Mexico's Struggle Towards Democracy/Chapter 3
SUMMARY
In the revolution of 1857–1867, the Mexican middle class and masses overthrew the Spanish-Creole feudal land-owners, chief of which was the Catholic church. In this struggle European commercial interests added the conservatives, while those of the United States aided the revolutionists.
During the period of reaction, 1876–1910, foreign investors became the dominant economic power in Mexico. A large proportion of the land fell into their hands, was concentrated in vast estates, and held out of cultivation for speculative purposes. Two-thirds of the population of Mexico remained practically serfs upon these estates.
In 1910, the Mexican middle-class and the masses, driven by increasing misery, again rose in revolution. Again the clashing interests of foreign investors, now centering about the development of the oil fields, ranged them upon opposing sides.
The Mexican people won. They are alive with ambition for education, for better living conditions, for expression of their own racial and national character. The present Mexican Government has shown ability and courage. It seeks to regain some of the land for the use of the people who toil upon it and a little of the vast wealth which is being extracted from mines and oil fields.
The power of United States investors has been greatly increased by the world war. They are unwilling to abide by the laws of the country from which they draw their wealth. They endeavor by intrigue to overthrow the Mexican Government and substitute one which will be their willing tool. They demand and receive the support of the United States Government. They welcome the agitation of the corrupt Mexican Catholic church, which has always oppressed the masses, and use the plea of religious tolerance to stir up popular feeling in the United States. Will the people of the United States allow themselves to be used to crush the rising people of Mexico?