The Mexican university anti-communist front (1955—1973). The influence of the Catholic Church and the struggle for control of the university environment

Abstract

This article examines the history of the emergence and activities of the Mexican University Anti-Communist Front (Frente Universitario Anticomunista, FUA), a right-wing Catholic youth organization which was formed in Puebla. Based on sources from the personal archive of the second president of the FUA, Manuel Antonio Diaz Cid, as well as on the documents of the Catholic Church, publications in the press and memoirs of contemporaries of the events, the author of the article aims to identify the ideological base of the FUA and determine the main methods of struggle of this organization with ideological opponents. Founded under the patronage of church figures in Puebla, the FUA was a hybrid social organization, combining elements of an open and secret society. Using loud slogans about the fight against communism as a facade, FUA members set themselves quite practical goals, which consisted in establishing control over the university environment and influencing politics in the region. However, the FUA's strategies of struggle proved ineffective in the context of the gradual liberalization and secularization of university space that took place in Mexico in the middle of 20th century.