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Gustavo Díaz Ordaz

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For the municipality, see Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz Ordaz and the second or maternal family name is Bolaños.

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Official portrait, 1964
56th President of Mexico
In office
1 December 1964 (1964-12-01) – 30 November 1970 (1970-11-30)
Preceded byAdolfo López Mateos
Succeeded byLuis Echeverría
Secretary of the Interior of Mexico
In office
1 December 1958 – 16 November 1964
PresidentAdolfo López Mateos
Preceded byÁngel Carvajal Bernal
Succeeded byLuis Echeverría
Senator of the Congress of the Union
for Puebla
In office
1 September 1946 – 31 August 1952
Preceded byNoé Lecona Soto
Succeeded byLuis C. Manjarrez
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
for Puebla's 1st district
In office
1 September 1943 – 31 August 1946
Preceded byBlas Chumacero
Succeeded byBlas Chumacero
Personal details
Born
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños

(1911-03-12)12 March 1911[1]
San Andrés, Puebla, Mexico
Died15 July 1979(1979-07-15) (aged 68)
Mexico City, Mexico
Resting placePanteón Jardín, Mexico City, Mexico
Political partyInstitutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1937; died 1974)​
Children3
RelativesChespirito (first cousin once removed)
Alma materUniversity of Puebla (LLB)
ProfessionPolitician

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡusˈtaβo ˈði.as oɾˈðas]; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Previously, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Puebla's 1st district, a senator of the Congress of the Union for Puebla, and Secretary of the Interior.

Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, and obtained a law degree from the University of Puebla in 1937 where he later became its vice-rector. He represented Puebla's 1st district in the Chamber of Deputies from 1943 to 1946. Subsequently, he represented the same state in the Chamber of Senators from 1946 to 1952 becoming closely acquainted with then-senator Adolfo López Mateos. Díaz Ordaz was a CIA asset, known by the cryptonym, LITEMPO-2.[2]

Díaz Ordaz joined the campaign of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines for the 1952 election and subsequently worked for the Secretariat of the Interior under Ángel Carvajal Bernal. He became the secretary following López Mateos' victory in the 1958 election, and exercised de facto executive power during the absences of the president, particularly during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1963, the PRI announced him as the presidential candidate for the 1964 election, he received 88.81% of the popular vote.

His administration is mostly remembered for the student protests that took place in 1968, and their subsequent repression by the Army and State forces during the Tlatelolco massacre, in which hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed.[3][4][5] His presidency also took place during a period of high economic growth known as the Mexican Miracle.

After passing on presidency to his own Secretary of the Interior (Luis Echeverría), Díaz Ordaz retired from public life. He was briefly the Ambassador to Spain in 1977, a position he resigned after strong protests and criticism by the media. He died of colorectal cancer on 15 July 1979 at the age of 68.[6]

Despite high economic growth during his presidency, Díaz Ordaz is considered one of the most unpopular and controversial modern Mexican presidents,[7] largely for the Tlatelolco massacre and other repressive acts,[8] which would continue into the presidencies of his successors.

Early life and education

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Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños was born in San Andrés Chalchicomula (now Ciudad Serdán), Puebla. His family was of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry.[9] He had two older siblings, Ramón (born 1905) and María (born 1908), and two younger siblings, Ernesto and Guadalupe.[10] In his later years his father, Ramón Díaz Ordaz Redonet, worked as an accountant. However, for a decade he served in the political machine of President Porfirio Díaz, becoming the jefe político and police administrator of San Andrés Chilchicomula. When Díaz was ousted by revolutionary forces in May 1911 at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, he lost his bureaucratic post in the regime change. Subsequently, the family's financial situation was insecure, and Díaz Ordaz's father took a number of jobs and the family frequently moved.[11] He claimed ancestry with conqueror-chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo.[12] Gustavo's mother, Sabina Bolaños Cacho de Díaz Ordaz, was a school teacher, described as "stern and pious". Gustavo, as well as his elder brother Rámon, had a weak chin and large protruding teeth and was skinny. "His mother would freely say to anyone, 'But what an ugly son I have!'"[13] His lack of good looks became a way to mock him when he became president of Mexico.

The comedian Chespirito (real name Roberto Gómez Bolaños) was his first cousin once removed.[14][15]

When the family lived for a time in Oaxaca, the young Díaz Ordaz attended the Institute of Arts and Sciences,[16] whose alumni included Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz. He was a serious student, but due to his family's financial circumstances, he could not always buy the textbooks he needed. At one point, the family lived as a charity case with a maternal uncle in Oaxaca, who was a Oaxaca state official. The family had to absent themselves when powerful visitors came to the residence. While Gustavo attended the institute, his elder brother Ramón taught there after studies in Spain, teaching Latin. A student mocked Professor Ramón Díaz Ordaz's ugliness, and Gustavo defended his brother with physical force.[17] Díaz Ordaz graduated from the University of Puebla on 8 February 1937 with a law degree. He became a professor at the university and served as vice-rector from 1940 to 1941.

