U.S. Copper Companies, the Mine Workers’ Movement, and the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920

T n H E revolutionary process in Sonora involved a series of high-stakes clashes between Constitutionalist leaders and U.S. copper companies over the future of Mexico's political economy. At issue were the special concessions, low taxes, and political influence granted to multinational companies by Porfirio Diaz, which had created a privileged position for foreign capital in Mexico. When the fighting stopped, the Constitutionalists had succeeded in reversing these policies and significantly increasing the power of the state. In this struggle, the Constitutionalists benefited from the actions of copper miners, whose confrontation with the mines predated the outbreak of the Revolution. The miners launched a series of strikes that weakened the multinationals; they joined revolutionary armies in large numbers; and they formed political alliances with local and regional leaders. The miners looked to Sonora's rebel chiefs to help them gain a higher standard of living and a place in the political process. That support, however, was slow in coming. The Maderistas generally backed the copper companies in industrial disputes, and the Constitutionalists gave miners meaningful support only after 1915. Adolfo de la Huerta, as governor, finally led the way in articulating a strong philosophical and political commitment to labor reform by writing progressive labor legislation and intervening on the strikers' behalf. The miners' most consistent and outspoken allies were municipal authorities and journalists radicalized by the confrontation between labor and capital. This was a dramatic departure from Porfirian times, when local

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• Capitalism and Global Mining

  Open Access•James V Torres•Historia Crítica•2023

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