Why Is Lázaro Cárdenas Considered A Revolutionary Leader

Through the course of the Mexican Revolution, multiple leaders rose to become important figures in shaping the country’s future. Arguably, the most prominent leader is Lázaro Cárdenas, the young general turned president from Michoacán. His fame as president is best characterized by his willingness to act upon the voice of the people. While in office, Cárdenas demonstrated his determination to improve the welfare of the common Mexican peasant. However, although he recognized the people’s pleas and did not avoid addressing prominent issues, his responses to the countries’ problems often went against the ideals of the peasant population. Therefore, Cárdenas resembles both Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg as although he was a devout agent for
Lázaro Cárdenas established himself as the first “man of the people” in the presidency. He like Marxist theorist Rosa Luxemburg embraced the attributes of the working class and valued collaboration and not a simple rule from the top. Cárdenas focused fervently in his goal to take control of the country back from the hands of foreign powers. This is evident in his nationalization of the oil industry and his creation of Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos). When foreign greed grew unscrupulous, Cárdenas rightfully sided with the Mexican workers after they justifiably demanded a pay raise and increased social services. Incredulous that oil industries from the United States and Great Britain insisted they could not afford the twenty-six million pesos the workers demanded, Cárdenas decided to act. His decision went far beyond securing the protection of the Mexican worker, he wanted to secure the wealth that was enjoyed by everyone except the Mexican people. He stated, “The entire oil industry should also come to the hands of the State so that the Nation can
Luxemburg and Cárdenas shared the acknowledgment that the future of “socialism was to be discovered and worked out in a genuine collaboration between workers and the revolutionary state” and that there is no “ready-made prescription” for the creation of a socialist society. Mirroring some of the ideas of revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata’s “Plan de Ayala” (1911), Cárdenas enacted a never seen extensive land reform. Through his plan, Cárdenas hoped to eliminate the issue of land consolidation by the few wealthy hacienderos. Accordingly, he used the powers of Article 27 to create ejidos’s, communal agricultural land to solve the problem facing landless peasants. Although previous presidents before Cárdenas attempted land reform as well, only Cárdenas made it his priority. He not only issued laws to make use of unutilized lands, but he also seized millions of acres of privately owned land from haciendas to distribute as ejidos. His passion for helping the common Mexican peasant is best seen when compared with other figures in power. In his four years as governor of Michoacán (September 1928 to September 1932), Cárdenas “shared out 141,663 hectares among 181 villages” while “all the governments of the revolution between 1917 and 1928 had distributed 131,283 hectares to 124 pueblos in