Early political career

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A young Díaz Ordaz in 1938, behind President Lázaro Cárdenas (front row, center), and future presidents Manuel Ávila Camacho (front row, farthest to the left), and Miguel Alemán (front row immediately left of center).

His political career had a modest start. He had not fought in the Revolution and his father had been part of Porfirio Díaz's regime, so his political rise was not straightforward. He served in the government of Puebla from 1932 to 1943. In the latter year he became a federal politician, serving in the Chamber of Deputies for the first district of the state of Puebla, and he served as a senator for the same state from 1946 to 1952. He came to national prominence in the cabinet of Mexican President President Adolfo López Mateos from 1958 to 1964, as Minister of the Interior (Gobernación).[18] On 18 November 1963, he became the presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).[19] Despite facing only token opposition, Díaz Ordaz campaigned as if he were the underdog.[20] He won the presidential election on 5 July 1964,[21] with 88.8% of the popular vote, while his main opponent, José González Torres of the National Action Party garnered only 10.9%.[22]

Presidency

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Inauguration

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A painting of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz as President

Díaz Ordaz assumed the presidency on 1 December 1964[23] at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. There, he took the oath before the Congress of the Union presided over by Alfonso Martínez Domínguez. Former president Adolfo López Mateos turned over the presidential sash, and Díaz Ordaz delivered his inaugural address. The address lasted almost an hour, which was long for an inauguration speech in Mexico at the time.[24] In his address, he promised to defend Mexico's constitution, submit to the will of Mexico's people, to prioritize the needs of Mexico's farmers, and (in response to criticism of the government's heavy involvement in business) that the government would not compete or supplant private investment. On foreign policy, he stated that Mexico would not break off relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba, and that foreign investment was always welcome in Mexico as long as laws were followed. He announced the members of his cabinet, retaining four ministers from López Mateos.[24] Also at the inauguration were former presidents Emilio Portes Gil, Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Lázaro Cárdenas, Miguel Alemán Valdés, and Adolfo Ruiz Cortines.[24]

Domestic policy

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As president, Díaz Ordaz was known for his authoritarian manner of rule over his cabinet and the country in general. His strictness was evident in his handling of a number of protests during his term, in which railroad workers, teachers, and doctors were fired for taking industrial action. A first demonstration of this new authoritarianism was given when he used force to end a strike by medics. Medics of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers, especially residents and interns, had organized a strike to demand better working conditions and an increased salary.[25] His authoritarian style of governing produced resistance such as the emergence of a guerrilla movement in the state of Guerrero.[26] Economically, the era of Díaz Ordaz was a time of growth.[27] He established the Mexican Institute of Petroleum in 1965,[28] an important step, for oil has been one of Mexico's most productive industries.

Student movement

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When university students in Mexico City protested the government's actions around the time of the 1968 Summer Olympics, Díaz Ordaz oversaw the occupation of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the arrest of several students, leading to the shooting of hundreds of unarmed protesters during the Tlatelolco massacre in Downtown Mexico City on 2 October 1968. The Mexican army fired ruthlessly because a group called "Battalion Olympia" started the shooting between the unarmed students and many other people who let the students take shelter inside their homes.[citation needed] Statistics concerning the casualties of this incident vary, often for political reasons. Some people were kept imprisoned for several years. The crackdown would eventually be denounced by Díaz Ordaz's successors, and ordinary Mexicans view the assault on unarmed students as an atrocity. The stain would remain on the PRI for many years.

Every year, on the anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre, the statue of Díaz Ordaz in Zapopan, Jalisco, is vandalized by having a bucket of red paint splattered on it.[29]

Attempt to democratize the PRI

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Díaz Ordaz's authoritarian manner of rule also prevented any attempt to democratize the PRI. The president of the PRI, Carlos Madrazo, made such an attempt by proposing inner-party elections in order to strengthen the party's base. After his attempt failed, Madrazo resigned.[30]

Foreign policy

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United States

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President Díaz Ordaz and President Lyndon Johnson in November 1964.

