Manuel Ávila Camacho | |
|---|---|
(2).png) Official portrait, 1940 | |
| 52nd President of Mexico | |
| In office 1 December 1940 (1940-12-01) – 30 November 1946 (1946-11-30) | |
| Preceded by | Lázaro Cárdenas |
| Succeeded by | Miguel Alemán Valdés |
| Secretary of National Defense of Mexico | |
| In office 18 October 1936 – 31 January 1939 | |
| President | Lázaro Cárdenas |
| Preceded by | Andrés Figueroa |
| Succeeded by | Jesús Agustín Castro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1897-04-24)24 April 1897 Teziutlán, Puebla, Mexico |
| Died | 13 October 1955(1955-10-13) (aged 58) Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, Mexico |
| Resting place | Panteón Francés |
| Political party | Institutional Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse | Soledad Orozco |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Mexico |
| Branch/service | Mexican Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1939 |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
Manuel Ávila Camacho (Spanish pronunciation:[maˈnwelˈaβilakaˈmatʃo]; 24 April 1897 – 13 October 1955) was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as thepresident of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in theMexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he came to the presidency of Mexico because of his direct connection to GeneralLázaro Cárdenas and served him as the Chief of his General Staff during the Mexican Revolution and afterwards.[1] He was called affectionately by Mexicans "The Gentleman President" ("El Presidente Caballero").[2] As president, he pursued "national policies of unity, adjustment, and moderation."[3] His administration completed the transition from military to civilian leadership, ended confrontational anticlericalism, reversed the push for socialist education, and restored a working relationship with the US duringWorld War II.[4]
Manuel Ávila was born inTeziutlán, a small but economically important town inPuebla, to middle-class parents, Manuel Ávila Castillo and Eufrosina Camacho Bello.[5] His older brother,Maximino Ávila Camacho, was a more dominant personality. There were several other siblings, among them a sister, María Jovita Ávila Camacho, and several brothers. Two of his brothers, Maximino Ávila Camacho and Rafael Ávila Camacho, served asgovernors of Puebla.
Manuel Ávila Camacho did not receive a university degree although he studied at theNational Preparatory School.
He joined the revolutionary army in 1914 as a second lieutenant and reached the rank of colonel by 1920. The same year, he served as the chief of staff of the state ofMichoacán underLázaro Cárdenas and became his close friend. He opposed the 1923 rebellion of former revolutionary generalAdolfo de la Huerta.[6] In 1929, he fought under General Cárdenas against the Escobar Rebellion, the last serious military rebellion of disgruntled revolutionary generals, and the same year, he achieved the rank ofbrigadier general.
He was married to Soledad Orozco García (1904–1996), who was born inZapopan, Jalisco, and was a member of a prominent family in Jalisco.
After his military service, Ávila Camacho entered the public arena in 1933 as the executive officer of the Secretariat of National Defense and became Secretary of National Defense in 1937. In 1940, he was elected president of Mexico after he had been nominated to represent the party that later became theInstitutional Revolutionary Party.
Camacho won the controversial presidential election over right-wing candidate and revolutionary-era GeneralJuan Andreu Almazán.
Ávila Camacho, a professedCatholic, said, "I am a believer." Since the revolution, all presidents had beenanticlerical.[7] During Ávila's term, the conflict between theRoman Catholic Church in Mexico and the Mexican government largely ended.
He protected the working class by creating theMexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in 1943. He worked to reduce illiteracy, continued land reform, and declared a rent freeze to benefit low-income citizens.
He promoted election reform and passed a new electoral law in 1946 to make it difficult for opposition parties of the far right and the far left to operate legally. The law established the following criteria that had to be fulfilled by any political organization to be recognized as a political party:
On 18 January 1946, he had the Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM) renamed to theInstitutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), its current name. The Mexican army had been a sector of the PRM, but it was eliminated from the organization of the PRI.[9]
Economically, he pursued the country's industrialization, which benefited only a small group, and income inequality increased.[10] World War II stimulated Mexican industry, which grew by approximately 10% annually between 1940 and 1945, and Mexican raw materials fueled the US war industry.[11]
In agriculture, his administration invited theRockefeller Foundation to introduceGreen Revolution technology to bolster Mexico's agricultural productivity.[12]
In education, Ávila reversed Lázaro Cárdenas's policy of socialist education in Mexico and had the constitutional amendments that mandated it repealed.[13]
During his term, Ávila Camacho faced the difficulty of governing duringWorld War II. After two of Mexico's ships (Potrero del Llano andFaja de Oro) carrying oil were destroyed by Germansubmarines in theGulf of Mexico,[14] Ávila declared war against theAxis powers on 22 May 1942. Mexican participation in World War II was mainly limited to an airborne squadron, the201st (Escuadrón 201), to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. The squadron consisted of 300 men, and after receiving training in Texas, it was sent to the Philippines on 27 March 1945. On 7 June 1945, its missions started, and the squadron participated in theBattle of Luzon. By the end of the war, 5 Mexican soldiers had lost their lives in combat. Despite its short participation in the war, Mexico belonged to the victorious nations and had thus gained the right to participate in the postwar international conferences.[15]
Mexico's joining the conflict on the side of the Allies improved relations with the United States. Mexico provided both raw material for the conflict and also 300,000 guest workers under theBracero program to replace some of the Americans who had left to fight in the war. Mexico also resumed diplomatic relations with theUnited Kingdom and theSoviet Union, which had been broken off during the presidency ofLázaro Cárdenas.[citation needed] In 1945, Mexico signed theUnited Nations Charter, and in 1946, it became the headquarters of the Inter-American Conference about War and Peace.[citation needed]
Conflicts with the United States, which had existed in the decades before his presidency, were resolved. Especially in the early years of World War II, Mexican-American relations were excellent. The United States provided Mexico with financial aid for improvements on the railway system and the construction of the Pan American Highway. Moreover, the Mexican foreign debt was reduced.[16]
When his term ended in 1946, Ávila retired to work on his farm.[17]
In 1951, PresidentMiguel Alemán Valdés, nearing the end of his six-year term, expressed his desire to have theConstitution amended to allow him to be re-elected. Ávila Camacho and Cárdenas had former presidentAbelardo L. Rodríguez give a statement that they didn't "think extension of the presidential term or re-election is convenient for the country." This allowed for the transfer of power to PresidentAdolfo Ruiz Cortines in 1952.[18]
Ávila Camacho died at his farm of a heart ailment on 13 October 1955, aged 58.[19]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andrés Figueroa | Secretary of National Defense of Mexico 1936–1939 | Succeeded by Jesús Agustín Castro |
| Preceded by | President of Mexico 1940–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Lázaro Cárdenas | PRI nominee for President of Mexico 1940 | Succeeded by Miguel Alemán Valdés |
