Salvador Abascal Infante (18 May 1910 – 30 March 2000) was a Mexican politician and leading exponent of Mexican synarchism. For a time, he was the leader of the National Synarchist Union (UNS). Abascal represented the orthodox

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

tendency within the movement.L. Bethell, ''The Cambridge History of Latin America'', Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 411

Background

Born in

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

into a landowning family, Abascal was the fourth of eleven children.J.W. Sherman, ''The Mexican right: the end of revolutionary reform, 1929-1940'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997, p. 122 Partly educated at a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, Abascal was sympathetic to the Cristeros from an early age. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990 Indeed, his father was a member of the Popular Union, the Cristero party. As a result of these sympathies Abascal passed through a variety of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

counterrevolutionary organisations during the 1930s. He would complete his education at the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo where he graduated with a law degree in 1931, subsequently serving as a judge in Ayutla.Roderic Ai Camp, ''Mexican Political Biographies, 1935-2009'', University of Texas Press, 2011, p. 1 He was dismissed as a judge in 1933 after falling foul of local bosses when he made judgements in favour of claimants to land.

UNS leadership

He was a founder member of the UNS in 1937 and became an organiser in

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

, before taking full charge of the movement in 1940 when it was at its peak with 500,000 members. Abascal succeeded Manuel Zermeño as leader, after Zermeño was removed from the movement for concluding an agreement with the government of Avila Camacho without securing approval of the UNS membership. Accused of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

by opponents, Abascal officially denounced the system, although he was noted for his

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. He was also noted for his opposition to electoral politics and rejected any attempts to convert the UNS into a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. Instead Abascal called for 'Catholic social order' as the antithesis to his two most hated ideologies -

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and

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

- both of which he felt were closely related. He also resisted attempts by Manuel Gómez Morín to fuse the UNS with the National Action Party in 1939 as a result of these convictions.

Commune

An unpopular figure with moderates, he was replaced as leader by Manuel Torres Bueno in 1941 and left to set up a ''sinarquista'' commune in

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. The colony, known as ''Maria Auxiliadora'', was initially made up of some 86 families (450 people). It has been claimed that Abascal, who stated that he was inspired by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

in his actions, was driven by

Millenarianism Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarianism exists in various cultures and re ...

in leading his followers into what was a hostile desert climate. However the scheme proved unsuccessful, and by 1944, Abascal had been expelled from the ''sinarquista'' movement for clashing with its leadership over the failure of the colonisation.

Later years

He returned in 1947 and became something of a grand old figure in the movement, even being considered as a potential candidate for the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

in 1955 (although he declined the offer). Increasingly drawn towards integralism, he set up the publishing house ''Editorial la Tradition'' in the late 1970s to produce works on this subject, as well as his memoirs ''Mis Recuerdos''. He published his own newsletter, ''La Hoja del Combate'', into the 1990s. The publication was noted for giving space to the ideas of the revisionist writer Salvador Borrego.Mexico
, profile at axt.org.uk

Personal life

At 31, Abascal met 16 year old Maria Guadalupe Carranza Pulido while in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1940. They developed a courtship that lasted two years. They married on 17 March 1942, on the Sinarquist commune ''María Auxiliadora''. Abascal had 12 children in total. Their first born son, born on the sinarquist commune on 11 March 1943, was Juan Bosco Abascal Carranza. Juan Bosco would go on to be a professor of psychology, published author and a YouTube personality. Their second born, the late Carlos Abascal, was the Secretary of the Interior in the government of

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...

whilst another son, Salvador Abascal Carranza also followed a career in politics, serving as a federal deputy from 1991 to 1994, both for the National Action Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abascal, Salvador 1910 births 2000 deaths Integralism Mexican fascists Mexican judges Mexican Roman Catholics Mexican far-right politicians People from Morelia Politicians from Michoacán National syndicalists Christian fascists Fascist politicians Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo alumni Mexican people of Basque descent