This editorial first appeared in the April 25, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier leftist daily newspaper.
by Ángel Chávez Mancilla, ENAH Historian
The anti-fascist struggle of the Mexican people is usually associated firstly with the solidarity shown to Republican Spain during the National Revolutionary War (1936-39). This is due both to the reception of Spanish exiles by the Lázaro Cárdenas government and to the participation of Mexicans in the International Brigades and the active anti-fascist propaganda carried out by organizations such as the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM), the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP), and the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists (LEAR), which published the magazine Frente a Frente.
However, solidarity with the Spanish people was only one of the episodes of proletarian internationalism carried out by Mexican workers in support of the peoples who were victims of fascism. Mexico also received exiles from other countries, which fostered the activity of anti-fascist organizations such as Free Germany, Free Hungary, Free Yugoslavia, and the Free Greece Movement, among others. Likewise, the Mexican people expressed their solidarity with the Soviet people, who played a crucial role in the global anti-fascist struggle during the Great Patriotic War.
Today, there is no doubt that the US and England were waiting for fascism to defeat the construction of socialism in the USSR, with the intention of having the imperialist countries confront a weakened Germany to impose a new distribution of territories and markets among the powers.
Following Nazi Germany’s invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941, Mexican political and social organizations, such as the PCM, the League of Political Action (LAP), the Society of Friends of the USSR, student and peasant organizations, teachers’ and manufacturing unions, as well as the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and the Confederation of Latin American Workers (CTAL), organized numerous acts of solidarity with the Soviet people.
The first act in support of the USSR was organized by the PCM and the LAP on June 9, 1941, at the Arena México. The following month, on July 14, the CTM organized a rally for this purpose at the same venue. Both acts called on the Mexican government to reestablish diplomatic relations with the USSR, which had been interrupted in 1930 during the administration of President Emilio Portes Gil. Pro-Soviet forces then converged in the National Campaign for the Restoration of Relations with the USSR, which culminated on October 3, 1941, at the Arena México. The campaign’s objective was achieved a year later, on November 12, 1942.
In August 1941, the Committee to Aid Russia in the War was created, chaired by Antonio Castro Leal. This committee, along with the PCM, the LAP, and other organizations, undertook numerous acts of support for the USSR. For example, on November 7, 1941, a solidarity rally with the peoples fighting against Nazism was held; on June 1, 1942, the Federation of Anti-Nazi-Fascist Foreigners held a rally in Mexico. Other events were organized in tribute to the Red Army fighting at Stalingrad, and the anniversaries of the October Socialist Revolution, from 1941 to 1944, became events of proletarian internationalism and anti-fascist propaganda.
On August 18, 1942, the “Pro Opening of the Second Front” rally was held, promoted primarily by the PCM and the CTAL. That day was significant because it allowed us to reflect on why the capitalist countries delayed the opening of this front. Today, there is no doubt that the US and England were waiting for fascism to defeat the construction of socialism in the USSR, with the intention of having the imperialist countries confront a weakened Germany to impose a new distribution of territories and markets among the powers.
Also notable was the “Tribute of the Mexican People to the USSR” held on October 29, 1942, at the Palace of Fine Arts, two months after the start of the Battle of Stalingrad. This event was organized by the National Anti-Nazi-Fascist Committee, formed in 1941 by all of the senators of the Republic and federal deputies. It was originally called the “Anti-Sinarquista and Democracy Committee.”
Is it still viable for revolutionary forces to opt for the “lesser evil” of bourgeois democracy as a way to confront a “more reactionary” capitalist system?
The event was attended by representatives of 57 political, social, and union organizations, governors from 19 states, and 19 international anti-fascist organizations. Among the keynote speakers on the program were Secretary of the Interior Miguel Alemán Valdés, who, for unforeseen reasons, did not attend and was replaced by Undersecretary Fernando Casas Alemán. Also speaking were Congressman Alfredo Félix Díaz Escobar, president of the National Anti-Nazi-Fascist Committee; Senator Antonio Villalobos, president of the PRM; a representative of the CTM; and the closing speaker, Ignacio García Téllez, then Secretary of Labor and Social Security and previously Secretary of the Interior during the Lázaro Cárdenas administration.
This event was a clear example of the unitary activities promoted by the Popular Antifascist Front’s tactics. This strategy involved collaboration between communists and the bourgeois government to strengthen antifascist positions.
Both the mobilizations promoted by trade union and political organizations such as the PCM and the LAP, as well as the events sponsored by the Mexican government, were undoubtedly positive manifestations of support for the Soviet people in their fight against fascism. However, it is worth asking: how useful was the tactic of collaboration between communists and bourgeois governments in actually confronting fascism? Did this collaboration lead communists to postpone the strategic horizon of seizing power and overthrowing capitalism in favor of supporting the “lesser evil,” that is, bourgeois democracy? Is it still viable for revolutionary forces to opt for the “lesser evil” of bourgeois democracy as a way to confront a “more reactionary” capitalist system?
Remembering Mexico’s acts of solidarity with the USSR during the Great Patriotic War is a legitimate way to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over fascist forces on May 9, 1945. But reflecting deeply on that historical experience is, without a doubt, a better way to honor it.