Strategies for the Promotion and Development of Agricultural Activity during the Cárdenas Administration. The Role Played by the National Ejido Credit Bank, 1934-1940

Abstract

During the government of Lázaro Cárdenas delRío, one of the institutions that played a majorrole in the transformation of rural Mexico wasthe National Bank of Ejido Credit, whose taskwas to provide credit for farmers in organizedejido communities, both to acquire the toolsneeded to increase the productive capacity oftheir lands and to undertake large-scale irrigationworks. Likewise, through its agencies, theNational Bank of Ejido Credit conducted extensivesocial work in favor of the cultural andintellectual improvement of the peasantry organizedinto collective ejidos, an aspect that hasbeen overlooked in the sparse literature on thisorganization. The main objective of this articleis therefore to examine the role played bythis banking institution in the promotion anddevelopment of Mexican agriculture and livestocksectors during the second half of the1930s. The article therefore describes and analyzesthe projects, works, successes and failuresexperienced by the institution from its inceptionto the end of the Cárdenas regime.