Institutional Revolutionary Party
WORK IN PROGRESS by User:Skywalker1453
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| Details | |
| Party Leader | .png){kind=small} Alfonso Corona del Rosal (Mexico) |
| Founder(s) | Plutarco Elias Calles |
| Founded | March 4th 1929 (as PNR)
March 30th 1938 (as PRM) January 18th 1946 (as PRI) |
| Ideology |  Institutional Despotism |
| Political Position | Centre or big tent |
| Colours | Green, White, Red, Grey, Black |
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish:Partido Revolucionario Institucional) is the dominant party in Mexico, as it has reigned over Mexico uninterruptedly since its foundation, originally as the name of National Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Nacional Revolucionario, PNR), by then President Plutarco Elias Calles, known also by his sobriquet el Jefe Maximo, in March, 1929. It was then refounded as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Partido de la Revolución Mexicana, PRM), by then President Lazaro Cardenas. It would finally be refounded by its current name by President Manuel Avila Camacho. It still reigns right now of course under the presidency of Adolfo Mateos Lopez.
It is a Leviathan of a party, as it may as well be the incarnation of the Hobbesian state. It controls every single facet of life, as progressively throughout the years it has tightened its control over Mexico evermore, to the point the true difference between the Mexican state and institutions and the PRI party apparatus is close to none. However, it is extremely corrupt and kleptocratic and rules the country with an iron fist, employing even the infamous Dirty War conducted by the Federal Security Directorate (Spanish: Dirección Federal de Seguridad, DFS).
History[edit | edit source]
Prelude[edit | edit source]
With the the last coup of the Mexican Revolution because President Venustiano Carranza had attempted to force his choice for his successor and had thereby betrayed the revolution in the eyes of his peers, at least according to the Plan of Agua Prieta. He'd be ousted in 1920 and would attempt to flee to Veracruz until being killed in an ambush. A triumvirate arose to power composed of three generals from Sonora, who'd been the masterminds behind the aformentioned deposal, alongside their allies among the other revolutionary generals. These were Alvaro Obregon, Plutraco Elias Calles and Adolfo de la Huerta.
Obregon would then become the 46th president of Mexico, and he'd govern for four years until 1924. During his reign, Mexico would begin to finally consolidate from the chaos of the revolution, as Carranza's agents had been able to assasinate Emiliano Zapata, cutting the head off the proverbial snake of the Zapatista movement, and De La Huerta during his brief stent as provisional president had been able to make Pancho Villa lay down his arms. On top of this, Obregon's pragmatic alliance between the Constitutionalist faction with labor would secure him the support of the Red Battalions, giving the government an extra hand in putting down the last remnants of Zapata's and Villa's forces. And Obregon easily dealt with counterrevolutionaries in Chiapas laid down their arms and the only pro-Carranza governor to resist the regime change was Esteban Cantu in Baja California, suppressed by northern revolutionary general Abelardo Rodríguez. He would also have to deal with the remaining caciques. Obregon would also begin land reform, and would begin Morelos, the birthplace of the Zapatista movement, as it still was a hotbead for old veterans. Then, Obregon began to remove generals from the political sphere, offering them material rewards in exchange for monetary benefit, as de la Huerta had done with Villa, whom Obregon actually had assasinated in 1923, not trusting the man to stay loyal. In the same year de la Huerta himself would rebel against Obregon for his choice of his successor, Calles, which would split the military in half. However, de la Huerta's rebellion would meet its demise, and Obregon seized the moment to professionalize the military, split in in half, and forcibly retire officers, as he and Calles viewed reeling in the military essential to keeping Mexico stable. This would also include reducing military spending, which would go to such aspects as education, where Obregon's Minister of Education, Jose Vasconcelos, would introduce innovative broad educational and cultural programs.
Obregon would, concurrently to his ascension to presidency, curry the favor of the United States, in the hopes that getting recognition from them would lead to the others following suit. However, the U.S. and Britain were alarmed by the power bestowed to the government by the 1917 Constitution, including the power of seizing private property, as American and British entrepeneurs had developed the burgeoning Mexican oil industry, and many other foreigners owned extensive agricultural lands, which were at risk of being resdistributed to the landless peasants of Mexico. This eventually resolved with the controversial Bucareli Treaty in 1923, which ensured U.S. recognition, but at the cost of what many viewed as major concessions to them and that they were undermining revolutionary goals. However, the U.S. would immediately become a useful ally for the government as they supplied arms to Obregon's forces during de la Huerta's rebellion.