Morones, Luis (1890–1964)

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Morones, Luis (1890–1964)

Luis Morones (b. 11 October 1890; d. 6 April 1964), Mexican labor leader of the 1920s. Morones experienced a meteoric rise from electrical worker to the nation's most powerful labor leader within a period of fifteen years. Born in the Federal District, he joined the anarchist-led House of the World Worker (Casa del Obrero Mundial), but ambition soon drove him in another direction. Morones founded a small group within this splintering organization which then formed a separate union, the Regional Confederation of the Mexican Worker (Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana) in Saltillo, Coahuila, in May 1918.

Using a pragmatic approach in politics through alliances with key figures, Morones supported Álvaro Obregón in the maneuvering which led to the overthrow of President Venustiano Carranza (1917–1920). Morones organized strikes against the Carranza administration and sent armed workers into combat. During the Obregón presidency (1920–1924) Morones headed Mexico's vital government-operated munitions industry. During the administration of Plutarco Elías Calles (1924–1928), Morones reached the pinnacle of his career. He continued as head of the Confederation, by then the nation's largest labor organization, at the same time that he was minister of industry, commerce, and labor. He made decisions in his government post that favored his union and weakened its rivals.

Morones's accomplishments were marred by his flagrant displays of personal wealth and persistent accusations of corrupt and violent methods. Critics also charged that he undermined the autonomy of the labor movement when he tied it to the national government.

Morones fell from power quickly. His opposition to Obregón's successful campaign for the presidency in 1928 factionalized his organized support. Political enemies wrongly accused him of complicity in Obregón's subsequent assassination. Morones's career as a labor leader was effectively ended. He became conservative in later years but had limited influence in labor and political affairs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barry Carr, El movimiento obrero y la política en México, 1910–1929, translated by Roberto Gómez Ciriza (1976), esp. vol. 1, pp. 121-220, vol. 2, pp. 5-63, 115-181.

Marjorie Ruth Clark, Organized Labor in Mexico (1934; repr. 1973).

John W. F. Dulles, Yesterday in Mexico: A Chronicle of the Revolution, 1919–1936 (1961), esp. pp. 236-389, 659-681.

John M. Hart, Anarchism & the Mexican Working Class, 1860–1931 (1987), esp. pp. 128-129, 151-160, 170-175.

Harvey Levenstein, Labor Organizations in the United States and Mexico (1971).