He was a founder member of the UNS in 1937 and became an organiser in Michoacán, before taking full charge of the movement in 1940 when it was at its peak with 500,000 members. Abascal succeeded Manuel Zermeño as leader, after Zermeño was removed from the movement for concluding an agreement with the government of Avila Camacho without securing approval of the UNS membership.Stein Ugelvik Larsen, Fascism Outside Europe, Columbia University Press, 2001, p. 620
