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Model Efficiency. To settle labor disputes, López Mateos expanded the corps of government arbitrators from one to 50, set up teams of investigators to look into management's books and labor's demands. By the time a dispute reached the mediation stage, he and his arbitrators were ready, willing and prolabor. Once, after a long wrangle with a group of representatives of management, López Mateos tapped his finger on the table for attention. "Gentlemen," he said. "Perhaps you did not notice the sign over the door. It says Secretary of Labor. I am here to represent labor." In six years López Mateos' office handled 62,191 disputes, let only 13 grow into strikes.
As Labor Secretary, López Mateos lived quietly in a two-story, eight-room house on the outskirts of the capital's fancy suburb-on-a-lava-field, Pedregal. The house, made of glass and lava stone, is furnished with nude marble statuettes, alabaster floor lamps, overstuffed furniture in shades of purple and rose. The López Mateos' only child, Evita, 16, studied at Torrington Park, an English school for middle-class girls, in Arundel, West Sussex, learned flawless English (her father, fluent in Spanish and French, can read English but does not speak it).
López Mateos likes to rise at 6 and start the day with a cup of ink-black coffee and the newspapers, then shave with a Remington shaver. He dresses in double-breasted suits of conservative cut and dark color, wears monogrammed ties.
For breakfast he likes papaya and huevos rancheros—fried eggs with spicy tomato sauce on a tortilla, with a side of beans. By 8:30 he is at work, stays at it until 4 p.m., then quits for Mexico City's typically heavy (steak and trimmings), typically drawn-out (two hours) dinner. Back at work at 6 or thereabouts, he works into the evening, then spends an hour or two in a smoking jacket with a detective story or Beethoven on stereophonic hifi. He likes to play canasta and watch fights on TV.
He does not go to church. "I was raised in a Roman Catholic background," he says, "but I practice no religion."
Candidate of Stability. López Mateos' record of efficiency in office made him a strong contender for the presidency in 1958. In choosing him, Ruiz Cortines followed the tradition that lets each President pick the government party's candidate, provided that he is not objectionable to any ex-President. A whoop-it-up campaign this year introduced López Mateos to the country, and as P.R.I.'s candidate he was easily elected over a brash and helpless opponent.
The transition of power was peaceful, in contrast to Argentina (where President Arturo Frondizi was elected after the overthrow of Dictator Juan Perón), Brazil (where President Juscelino Kubitschek was permitted to take office only because of an army "preventive coup") and Venezuela (where an election is being held to replace a dumped dictator).
Private Plus Public. Amid such political stability, Mexico's current revolution is industrial—and the government is free to give its attention to growth.