Federico Idar (1893-1938), railroad union leader and Mexican Senator, was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico on May 2, 1893. His father, Nicasio Idar, established railroad workers’ unions in San Luis Potosí and Nuevo Laredo, and later became the editor and owner of the daily newspaper La Crónica in Laredo, Texas. Although he grew up in Laredo with the rest of the Idar family, upon reaching adulthood Federico Idar chose to retain his Mexican citizenship and return to the country of his birth. Idar worked as a brakeman on the Mexican national railways in the 1910s and 20s. Like his father and his brother, AFL organizer Clemente Idar, Federico Idar was drawn to the labor movement. By the late 1920s he was director of the Comité General de Ajustes of the Unión General de Conductores, Maquinistas, Garroteros y Fogoneros. Idar also followed in the footsteps of his father Nicasio by joining the Masonic order.

In the 1930s, Idar shifted his focus from union management and administration to state and national politics. Idar opposed the dominant party, the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR), first by aiding General Fortunato Zuazua’s unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Nuevo León in 1935, and then through his own successful campaign for the Mexican Senate in 1936. Historian Michael Snodgrass described Idar as “the most heralded working-class politician of his time in Monterrey, one who garnered votes from union and non-union workers of all political persuasions.” Despite his allegiance to the Partido Liberal (at that time a small party without much political power), Idar proved to be very popular in Mexico City as well, and rose to a position of leadership in the Senate very quickly—within a year he was elected Senate President.

Federico Idar was murdered in Mexico City on March 12, 1938. The crime is believed to have been politically motivated. His alleged assassin, Francisco Arce, had been an employee of former President and PNR member Emilio Portes Gil. After Idar’s death, his wife and five children moved to San Antonio, Texas.

The Idar family, a Mexican American family based in Laredo, and later San Antonio, Texas, has included newspaper publishers, union leaders, lawyers, politicians, and social activists. They have been prominent members of their local communities and advocates for Mexican Americans across the United States. One family member, Federico Idar, chose to live and work in Mexico. Other members of the Idar family who are notable for their accomplishments in public life include Nicasio Idar, publisher of Laredo newspaper La Crónica; Jovita Idar, writer, editor, and educator; Clemente Idar, AFL organizer; Eduardo Idar, newspaper owner, and his son, Ed Idar Jr., civil rights lawyer. Many Idars have been members of the Masonic order.

Sources:

“El Senador Federico Idar, Muerto a Balazos.” Excelsior (Mexico City, Mex.) March 13, 1938. “Hubo un Plan a Matar a Idar.” Excelsior (Mexico City, Mex.) March 14,1938. Snodgrass, Michael. Deference and Defiance in Monterrey: Workers, Paternalism, and Revolution in Mexico, 1890-1950. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2003.