Abstract

SALTALAMACCHIA, Natalia. Mexico’s Role in the Drafting of the American and Universal Declarations of Human Rights: Midway between Politics and Law (1944-1948). Secuencia [online]. 2025, n.121, e2269.  Epub Mar 31, 2025. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i121.2269.

The objective of this article is to examine Mexico’s participation in the creation of the Inter-American and universal human rights regimes between 1944 and 1948. In particular, it explains the shift from an initial position that enthusiastically favored international recognition and protection of human rights to one that strongly opposed the idea of creating legally binding instruments and an international enforcement machinery. The reasons for the change of position have been little explored in the literature on Mexico’s diplomatic history. The article fills this gap by reviewing a diverse set of primary sources and situating Mexico’s positions in the intellectual and geopolitical context of the time.

Keywords : human rights; foreign policy; universal declaration; American declaration; Ezequiel Padilla.

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