Thousands of people gathered this Saturday afternoon, packing the streets of the Plaza de la Constitución—also known as El Zócalo—in Mexico City, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the expropriation of the oil industry in Mexico, promoted by then President Lázaro Cárdenas. AMLO’s speech at the March 18 rally highlighted the accomplishments and continued self-sufficiency of Mexican oil refineries.
“The general’s [Lázaro Cárdenas] strategy can be summed up in three important and consecutive actions: first, he handed over the land to the peasants and helped the workers; then, he supported their organizing [into workers’ units]; and finally, with that social base, he was able to carry out the expropriation of oil and other assets of the nation,” explained Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
The highly popular politician praised the energy sovereignty project promoted by Lázaro Cárdenas in particular because, as he recalled, “nationalization had to pave its way by confronting the boycotts carried out by foreign oil companies.”
Legacy of Lázaro Cárdenas
Additionally, the president stated that his government is working on “new projects” to produce fuel and for the rennovation of existing refineries. “We can say that after 85 years, the legacy of Lázaro Cárdenas is fully cared for,” he said.
AMLO also stated that any candidate from his party who will succeed him as president if his party, the leftist party Movimiento Regeneración Nacional, or MORENA, wins the elections in 2024, will continue with these policies “in favor of the people and the nation. Continuity is assured, with change.”
“Our government is an austere government without luxuries for government officials, a government that uses all resources for welfare programs such as assistance for the elderly, support for people with disabilities, single mothers, farmers, fishers, scholarships for students from poor families, and internet access for everyone,” he said.
López Obrador announced that the Mexican peso is the currency that has strengthened the most against the US dollar, something that “has not happened in more than 50 years.”
“Cooperation yes, submission no”
AMLO also touched upon the latest conflict that arose with the US, referring to the kidnapping of four US citizens in the Mexican border town of Matamoros, state of Tamaulipas, that had led some conservative US politicians to demand military interventionist policies against Mexico to curb dug-related violence, including the designation of Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
In response to statements by US lawmakers threatening to propose sending troops to Mexico if it cannot stop the cartels trafficking in fentanyl, President López Obrador said: “We remind those hypocritical and irresponsible politicians that Mexico is an independent and free country, not a US colony or protectorate.”
Previously, AMLO had also made remarks questioning the US on what its own government was doing to fight drug trafficking, considering that the US is the country with the highest drug consumption in the world. There are numerous cartels trafficking drugs on US soil while protecting the capital of criminal organizations in the US banking system.
“They may threaten us with outrageous abuses, but we will never allow them to violate our sovereignty and trample on the dignity of our homeland. Cooperation yes, submission no. Interventionism no. Oligarchy no,” AMLO emphasized.
Message to the oligarchs
In addition, AMLO declared that he will not accept the rule of the minority in his nation at the cost of the impoverishment of the majority. He promised that “whatever they do,” the oligarchs will never head the government of the country again.
“No to half measures: we will never accept a situation where a minority prevails in Mexico at the cost of the humiliation and impoverishment of the majority,” he said.
The day before, Obrador himself invited all citizens to participate in the commemoration of oil nationalization. “We are going to remember that historic, patriotic decision,” he stated during a press conference at the facilities of the 37th Infantry Battalion in his home state, Tabasco.
On March 18, 1938, then president of Mexico, Lázaro Cárdenas issued a decree that allowed the government to legally appropriate the petroleum industry that was controlled by 17 foreign companies at the time. Through that decree, the government took full control of the production and marketing of crude oil in Mexico, on land and at sea.