Essay On Maquiladoras

Through the voice of Palo Alto, a mesquite tree, Elena Zamora O’Shea relates the story of one Spanish-Mexican family’s history, spanning over two hundred years, in South Texas, the area encompassing between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. As the narration of the Garcia’s family history progresses through the different generations, becoming more Mexican-American, or Tejano, peoples and things indigenous gradually grow faint. In her account of South Texas history, Elena devalues the importance and impact of Indians, placing a greater precedence on the Spanish settlers.

Tamales have the power of merging family. Christmas eve in Mexico means interacting and bonding with the whole family. When the holiday season begins and everybody gathers at Grandmother’s house you can trace the smell of tamales getting cook in the kitchen mixed with the smell of cinnamon. The Christmas tree is bursting with presents and on the side the nativity scene which is always present in a Catholic Mexican family. The table is brimming in flavors, with a variety of dessert and snacks and delicious hot drinks. As appetizing as the table looks the whole family is barely touching the food because the tamales are almost ready and everybody wants to eat as many tamales as possible. When the tamales are ready it means that Christmas Eve celebration is staring. Everyone from the oldest in the house to the youngest gets a plate and eats as many tamales as possible while sharing stories and laughs. The tamales are the main guest of the celebration. The tamales are a traditional Mexican food that can be traced to the Aztecs. The word tamale comes from the Aztec word tamalii which means wrapped food. The Aztec women would cook the tamales for the soldiers because they were easy to carry and eat. Today making tamales is a bonding event for all the women in the family,

Mariachi is a lot more than just a band playing; it's a tradition that has been in Mexico for almost two centuries and is enriched with a huge history and deep meaning to for the Mexican culture. Mariachi music started in the nineteen century as a way for the common people of Mexico to find a way to express their ideas and feelings in which their ideas later become lyrics and their feelings become music. Mariachi music as we know it today results from the confluence of several different influences. It originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in the town of Cocula, in the 19th century. It was a way in which people were able to say what they were feeling in a new and unique way. From the music and lyrics to the dress attire and

     The Aztecs were an American Indian people who ruled a mighty empire in Mexico from the 1400's to the 1500's. The Aztecs had one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas and built cities as large as any in Europe at that time. They also practiced a remarkable religion that affected every part of their lives and featured human sacrifice. The Aztecs built towering temples, created huge sculptures, and held impressive ceremonies all for the purpose of worshipping their gods. The Spaniards destroyed their magnificent empire in the year 1521, but the Aztecs left a lasting mark on Mexican life and culture .

The Spanish conquistadors’ motives greatly affected the people living in the new world. These motives influenced the Native Americans in all different ways some ways better or bigger than others. Three of the biggest motives that effected the Native Americans were gold, Christianity, and glory.

Don’t Eat the Bear: A Spanish adventurer named Gaspar De Portola in 1769 passed through a region what is now Santa Barbara. In the near by sand dunes he found a lake where he crossed passed with an “oso flaco”, a skinny bear. They were dying of hunger and ate the skinny bear not knowing it was poisoned.

"La Malinche." Slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first "Mexican." her very name still stirs up controversy. Many Mexicans continue to revile the woman called Doña Marina by the Spaniards and La Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor and harlot for her role as the alter-ego of Cortes as he conquered Mexico.

The 1959 novel, Pocho, by José Antonio Villarreal is an insightful cultural exposition told primarily from the vantage point of Richard Rubio, the coming-of-age son of immigrant Mexican parents who eventually settle in Santa Clara, California, after many seasons of migrant farm work. Although fiction, the story likely mirrors some of the experiences of the author who was born to migrant laborers in Los Angeles in 1924 and was himself a "pocho" - a child of the depression era Mexican-American transition. ("I am a Pocho," he said, "and we speak like this because here in California we make Castilian words out of English words." p 165)

"In 1994, both countries [Mexico and the United States] signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which has increased their mutual trade and foreign direct investment. Between 1994 And 2005, the US-Mexico foreign direct investment flows increased substantially from 16,968 billion to $71,423 billion. By 2007, the Mexican commercial relationship with the U.S. almost tripled from $297 billion to $930 billion." [2] This mutual increase in business inherently has had an attendant growth in "the number of foreign enterprises who have situated in each country." [2] With this increase in international business and trade comes cultural shifts and increased globalization and differences in managerial functions.

that the maquiladora industry led to 1.5 million jobs in Mexican cities. Due to the fact

On Sundays after Mass- every single Sunday, Latinos gathered on parks to play soccer and have carne asada something that is very traditional in Mexican families my family could be an example of that. These parks were built with the money taken from the Japanese which speaking of now a day’s use these complexes too and this is where the two cultures met.

Nearly five hundred years ago Spanish Conquistadors began their conquest of the Americas. As history recounts, of all the Conquistadors Hernan Cortes was by far the most successful Spaniard in his pursuit to seize land, precious resources, and native peoples. Cortes’ search for wealth and glory is capped by his procurement and establishment of New Spain, forever implanting his legacy in the Spanish history of the exploration and conquest of the New World, as well as the indigenous history of the rapid destruction of the highly advanced, wealthy, and powerful Mexica Empire ruled by Moctezuma Xocoyotl. With this in mind, since the beginning of time, prevailing histories have leant towards the recorded narratives of the Victors, thus failing to

As a major contributor to the global economy, Mexico’s sweatshops have contributed to the United States’ wealth and economic growth. It is the unfortunate truth that many individual workers have suffered as a result of this prosperity. The sweatshops, known as maquiladoras, are in debate because of the ethical and lawful reasoning behind their existence and conditions. How can we, as a First-world nation, allow such industries to exist where people are denied basic and fundamental human rights? What, if any, laws and regulations are put into place for the maquiladoras? Are these laws and regulations hindering, harmful, or helpful? Are they enforced emphatically? If not, how does this affect development? After

The devaluation of this currency leads to lower costs for the subsidiary, in relation to wages, since the peso has depreciated against the USD during this time period. The facility can purchase Mexican pesos with their USD profits at increasingly appealing exchange rates, and then use these pesos to finance new operations. By doing so, this shows the positive effect of the devaluation of the peso for the Maquiladora Assembly Facility.

The American Outsourcing Case is a compilation of factual information for the purpose of provoking debates. The authors present both the pros and cons of outsourcing, and avoid inserting their personal bias. The case clearly defines outsourcing and then focuses on outlining its existence in China, Mexico, and India. The evolution and U.S. involvement in the Maquiladoras of Mexico is described first. The implementation of NAFTA and the creation of Maquiladoras were major catalysts in the growth of free trade between the U.S. and Mexico. China, in an attempt to attract foreign investors, created Special Economic Areas, which designated geographic zones that were enabled to operate under their own laws. With great tax benefits