Evening star., 1949-08-28

Rio Grande has exper1enced IN
whelming Endorsement the pows
Institutions, which completely do
chalked up in the recent congress
sional elections, most Mexican po'
litical observers say the admins.
tration is at a low ebb in the
esteem of the general public.
There are stories of riffs be.
tween top elements in the PRI
Informed Mexicans also say thai
Gen. Lazaro Cardenas, the ret
icent, sometimes mysterious ane
nationalistic former President
during whose administration the
foreign oil industry was confis-
Gated, and who still maintains
powerful influence over the party
the military and large groups Of
the working classes, is distinctly
unenthusiastic" about the Aleman
regime.
State of Nation Report
At any rate the national Con-
gress meets on Thursday OF this
week to hear the Presidents mid
term report on the state OF the
Mexicon nation, and his recon-
mendations for measures to meet
the mounting problems. Although
the Senate remains unchanged, ne
faces a completely new Chamber
of Deputies. But the lower BODY
is so overwhelmingly government
or PRI, that, as one party ON
cial commented, ut is really q
little embarrassing" According &c
the first official count OF the bal
lots, only one single opposition
member was found to be VIC
torious.
The elections were followed by
angry charges of fraud and bal
.lot-box tampering. The two op.
position parties, the 12-year-o!o
conservative National Action
Party, popularity called the PAN
and the Popular Party, recently
organized by the radical and pro-
Russian, labor leader, Vicente
Lombardo Toledano. contested
the election of large blocs OF dep
uties. Only 80 out of lat seats
were unchallenged. The National
Action Party contested 43 seats
while the Popular Party pro-
tested 80. ,,
But since the. chamber itself
finally decides upon the fitness
of members to take their seats
the opposition did not expect the
protests to have very much effect
The PAN took it's charges to the
21-member Supreme Court but
that body by a vote OF Is to D,
with 1 member absent, refused TO
hear the case. However, the court
did decide that it had the author
ity to hear such charges, which is
considered by Mexican legal au-
thorities to be an unusually signif-
can't juridical development. AT
the last minute, much to the sur
prise Of PAN leaders, three OF their
contestants were seated, giving the
appearance of at least a token
opposition.
Critics Expect Answer
Informed Mexicans predict that
while the Presidents message on
Thursday will contain nothing
sensational, it will deal with sew
eral matters of more than national
significance. Some of them. such
as the oil question, and the flnan-
cial situation, will be Of particular
interest to the United States. AS
one prominent Mexican publisher
put it, I'm answer to his critics
the President will have to explain
the recent announcement OF the
suspension of negotiations for a
loan from Washington to develop
the oil industry. and the persistent
rumors that conversations are still
going on. He will also have to
Justify the devaluation Of the
Mexican peso, which has worked
a hardship on large numbers OF
wage, earners and the poorer
people, as well as on many busi-
ness interests"
It is the general opinion in
Mexico that the chief opposition
to the oil loan has come from the
big United States oil companies.
Several newspapers have said these
interests sabotaged the Washing
ton negotiations. Lombardo Tole-
dano. whose political power may
have waned in the past two or
three years, but whose influence
in some labor circles and among
the leftist elements of the country
is still considerable. has issued a
broadside to this effect.
Truman Helpful
President Aleman will certainly
not go out of his way to refute
this opinion, even If he does not
repeat it in his message. On the
other hand, President Truman's
latest statement that the loan is
still under contemplation, has
made Aleman's explanation of the
question much easier. Doubtless
he will also point out that Mexican
capitalists are offering to finance
new explorations .and expansions
in the industry. Just where these
interests are going to get the dol
lars to buy modern equipment
does not seem clear. There has
been p great deal of talk about
getting some materials from Brit
ain and France In return for oil.
The slight increase in the output
of crude oil in the last few months
will be cited, along with the fact
that Pemex, Petroleos Mexicanos
the government oil monopoly, has
recently brought in several new
wells. The July production
amounted to more than 1900 .000
barrels.
However, the most important
development in the oil industry
- L->- kk~ sS. r,,no o., {,. &Ia v.,,;< u