MEXICO: New President, Old Job

(2 of 6)

This demonstration told much about Mexican politics. It was an indication of how a man's ismo, his following, can go far beyond his own will. Day after the riot, Hombre Libre ran on its front page an anti-British cartoon, on its last page an anti-U. S. cartoon, and between attacked alleged U. S. intervention in Mexican politics, imperialism and, significantly, Jewry. Communist, Nazi and Japanese agents had clearly seized on Almazanismo as a weapon against the U. S.

But the ismo which had the stage last week was that of President-elect Manuel Avila Camacho. Here the man had the ismo well in hand. As it unfolded during the week Henry Wallace recognized in it two things, great friendliness to the U. S. and a strong swing toward conservatism. Both those factors had the effect of causing the opposite extremes of Mexican politics to form together a new and formidable opposition.

Wallace to Maturity. There is nothing a Mexican likes quite so much as an official function. From the moment of his stormy first reception, Henry Wallace and other big gringos were taken from affair to splendid affair. At noon on Friday, special Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary Wallace went with the diplomats of 30 other nations to the National Palace, which except for some Diego Rivera murals is about as expressive of a People's Revolution as Versailles. There they presented credentials to outgoing President Lázaro Cárdenas. President Cárdenas, whom most honest Mexicans consider the greatest liberal Mexico has ever had despite the foibles of his regime, seemed all week long to be musing sadly on the transience of liberalism.

Next there was a luncheon at the U. S. Embassy for Mr. Wallace and other true-blue liberals, like Sheridan Downey, Dave Dubinsky and Chip Robert, from north of the border. In the afternoon all the special envoys were presented with what the Mexican hosts called keys to the city—medals. On Saturday the guests were treated to a fiesta at the National Stadium, a sightseeing tour, a concert.

Through all this the most noticeable phenomenon was the growth in stature of Henry Wallace. From a shy, somewhat professorial man who would never stand up quite straight and who was a little timid with his bookish Spanish, he emerged into a mature gladhander, muy politico, who knew how to make a joke stretch into five minutes of good-looking grin, who could make Mexican jowls wobble with the vigor of his handshake.

Two nights before Avila Camacho's inauguration came a function which Camachismo particularly enjoyed. Government police and soldiers raided Communist headquarters in Avenida Brasil. In the inevitable gun fight, an Army major was killed and two Communists wounded. The police arrested 50, and took some interesting swag: rifles, machine guns, ammunition, bales of propaganda, and alleged evidence of a plot to assassinate Avila Camacho. The Communists used to support Cárdenas. The Camachismo swing to conservatism was on in earnest.