Echeverría Álvarez, Luis

▪ president of Mexico

born Jan. 17, 1922, Mexico City

      president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976.

      Echeverría became the private secretary of the president of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1940 and received a law degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1945. He rose rapidly in political circles and held several important posts in government and the PRI prior to being appointed secretary of the interior in 1964 by President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz. He was severely criticized for his harsh handling of the 1968 student demonstrations that culminated in the “Tlatelolco massacre,” in which more than 300 demonstrators were killed or wounded and thousands arrested.

      After becoming president, Echeverría moved sharply to the left. He released most of the prisoners arrested in 1968, redistributed millions of acres among the landless peasantry, expanded social security, housing, and transportation programs, and poured huge sums of money into public works. Reversing an earlier stand, he introduced a national family planning program to reduce population growth. His administration was plagued by runaway inflation, high unemployment, and illiteracy, and his leftist economic proposals, including the government purchase of many privately owned enterprises, alienated business interests, causing reduced domestic investment. A declining balance of trade forced the devaluation of the peso by 50 percent in 1976, producing insecurity and antagonism among Echeverría's middle-class supporters. In foreign policy, Echeverría opened diplomatic relations with China and supported Latin American solidarity. He served as ambassador to Australia and New Zealand from 1977 to 1980 under his successor, President José López Portillo.

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