Echeverria Martinez, Rodolfo, collector.

Historical Note

The Partido Comunista Mexicano (P.C.M.) was organized in September 1919 by Mexican socialists under the direction of Comintern representatives Manabendra Nath Roy and Michael Borodin. The political instability and radicalism of the final years of the Mexican Revolution, combined with a native tradition of anarcho-syndicalism and trade unionism, created a party with a large rural following, as well as strength among transport workers, miners, educators and intellectuals. The party probably reached maximum strength (approximately 30,000 members) during the Popular Front period, when it cooperated with the administration of President Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940). By 1960, the membership was estimated at 3,000. In 1940, two important leaders, Hernan Laborde and Valentin Campa, expelled from the P.C.M. for "right opportunist deviation", formed the Partido Obrero-Campesino Mexicano (P.O.C.M.). In 1948, the Partido Popular Socialista (P.P.S.) was established by Vincente Lombardo Toledano. From its inception, the P.P.S. was more influential; its larger membership allowed its candidates to qualify for election registration, a goal which the P.C.M. was never able to achieve under the old electoral law.

After the 1968 protest movement and subsequent government repression, the P.C.M. abandoned attempts to cooperate with the the government party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, P.R.I.) and organized to work for political rights and electoral reform. In the mid-1970's the P.C.M. formed electoral coalitions with other leftist groups; after 1978, electoral reform made it possible for the party to register legally and participate openly in elections. The political dominance of the P.R.I. disinclined the P.C.M. to concentrate on parliamentary activity, however. The greater focus was on creating a stronger mass-based party, leading to the unification of the P.C.M. with four other left-wing parties in 1981 to form the Partido Socialista Unificado de Mexico (P.S.U.M.).

Rodolfo Echeverria Martinez was a student activist in the late 1960's, and a member of the Executive Commission in the mid-1970's. Opposed to unification, he left the party in 1981. The material was assembled by Echeverria during and after his membership in the party, as well as from at least two other sources. Gabino R. Alcaraz was active in Michoacan in the 1920's and 1930's, initially as acting president of the Partido Socialista Michoacano (ca. 1925). By 1927, he was a member of the P.C.M. state Central Committee and responsible for agrarian affairs. His papers are organized as a separate series. Enrique Condes Lara was a member of the P.C.M. Central Committee in Puebla, and head of the electoral operation there; materials gathered by him are included in the section relating to the state of Puebla.

Sources:

Carr, Barry, Mexican Communism, 1968-1983: Eurocommunism in the Americas? San Diego: University of California Press, 1985

Schmitt, Karl M., Communism in Mexico: A Study in Political Frustration. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1965

From the guide to the Rodolfo Echeverria Martinez Collection, 1911-1986, (Hoover Institution Archives)