No Imposition

Ex-President Lazaro Cardenas last week announced his intention of resigning as Minister of National Defense. He said that after leaving office, he intended to return to his farm. The press made the obvious comparisons with Rome's Cincinnatus.

But this Cincinnatus, gesturing plough-ward, sent Mexican politics into a storm of conjecture. As long as Cardenas stayed in the Cabinet of President Manuel Avila Camacho, he would be endorsing the Administration and its political machine. Outside, ploughing or not, he would be free to throw his weight around in next year's presidential election.

At the end of his term (1934-40), Cardenas influenced the presidential election, but did not impose a candidate on the nation. Now Avila Camacho reportedly was trying to impose Miguel Aleman, former Minister of the Interior. Mexicans concluded that Cardenas' hatred of imposition might be the key to his resignation.

It might also be a key to Private Citizen Cardenas' political intentions. Many Mexicans hoped he would back a candidate. Cardenas had been a tough cookie in dealing with the U.S. His candidate, if elected, would presumably be the same.

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