Política educativa y libros de texto gratuitos. Una polémica entorno al control por la educación

In February 1959, the current Mexican president, Mr. Adolfo López Mateos approved a proposal from his Minister ofEducation, Mr Jaime Torres Bodet, which declared that the Government will publish and distribute text and exercise booksfree of cost to all students coursing primary school. This initiative surged to fulfill the need of free primary education statedon the 3rd article of the Constitution. The obligatory element of this proposal created great debate. The diversity ofarguments showed the strong opposition against this initiative. To some extent, the debate reflected the old rivalrybetween the Government and the Church to control the educative system. This conflict, although only for a short period oftime, exceeded the limits of a merely educative debate to become a nation-wide conflict.