During the administration of Díaz Ordaz, relations with the US were largely harmonic, and several bilateral treaties were formed.[31] On September 8, 1969, Díaz Ordaz and President Richard Nixon inaugurated the Amistad Dam in Texas.[32] In Díaz Ordaz's honor, President Nixon hosted the first White House state dinner to be held outside Washington, D.C., at San Diego's Hotel del Coronado on 3 September 1970.

Díaz Ordaz with Richard Nixon at Lake Amistad, August 9, 1969.

However, there also were some points of conflict with the US. One was the antidrug Operation Intercept, conducted by the U.S.; between September and October 1969, all vehicles entering the US from Mexico were inspected.[33] Mexico also embraced the doctrine of nonintervention, and Díaz Ordaz condemned the US invasion of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.[31]

Treaty of Tlatelolco

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Under his administration, the Treaty of Tlatelolco prohibited the production, possession, or use of nuclear weapons in Latin America. Only peaceful use of nuclear energy was allowed. The treaty made Latin America a nuclear weapon-free zone.[34]

Presidential succession

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Further information: 1970 Mexican general election

On 12 October 1969, Díaz Ordaz chose his Secretary of the Interior, Luis Echeverría, as his successor, the seventh successive such selection by a sitting president without incident. Other possible candidates were Alfonso Corona de Rosal, Emilio Martínez Manatou, and Antonio Ortiz Mena.[35] He also considered Antonio Rocha Cordero, governor of the state of San Luis Potosí and former Attorney General, who was eliminated owing to his age (58), and Jesús Reyes Heroles, who was disqualified because a parent had been born outside Mexico, in this case Spain, which was prohibited by Article 82 of the Constitution. In the assessment of political scientist Jorge G. Castañeda, Echeverría was Díaz Ordaz's pick by elimination, not choice.[36]

Later life

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President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (left) riding a presidential motorcade in San Diego, with US President Richard Nixon

After his term expired, Díaz Ordaz and his family vanished completely from the public eye; he was occasionally mentioned in newspapers (usually in a derogatory manner), he seldom gave interviews, and he was usually spotted only when voting in elections.

In 1977, a break from that obscurity came as he was appointed as the first Mexican Ambassador to Spain in 38 years, relations between the two countries having previously been broken by the triumph of Falangism in the Spanish Civil War. During his brief stint as Ambassador, he met with hostility from both the Spanish media and the Mexican media, as he was persistently asked questions about his actions as president. He resigned within several months because of that and his health problems.[37][38] Popular discontent led to a catchphrase: "Al pueblo de España no le manden esa araña" ("To the people of Spain, do not send that spider").

Díaz Ordaz became a critic of Luis Echeverría's presidency, particularly his use of populist policies. Díaz Ordaz once referred to Echeverría as someone who was, "out of control. [Echeverría] talks about anything. He doesn't know what he is saying. He insists he's going to make changes, but he doesn't say to what end."[39]

Death

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He died on July 15, 1979, aged 68 of colorectal cancer, at home in his bed in Mexico City, with his physician and children Gustavo, Guadalupe, and Ramón all present.[9] His remains were buried at Panteón Jardín, with those of his wife.[40]

Legacy and public opinion

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Effigy of Díaz Ordaz at an anti-government protest in 2009. The sign reads "I killed students whom I accused of being communists and terrorists. My friend Calderón, you're following my example very well!" (a reference to the controversial Drug War launched by Calderón's administration).

Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta is named after him.

Public opinion on the Díaz Ordaz administration and its legacy continues to be mostly negative, being associated with the Tlatelolco massacre and a general hardening of authoritarianism that would prevail during successive PRI administrations. Even during his lifetime, his appointment as Ambassador to Spain in 1977 was met with such rejection and protests that he had to resign shortly after.

In a national survey conducted in 2012, 27% of the respondents considered that the Díaz Ordaz administration was "very good" or "good", 20% responded that it was an "average" administration, and 45% responded that it was a "very bad" or "bad" administration.[7]

In 2018, the Government of Mexico City retired all plaques from the Mexico City Subway system making reference to Díaz Ordaz that were installed during his administration.[41]

See also

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Further reading

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  • Aguilar Camín, Héctor. "Nociones presidenciales de cultura nacional. De Álvaro Obregón a Gustavo Díaz Ordaz." En torno a la cultura nacional (1976).
  • Camp, Roderic A. Mexican Political Biographies. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1982.
  • Castañeda, Jorge G. Perpetuating Power: How Mexican Presidents Were Chosen. New York: The New Press 2000. ISBN 1-56584-616-8
  • Krauze, Enrique. Mexico: Biography of Power, especially chapter 21, "Gustavo Díaz Ordaz: The Advocate of Order". New York: HarperCollins 1997.
  • Loaeza, Soledad. "Gustavo Díaz Ordaz: el colapso del milagro mexicano." Lorenzo Meyer and Ilán Bizberg (coords.), Una Historia Contemporánea de México 2 (2005): 287–336.
  • Smith, Peter H. "Mexico Since 1946: Dynamics of an Authoritarian Regime", in Bethell, Leslie, ed., Mexico Since Independence. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press. 1991.

