The War Has Brought Peace to Mexico: World War II and the Consolidation of the Post-Revolutionary State

2. Increasingly Tenuous “Neutrality”: December 1941–May 1942

31 two Increasingly Tenuous “Neutrality” december 1941–may 1942 Although Pearl Harbor lies more than 2,500 miles from the nearest point on the Mexican coast, the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base there brought World War II much closer to Mexico. Indeed, the fact that the country’s powerful neighbor to the north had finally been drawn into the global conflict presented the Ávila Camacho administration with a significant challenge. In the days after the strike on Hawaii, Mexican authorities suddenly faced intense U.S. pressure for a deepening of military cooperation. Top officials in Washington even hinted that Mexico would do well to join several smaller Latin American countries in declaring war on the Axis. Within Mexico, however, nationalist sentiment rejected U.S. involvement in the country’s defense, and most Mexicans were against full participation in the war. While a few leftist leaders had become active in lobbying for greater Mexican contributions to the fight against fascism since the German invasion of the Soviet Union six months earlier, most of their compatriots failed to see why their country should become involved. Mexico had not been attacked, they reasoned, and the war’s battlefields were very far away. Thus, the expansion of the war to the Western Hemisphere gave rise to a situation in which it would be difficult for President Ávila Camacho to meet U.S. demands for a stronger stand against the Axis without upsetting the many Mexicans who opposed participation in the Second World War. Having just completed a year in office during which his hold on power had at times appeared tenuous, the president could ill afford to adopt policies that would alienate much of the population. 32 c h a p t e r t w o However, if the United States’ declaration of war created a dilemma for the Mexican administration, it also gave Ávila Camacho a tremendous opportunity. The president recognized that if he handled the situation carefully, he might be able to gain greater acceptance within Mexico for the view that the world was in crisis and that therefore national unity under his leadership was of vital importance for the good of the country. While pushing for immediate Mexican participation in the war could trigger a backlash that would undermine his authority, taking measured steps to strengthen the country’s defenses could enhance his prestige. Allowing U.S. military units to establish bases on Mexican soil was out of the question, but by offering Mexican forces to carry out the patrols necessary to guarantee the security of the Pacific coast, the administration could remain in Washington’s good graces. The president therefore responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor cautiously, assuring the United States of his government’s support and openly backing the Allied cause while stopping short of calling for a Mexican declaration of war. Even as he maintained the pretense of Mexican neutrality, he sought to establish a wartime mentality by telling his countrymen that production and discipline would be necessary to support the democracies in their struggle against totalitarianism. Ávila Camacho knew that the country was not yet ready to go to war, but he seized the opportunity provided by the assault on Pearl Harbor to move Mexico toward a more active role in the conflict that was raging overseas. HHH The first official Mexican spokesman to comment on the attack on Pearl Harbor made it clear that the government would stand with the United States in its hour of need. From his home in Cuernavaca, where he was spending the weekend, Foreign Minister Ezequiel Padilla announced on December 7 that Mexico would adhere to the resolutions adopted by the hemisphere’s foreign ministers in Havana in 1940, one of which held that an attack on any American state would be treated as an attack on all. Therefore, he said, “associated with the United States in the common defense of Democracy and of the destinies of America, we will not omit any effort to make clear, by all possible means, our spirit of solidarity and close friendship.”1 A significant show of solidarity came the next day, on December 8, when Mexico broke off diplomatic ties with Japan.2 i n c r e a s i n g l y t e n u o u s “n e u t r a l i t y ” 33 Leftist...