Mexico
Return of Diaz Body Stirs Row
November 6, 1966

MEXICO CITY—A political storm is brewing here over the earthly remains of Gen. Porfirio Diaz, a Mexican military hero turned ruthless dictator, who died in Paris in 1915.

With the blessing of President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz (no relation to Diaz), the family has been allowed to bring back the remains of the old general-dictator, who was exiled by the liberal revolution of 1910.

To political arch-conservatives, the decision spells justification of dictator Diaz, whom they view as the hero of Mexico's "Golden Age"—the 30 years in which Diaz kept the country at peace but under iron rule.

To the extreme liberals and "revolutionists," it means a "continuing trend toward the betrayal of the Mexican Revolution of 1900 and the opening of the doors to foreign capitalistic exploiters."

Family Affair

To President Diaz Ordaz, who recently participated in a ceremony honoring the memory of the dead dictator as a military hero, the return is simply a "family affair."

Actually the scheduled "return" of the dead dictator as such is not what is fanning the political ardors of Mexican leftists, moderates and rightists. Few, except the family, really care where the flamboyant old general is buried.

It's President Diaz Ordaz' participation in the affair which is kicking up a storm. After almost two years in office, President Diaz Ordaz, who

lacks the color of ex-President Adolfo Lopez Mateos, seems determined to put a personal stamp on his administration.

Runs Own Show

The recent firings of five important public figures—the mayor of Mexico City (who had served over 14 years under three presidents), the chairman of the all-powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party, the rector of the University of Mexico, the director of the social security system and the governor of the state of Durango—indicate President Diaz Ordaz wants to run his own show without leftovers from other administrations.

What bothers politicians, from left to right, is what kind of show?

The planned "return" to Mexico of Gen. Diaz, symbol of pre-revolutionary freewheeling days when large landowners and foreign investors were all powerful, has added spice to the annual debate—in the press, congress and public speeches—on "How is the Revolution Going?" (The Revolution of 1910, which ousted Gen. Diaz and supposedly made Mexico into a democratic country under a moderate left of center system of government, is celebrated Nov. 20.)

Return to Past

That the extreme rightists are licking their chops in the belief that Diaz Ordaz favors a return to Gen. Diaz' "Golden Age" and that the extreme leftists are screeching "betrayal of the revolution" is of little importance.

President Diaz Ordaz is committed by law to the ideals of the revolution. It's his interpretation of what the revolution means at the moment that is important.

Within president Diaz Ordaz' party, the PRI, there is a constant struggle between two groups:

—Those who think the revolution must mean suspicion of big foreign money, especially American, and continued "Mexicanization" of the country's industry and natural resources.

—Those who think the revolution has matured enough so that Mexico can handle foreign investments without jeopardizing its sovereignty.

What Diaz Ordaz says publicly between now and the Nov. 20 celebration and next April 2, when the remains of Gen. Diaz are scheduled to arrive in Mexico from Paris, will determine what "kind of show" Diaz Ordaz intends to run and how different, if at all, it will be from that of ex-President Lopez Mateo.

What happens within the PRI in the next few months, in the face of recent firings of elite PRI members, will determine how well the president is handling the dissident groups within his own party.