On the way to the Soviet Mexico: the Comintern and the Communist Party of Mexico at the period of its illegal activities, 1929-1934
This article deals with the evolution and peculiarities of the policy of Mexican communists who were forced to operate underground after the beginning of the "left turn" in the late 1920s. During this period, the CPM actually abandoned its own interpretation of the problems of the revolution in its country, being satisfied with the policies and assessments of the Comintern apparatus. The author's attention is paid to both the party's course towards attempts to penetrate the army structures, as also to new forms of activity (after the collapse of the policy of broad alliances) in the labor movement, among the unemployed and peasant organizations; they were all aimed at achieving the goal of the seizure of power by the workers and peasants; in 1929-1934 the Communist Party of Mexico virtually excluded the anti-imperialist component from its sphere of activity. The crisis in the reformist sector of the labor movement contributed to the intensive development of an independent labor movement, the path to which the Mexican Communists tried to find, however, this activity was complicated by the presence of a number of serious competitors. During this period, the communists concentrated their efforts on working in the nation-wide branch trade unions, which created the groundwork for new growth. At the same time, the CPM did not understand neither the significance of the figure of the progressive politician Lazaro Cardenas, nor the consequences of the regrouping within the ruling elites, and with great difficulty renounced sectarian politics.