A Second Time of Caudillos: Strongmen and State Weakness in the Post Revolutionary Period

Traditional studies of the origins of the Mexican political system have assumed that the State created after Revolution was so strong that it was capable of imposing its will over all the institutions, the state powers included. It is well known that during the first two or three decades of the last century some caudillos dominated regional (and sometimes national) politics; but it is also assumed that President Cárdenas ended that era when he faced down Saturnino Cedillo in the last rebellion. The story is different. The caudillos and caciques survived until the 60’s. The State did not have the resources to impose its power over all the country; it had, furthermore, to recognize the strength of caciques in order to control the states and keep the political stability. It is possible to identify two kinds of caudillos. The first ones dominated the politics until the 30’s and were characterized by the personal use of power. The second ones were respectful of institutions and in many cases contributed in building them but kept its control and used them according to their personal interest. Because the condition to allow those caudillos was the preservation of political stability, when the arbitrariness caused problems and involved the federal government, the executive removed the rulers. During the early 1960’s the second era of caudillos finished, but the government gave state governors important autonomy to control the local politics. This is the reason why “strong men” reappear frequently in the states, when the federal control comes down.            The purpose of the paper is to explain the historical and political reasons why the State had to tolerate these caudillos, after the end of traditionalism and in the middle of political modernity, and the causes that face the federal executive to eliminate them in the 60’s.