Adolfo López Mateos in the context of 1958 Mexican general election

The National Polytechnic Institute (Spanish: Instituto Politécnico Nacional), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It was ranked third in Mexico, behind Tecnológico de Monterrey and UNAM and 246th in the Engineering and Technology category in 2025 by QS World University Rankings. It was founded on 1 January 1936 during the administration of President Lázaro Cárdenas.

The institute consists of 98 academic units offering 290 courses of study. It includes 57 technical careers, 79 undergraduate and 154 postgraduate programs. Its main campus, called 'Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos' or 'Zacatenco', located in northern Mexico City, covers approximately 530 acres (2.1 km) .

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡusˈtaβo ˈði.as oɾˈðas]; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Previously, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Puebla's 1st district, a senator of the Congress of the Union for Puebla, and Secretary of the Interior.

Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, and obtained a law degree from the University of Puebla in 1937 where he later became its vice-rector. He represented Puebla's 1st district in the Chamber of Deputies from 1943 to 1946. Subsequently, he represented the same state in the Chamber of Senators from 1946 to 1952 becoming closely acquainted with then-senator Adolfo López Mateos. Díaz Ordaz was a CIA asset, known by the cryptonym, LITEMPO-2.

The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (commonly known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco) is an international treaty that establishes the nuclear disarmament of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was proposed by Adolfo López Mateos, the President of Mexico, and promoted by the Mexican diplomats Alfonso García Robles, Ismael Moreno Pino and Jorge Castañeda as a response to the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). For his efforts in favour of the reduction of nuclear weapons, García Robles was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982.

The following year, López Mateos invited President of Bolivia Víctor Paz Estenssoro, President of Brazil João Goulart, President of Chile Jore Alessandri, and President of Ecuador Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy to make a public statement following the Crisis. They issued a Joint Declaration on 29 April 1963, announcing their intent to undertake a multilateral Latin American nuclear agreement. The presentation of the Joint Declaration at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) authorised Mexico to lead the treaty's drafting. The 18th session of the UNGA approved the Preliminary Meeting on the Denuclearization of Latin America (REUPRAL), held from 23 to 27 November 1964. During the first session, REUPRAL established the Preparatory Commission for the Denuclearization of Latin America (COPREDAL).