When Allies Turn into Rebels: Striking Doctors, Lack of Healthcare, and the Responsibility of the State in 1960s Mexico

On May 26, 1965 nearly four thousand doctors, residents, and medical interns stood below the presidential balcony in silent protest. Holding banners that requested a meeting with the president, resolution to their labor conflicts, and social justice for all Mexicans, physicians seemed out of place. Indeed, the image of white-collar professionals mimicking the tactics of protesting laborers jarred politicians and Mexican citizens alike. But in May 1965 doctors were entering the sixth month of protest and by then their grievances encompassed more than workplace conditions. A growing concern of the government, expressed in presidential memos, was that for many observers striking doctors were a clear example of the failings of the Mexican state.

In the twentieth century doctors became a visible and pivotal part of Mexico’s post-revolutionary government.  Because doctors could be found, it seemed, in every corner of the nation physicians became the ideal agents of a state in need of expanding its political reach. Doctors often brought medications, vaccines, and durable goods stamped with the acronyms and logos of national institutes, a constant reminder of the ‘kept promises’ of the state. Furthermore, it was doctors who provided health care to a labor force that was increasingly important for an industrializing nation.

This paper analyzes the specific actions that the Mexican state took in the spring of 1965 when striking doctors began to publish a boletín medico that no longer praised the government and instead opted to cover more social than medical issues. By  examining what happens when erstwhile agents of the state begin to contest the legitimacy  and efficacy of a post-revolutionary regime this paper will show the importance that the Mexican government gave to healthcare providers by the late twentieth century.