez's birthday on March 21, 1806
Observance: Third Monday of March
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Nationalization was one of Lazaro Card##as' acts. The establishment of Ejidos and cooperativas was actually much more beneficial to many Mexicanos,
but the The Oil Is Ours is the flagship celebration.
Like any social experiment the Some Piggies Are More Equal Than Others flaw caused unabashed corruption with the group organizations.
But then I sat with a dozen friends during the California Electricity Deregulation debacle and that back-slapping and hooting laugh-a-thon plus the
revelation that CFE was selling power to California for far less than what Mexicans had to pay finished the off the idea that Mexican energy will ever
be privatized.
Yeah, free enterprise. Ninety nine dollar forty cents for 42 gallons of crude oil and guess who OWNS the crude oil? Fracking is making the USA a major
exporter of some of the sweetest crude oil in the world and vertical integration makes sure the public gets screwed every step of the way from field
to gas tank. But then there's the other extreme where government crowds the hog trough in Mexico City. PEMEX is the prime money supplier of Mexican
politicians.
Love it. I'm going to save up and buy one of those 90 mpg scooters when I get home.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Bajaboy
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Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
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What about Ronald Reagan's birthday Didn't the Republican icon put forth
amnesty?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
the The Oil Is Ours is the flagship celebration.
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The constitution always said the oil was theirs. What the constitution failed to take into account was concessions peddled by greedy government.
Cárdenas put a stop to that, but probably not forever. [I can feel him turning in his grave right now]
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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I love those boulevards named after Carlos Salinas de Gotari, Echeverria, Porfirio Diaz, Aleman, et al.
That bald headed midget Salinas campaigned feverishly to become the President of The World Bank after he was exiled in the land of Leprechauns.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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