References

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  1. ^ "Man in the News; Mexican Moderate; Gustavo Díaz Ordaz". The New York Times. 2 December 1964. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  2. ^ "La matanza de Tlatelolco: el controvertido (y poco conocido) papel de la CIA en el conflicto estudiantil de 1968 en México". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). 2 October 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ^ "The ghosts of Mexico 1968". The Economist. 24 April 2008.
  4. ^ Rohter, Larry (2 October 1988). "20 YEARS AFTER A MASSACRE, MEXICO STILL SEEKS HEALING FOR TIS WOUNDS". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Stacy, Lee (October 2002). Mexico and the United States. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9780761474029.
  6. ^ "Díaz Ordaz, Ex-Mexican President Who Put Down Student Riots, Dies (Published 1979)". The New York Times. 16 July 1979.
  7. ^ a b Beltran, Ulises (29 October 2012). "Zedillo y Fox los ex presidentes de México más reconocidos". Imagen Radio. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  8. ^ Soriano, Brenda (18 October 2022). "Gustavo Díaz Ordaz: biografía y vida personal".
  9. ^ a b "Díaz Ordaz, Ex-Mexican President Who Put Down Student Riots, Dies". The New York Times. 16 July 1979. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. ^ Krauze 1999, p. 6
  11. ^ Enrique Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power. New York: HarperCollins 1997, p. 665
  12. ^ Harold Dana Sims, "Gustavo Díaz Ordaz" in Encyclopedia of Mexico. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 412.
  13. ^ quoted in Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, p. 666.
  14. ^ Gómez Bolaños, Roberto (2007). Sin querer queriendo [Wanting Without Wanting] (in Spanish). Mexico City: Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. p. 15. ISBN 9786071110565. OCLC 898484220.
  15. ^ "El presidente que era tío de Chespirito" (in Spanish). 28 November 2014.
  16. ^ Krauze 1999, p. 8
  17. ^ Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, p. 666.
  18. ^ Sims, "Gustavo Díaz Ordaz", p. 412.
  19. ^ "Mexican Party Picks Candidate", Milwaukee Journal, 18 November 1963, p. 2
  20. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Yearbook, 1965
  21. ^ Aguilar Casas & Serrano Álvarez 2012, p. 268
  22. ^ Carranza Palacios 2004, p. 65
  23. ^ Aguilar Casas & Serrano Álvarez 2012, p. 269
  24. ^ a b c "Díaz Is Sworn In As Mexico's Head". The New York Times. 2 December 1964. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  25. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2007). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 319.
  26. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2004). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 423.
  27. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2007). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 335.
  28. ^ "¿Conocías estos datos de Díaz Ordaz?" (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Amanece pintado de rojo el busto del presidente Gustavo Díaz Ordaz". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  30. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2003). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 314.
  31. ^ a b Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2003). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 327.
  32. ^ Betancourt Cid 2012, p. 28
  33. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2003). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 328.
  34. ^ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2004). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación de México. p. 430.
  35. ^ Jorge G. Castañeda, Perpetuating Power: How Mexican Presidents were Chosen. New York: The New Press 2000, p. 3
  36. ^ Castañeda, Perpetuating Power, pp. 6-7
  37. ^ "Notes On People". The New York Times. 4 August 1977. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  38. ^ "Renuncia a su cargo el embajador de México en España". El País (in Spanish). 2 August 1977. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  39. ^ Kiddle, Amelia M.; Muñoz, María L.O. (2010). Populism In 20th Century Mexico: The Presidencies Of Lázaro Cárdenas And Luis Echeverría. University Of Arizona Press. ISBN 9780816550135.
  40. ^ "El día que murió el ex presidente Gustavo Díaz Ordaz". El Universal.
  41. ^ Aldaz, Phenelope. "Retiran del metro placas con el nombre de Gustavo Díaz Ordaz". El Universal. Retrieved 21 February 2020.

Bibliography

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.
Political offices
Preceded by President of Mexico
1964–1970 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Adolfo López Mateos
 PRI presidential candidate
1964 (won) 		Succeeded by
Luis Echeverría Álvarez
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Mexican Ambassador to Spain
1977 		Succeeded by
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