López Mateos, Adolfo (1910–1969)

Mexican political leader, president 1958–64. Representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), as president he promoted agrarian reform and foreign inward investment, nationalized the power industry, and introduced profit sharing for workers. He also reached agreement with the USA, in 1963, for the return to Mexico of El Chamizal, a long-disputed 177-ha/437-acre area along the Texas border.

A lawyer, he became active in the governing National Revolutionary Party, later known as the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and served in the senate 1946–52. Under President Ruiz Cortinez, he was a particularly active labour minister 1952–58, settling more than 10,000 disputes.