Organized Labor in Mexico: A History and Delineation

We hear about Mexican events more in terms of "the social revolution" than "the labor movement". The former encompasses all the material and intangible changes that are taking place in Mexico. The latter is the primary means by which the changes are being wrought. The protagonists of the social revolution believe that out of it a new Mexico is beginning to emerge. In that sense, the social revolution is to Mexico what Fascism is to Italy, or what Communism is to Russia. Unlike these, however, it places no ban on class struggle. It wants nothing remotely connected with dictatorship-it is, indeed, a revolt against one. The republic's highest law sanctions class struggle as the best means of harmonizing the rights and Interests of classes, and of bringing about "a balance between the productive factors." The state merely dictates the rules of the game, and reserves to itself the role of umpire.Mexico is now emerging from its social revolution, and most of the others have not begun theirs. Venezuela, for example, today lives under a despotic dictatorship which is astonishingly like Mexico under Diaz. As the success of Mexico's social revolution becomes more assured, organized labor in Venezuela, now rigidly suppressed, may be encouraged to inaugurate a social revolution in Venezuela. It is a fact, at least, that the progressive elements of all Latin-America look to Mexico today for inspiration and guidance.