Lazaro Cardenas

About Lazaro Cardenas

The Mexican President from 1934 to 1940, considered the most leftwing president in Mexican history. Cardenas nationalized the oil industry in 1938, creating PEMEX, a state oil company that became central to Mexican sovereignty. He distributed land to peasants on a massive scale and expanded education in rural areas. Cardenas gave asylum to Leon Trotsky after his exile from the Soviet Union. He was the last Mexican president to genuinely control the political system rather than be controlled by it. Cardenas is revered by the Mexican left. His son Cuauhtemoc Cardenas ran for president three times but never won.