It’s almost midnight on 000 May 1938.
During the waters near the Florida peninsula, the Mexican-flagged ship Potrero del Llano advances with his load of almost 50, barrels of oil bound for the north.
His destination is a port on the east coast of the United States, which he would never reach: a German submarine OR-564 launches a torpedo attack that directly hits the oil tanker of 14 years.
It’s a nauf ragio in which die 14 of the 35 crew members, including several members of the Mexican Navy.
In Mexico there is a great national indignation, which will lead to the entry of the country into the Second World War.
But the event ultimately would also represent a turning point in a transformative era for Mexican society and economy.
“If anything changed the face of Mexico in the 20th century, it was the entry into World War II,” historian César Valdez, from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), tells BBC Mundo.
And the fact is that the sinking of the Potrero del Llano -and another ship, the Faja de Oro
, seven days later – took the pre-war Mexico, with a slow development, to industry organize and lay the foundations for what is today a vigorous economic exchange with the United States .
A power with which it shares a border and that until then aroused a great feeling of antagonism among the Mexicans of the time.
The sinking
Mexico, like many countries from Latin America, had stayed out of World War II since the conflict broke out in September 1939.
The posture among the countries of Latin America it was non-intervention, although many governments -among them the Mexican- did condemn the invasions of Nazi Germany.
Pe ro Japan’s attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, changed things.
The United States entered the war and the countries of the continent began to face pressure to define themselves.
Mexico, being the country at the gates of US territory, was in a complex position.
“The United States makes a lot of intelligence reports and sends them to Mexico. There were names of businessmen, politicians, German descendants,” Valdez points out.
Under these circumstances, the Mexican oil tankers were sunk by German submarines that already had presence in waters close to the countries of America.
The Faja de Oro
suffered a fate similar to that of Potrero del Llano: the 20 May, a German submarine U-106 sank the ship in the Straits of Florida and killed 9 of the 22 crew.
“The sinking of the Mexican ships is not an isolated case,” historian Veremundo Carrillo-Reveles, from the National Institute of Historical Studies of the Revolutions of Mexico (INEHRM), explains to BBC Mundo.
“There is a whole strategy on the part of the German army to try to cut off all the supplies that are being sent, of oil and other basic products, to England”, he adds.
Ships from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela were also sunk in the Atlantic.
The declaration of war
Before the null German response to the demand for compensation from Mexico, the government of Manuel Ávila Camacho asked Congress for a declaration of war.
“It is declared that, as of the day 22 May 1942, there is a status of war between the United Mexican States and Germany, Italy and Japan”, the document established.
“The 13 May the attack came. Not decisive and frank, but disloyal, cloaked and cowardly, shot in the dark and with absolute confidence in impunity. A week later the attack was repeated in the face of this repeated aggression, which violates all the norms of the law of nations and which implies a bloody outrage for our country”, President Ávila Camacho told the nation.
In fact, the country did not expect or have the capacity to send a force military at the front of battle in Europe, Asia or the oceans, since the Mexican army was actually very limited.
There was some 35,000 troops that did not make up brigades or divisions, and the aviation had only 25 planes, so there was no chance to open an offensive. The country’s defense was just as limited.
“The country had no anti-aircraft force to repel any attack from the Pacific,” says Valdez, since the main concern at the time was the arrival of Japan on the Mexican coast.
Although it was good for the US to have with Mexico among the allies, the country’s weak military position became a situation of concern.
“For the United States this is terrible, because they fully distrust the Mexican government and its army. So the first thing they start to do is to suggest to Mexico that it transform certain features of its armed forces”, explains Valdez.
Through the Loans and Leases Act, USA U. began to offer economic resources, military supplies and technical assistance to strengthen Mexico’s position.
“Mexico totally modifies its defense system, creating three commands: Pacific, Gulf and Isthmus. We had the possible Japanese invasion through the Pacific covered, protecting the oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Isthmus for the possible entry through Central America”, explains Valdez.
