Cárdenas, Justo (unknown–unknown)

Type: Biography

Published: June 1, 1995

Updated: August 11, 2020

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Justo Cárdenas, journalist, fled from Monterrey, Nuevo León, to Laredo, Texas, after federal authorities proclaimed a state of emergency in Nuevo León. In 1886 he established the Imprenta y Casa Editorial de Justo Cárdenas in Laredo. There he founded two Spanish-language newspapers, El Correo de Laredo (1891–97) and El Demócrata Fronterizo (1900–19). Through them he defended the interests of Mexicans in Texas and criticized the abuses of Mexican president Porfirio Díaz. Though it was generally pro-worker, El Demócrata Fronterizo strongly criticized Mexican workers in Laredo's Federal Labor Union No. 11,953 when it decided to go on strike against the Mexican National Railway in 1906–07. Cárdenas was named an honorary member of the Primer Congreso Mexicanista, held in Laredo, Texas, in September 1911. The Primer Congreso was organized by Nicasio and Clemente Idar, editors of La Crónica, in response to several incidents of racial violence against Mexicans in Texas.

Elliott Young, "Deconstructing La Raza: Identifying the Gente Decente of Laredo, 1904–1911," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 98 (October 1994). Emilio Zamora, The World of the Mexican Worker in Texas (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1993).

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Cárdenas, Justo (unknown–unknown)

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