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In alarm the Right began organizing politically as well as militaristically, found two Presidential candidates in Almazan and Avila Camacho. With no Leftist candidate who might beat this movement, Cárdenas got behind Avila Camacho as the more likely to salvage some of his liberal gains, and pushed him into victory at the polls.
The expression on Mexico's new political face began to appear as soon as Avila Camacho was elected. It was that of a soldier-politico again instead of a worker-proletarian. Camachista Mexico began to realign itself with an eye to the U. S., swung steadily to the Right.
But the problems Cárdenas was leaving were tremendous. Most urgent on the home front was oil. The Government's Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board reported last week that Mexico would find itself without oil within seven years unless sweeping economies were made. Of all the expropriated fields only that at Poza Rica is actively producing at the present time. Enormous quantities of natural gas are being wasted, refining and exportation have fallen off. Against this salaries in the industry have increased 43% in two years.
In a last-minute effort to remove this problem at least from his legacy to Avila Camacho, President Cárdenas sent a bill to Congress last week. To bolster the oil industry's operating deficit he asked for 60,000,000 pesos ($12,000,000), suggested reduction in personnel and salary cuts. Though he promised to clear up the muddle before leaving office, it looked impossible to accomplish in a fortnight what he had been unable to do in two years.