A development shuttle
In addition to military improvement, Mexico lived from the entry into the war a moment unique economic development that would transform the reality of the country in a short time.
And the fact is that the country entered an era of industrialization that was very necessary in the war effort to provide the United States and its allies with resources.
“It was a crucial moment for the history of the Mexican 20th century, because your industrialization accelerates due to the needs of the war,” explains Carrillo-Reveles.
“A lot of foreign currency comes in that helps the country take off,” he adds. In addition, the “Braceros” program began, which allowed tens of thousands of Mexicans to work legally in the United States, which gave rise to the first great migration to that country.
“They go to work not only in the agricultural fields, but also on the railways, in industry”.
The United States could not allow the neighboring country to fall into the opposite side, for which he devoted a good part of his attention.
“There was probably a certain dose of North American pressure to enter . But what never ceases to attract attention is how these Mexican politicians take advantage of this context to launch Mexico economically, which will consolidate itself in the coming years,” says Valdez.
In the following 20 years, Mexico experienced remarkable economic growth that came to be called the “Mexican miracle”.
Before the war, “Mexico is still seen in the international context as a country of hats and guns”, says Valdez.
The old enmity
Beyond the political agreements, entering the war was not something popular for the Mexican people.
A survey, one of the first in the country, explains Carrillo-Reveles, showed that around 70% of Mexicans did not support Mexico’s participation in World War II.
And joining the United States in a war effort was just as unpopular.
In the 1980s 1848 It was a century since the annexation of Texas by the US and the centenary of the war with the United States was about to come, in which Mexico lost half of its territory (1848).
“There was a very strong historical anti-American feeling, and also anti-British, because you have to remember that after the oil expropriation of 1934 , England breaks relations with Mexico”, says Carrillo-Reveles.
In addition, the Mexican government faced political instability, both from opposition groups from the sectors of the left, including the communists, and from the right, with groups aligned with fascist ideology.
The war, without However, it was used by the government to close flanks: “The opportunity arises to transform the discourse of political confrontation caused by Cardenismo [del gobierno de Lázaro Cárdenas, 1934-1940] into a policy of national unity for Mexicans,” Carrillo-Reveles indicates.
And there was a very intense government propaganda campaign -supported by the US, warns Valdez- to convince Mexicans of the reasons for being with the allies.
“There is no Mexican Secretary of State that has not printed a poster where the Mexican and American flags appear together. But I don’t necessarily think that feeling against the United States has been diluted,” explains the historian.
The Squad 201 in battle
Despite Mexico’s limited possibilities, the government sent a contingent outside its territory: the Squadron 50 of the Mexican Air Force.
Accompanied the US 5th Air Force in its campaign against the Japanese empire in the Philippines.
Despite the distrust of the American counterpart, Mexican pilots executed dangerous dive attacks in July d and 1945 in the surroundings of Manila.
Its participation took place only a few weeks after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that put an end to the conflict in Asia.
“It was a Mexican contribution to the extent of its possibilities”, explains Valdez.
“They entered into war action, they were going to fight the Japanese, they were enthusiastic, they were afraid, they were at war because Mexico was at war”, says the historian before the conception that was created years after the Mexican participation was symbolic.
Those Mexican pilots had no idea that the Pacific War was about to end with a highly secret operation to drop atomic bombs.
But beyond what the Squad did 201, Carrillo-Reveles highlights how Mexico had an important contribution in Allied victory through all labor and industrial support for the United States.
“They contribute in a very important way so that the United States economy does not stop and that it can even keep a collapsed Europe afloat completely,” he notes.
For a long time, unsupported versions circulated, historians point out, that the United States was the one that sank the Potrero del Llano and the Faja de Oro. “Today there is absolutely no evidence that it was the United States”, Valdez points out.
Instead, time would show that the war was a transformative moment for Mexico: “And if you think about it, all this is caused by the sinking of a ship.”
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