Adolfo López Mateos

Adolfo López Mateos  was a librarian and professor of Hispanic American literature who began his public career with a job at the UN . He was elected federal senator in 1946 and later was also appointed general secretary of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). It was the Mexican president who managed to expand industrial development and agrarian reform . As president, he nationalized the electricity companies , created the National Commission for Free Textbooks, and promoted the creation of museums.like the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. By declaring his political philosophy as “left within the Constitution,” López Mateos was the first left – wing politician to hold the presidency since Lázaro Cárdenas.

Biography of Adolfo López Mateos

Adolfo López Mateos was born in Atizapán de Zaragoza , his father Mariano Gerardo López a dentist and Elena Mateos y Vega who was a teacher. There is also a birth certificate and several testimonies filed in El Colegio de México that indicate that his birth was on September 10, 1909 in Patzicía, Guatemala .

In 1929 he graduated from the Scientific and Literary Institute of Toluca, where he was a delegate and student leader of the Socialist Labor Party . During that time, he became a spokesperson supporting the presidential campaign of José Vasconcelos , an opposition candidate, against the presidential campaign of Pascual Ortiz Rubio .

From that moment he held a large number of bureaucratic positions until 1941, when he met Isidro Fabela who helped him fill a position as director of the Toluca Literary Institute after Fabela resigned to join the International Court of Justice.

In 1952 he became the Secretary of Labor under the presidency of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines . In 1958 , he was elected president of Mexico, a position he held until 1964. He suffered from a large number of migraines during his adult life, was diagnosed with several brain aneurysms and, after several years in a coma due to a serious stroke , died in 1969 .

What did

As labor minister, Adolfo Lopez Mateos was skilled at mediating disputes and helped draft the treaty of labor migration between the United States and Mexico . Although allegations of corruption clouded his six-year term as president, López increased industrialization , expanded land reform laws , intensified state intervention in the economy , embarked on major public health programs, and launched a literacy campaign .

They established social welfare programs for the poor and upgraded existing social welfare programs. Health care and pensions were increased , new hospitals and clinics were built, and the IMSS program for rural Mexico was expanded . A social security institute was established that provided child care, medical services, and other social services to workers, especially state employees. A 1959 amendment to the Social Security Act also brought part-time workers under the auspices of social security.

Characteristics of the government of Adolfo López Mateos

During his government a wide range of social reforms were carried out . Land reform was implemented and the government cleared and opened new agricultural lands in the south, reducing land stress. Public health campaigns were launched to combat diseases such as polio, malaria, and tuberculosis. The typhus , the smallpox and yellow fever were eradicated and malaria was considerably reduced.

The fight against poverty was one of the main characteristics of the government of Adolfo López Mateos, and during his presidency investments in social assistance reached a historic peak of 19.2% of total investment.

Established a system of distribution of food for poor Mexicans and market for agricultural products. The government entered the housing business on a large scale for the first time in Mexican history, with a major program to build low-cost housing in major industrial cities.

Politics

As a politician, Adolfo López Mateos held the following positions:

• Head of the Popular Publishing Office .
• Secretary General of the Extracurricular and Aesthetic Education Directorate of the Ministry of Public Education.
• Senator for the State of Mexico.
• Director of the Scientific and Literary Institute.
• Substitute Governor of the State of Mexico.
• Member of the Editorial Board of Ruta Magazine.
• Secretary General of the PRI .
• Represented Mexico in Geneva at the United Nations Economic Social Council.

Nationalization of the electrical industry

Adolfo López Mateos nationalized the entire electrical industry in the country, buying the companies that supplied the electricity supply in the central zone of the Republic. For this, it was based on the principle that said that the generation , transfer and provision of electrical energy as a public service should not be provided by foreign companies that affected national sovereignty and impeded the development of the country.

Economy

It achieved the growth of the sectors of the economy , industry and services with national capital and foreign investment. He handled the country’s finances very well, achieving economic growth of 48.7 percent, stabilizing the price of the dollar at 12.50 pesos.

It modified the Law of Attributions of the Executive in economic matters to obtain to be able to determine the goods and services that would be subject to control, and to be able to set maximum prices at wholesale and retail . It managed to stabilize the currency and avoid devaluation , with which the peso was considered in the international media as a strong currency.

Contributions

Some of the contributions of Adolfo López Mateos were:

• He founded the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers.
• He built different spaces for education and museums for the country.
• It modernized the infrastructure in the communication routes.
• He decided to give the ” Christmas bonus ” to his workers.
• He managed to establish economic growth in the country.
• He made the International Olympic Committee would allow Mexico was host of the Olympics .

Importance of Adolfo López Mateos

Its importance lies in the fact that it managed to develop a government and a presidency that transformed the economy , society and politics of the country in a positive way. It corrected a series of economic failures , managed to implement the rationality of the government and was able to initiate an educational and social policy that helped reduce the deficiencies that existed in the past. He positively managed to control the different political and economic groups in the country and make his period of government one of the most balanced socially and economically speaking.

Phrases

Some phrases of Adolfo López Mateos were:

• Today I give my life to Mexico.
• The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is not considered a pictorial work because the hands that painted it are not from this world…, it is undoubtedly the most valuable relic of the religious genre that exists in Mexico.
• The Mexican Revolution was the perfect revolution, because it made the rich poor, it made the poor an asshole, it made the asshole political, and it made the politician rich.
• Politics must be done with a lot of brains. But if we put eggs in the brains, they are tastier.