Mexico Neoliberalism Essay

As once put by Mexican Nobel laureate Octavio Paz, Mexico is a land of “super-imposed pasts” (McCormick, p.326). It continues to be and is seen as a melding pot of its European and Native American ideas about society, law and government. Its history has had a major influence on the political culture of Mexico, seen through years of revolution, violence and corruption. Mexico is a considered a new democracy, but there is a tension still seen between democracy and authoritarianism. The country we see today has impressive growth yet is still enduring poverty. It’s a geographically diverse country, with a population of approximately 106million people. Latin American political culture is seen as “elitist,

a city where an eagle with a snake in its beak rested on a cactus. This

This year’s election cycle brought heated debates and discussions about many things; “the wall”, free trade, NAFTA, immigration issues, borders security and policy issues. Regardless of which side of the political isle you stand, which way the political winds sway in Washington D.C., one thing is certain not to change with the election cycle, and that is, the actual physical border between The United States and Mexico. Therefore, if we can’t change that, and we can’t, then there needs to be solutions to problems that continue to exist between the two sovereign countries. Trade and Security are two of the most important factors for neighboring countries and they must not be ignored. Beyond just good political, diplomatic, and strategic vision it is important to understand there are cultural, education and diversity complexities which takes tremendous and often times delicate maneuvering to come together for the greater good of both economies and governments, as millions of people rely on successful trade agreements and security.

Children are taught at a young age learning the three branches of the United States and how well they work however Mexico’s government is very similar to the US. Mexico’s government is a lot more developed than you might think; it has a good structure with three branches also called Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.

Since labor unions in Mexico were originally formed in the early 1900s, they have maintained a unique system of collaboration and collusion with the government of Mexico. Though many may refer to their system as one of “corruption,” it is a system that has become so deeply imbedded in the relationship between labor unions and the government, that it is now a well-understood unofficial network. Over the past 20 years in Mexico, a great deal of progress has been made toward the liberalization of the Mexican markets. Previously government-owned companies have been privatized, foreign investment has boomed, and a once one-party system has just recently

In the early sixteenth century, Spain conquered Mexico and turned it into one of their most lucrative colonies. In the search for land, labor and natural resources, Spain found everything they were looking for in Mexico. During the colonial period, Mexico was simply another kingdom of the vast Spanish Empire. As Spain largely benefited, the indigenous civilizations of Mexico were ravaged and left to be entirely dependent on their foreign counterpart. It wasn’t until the independence movement in the early nineteenth century that Mexico seemed to have some hope of being released from the hands of imperialism. Unfortunately, following independence, Mexico suffered from a half a century of economic

During the late twentieth century, nations throughout the Western Hemisphere found themselves exhausted economically due to a combination of recessions which occurred from the late sixties to the early nineteen eighties-caused most in part due to energy crises and government regulations to combat inflation (due to counteract Cold War spending). Combined with growing economic interdependence, due to the need for foreign resources needed for the sustainable growth and expansion of consumer-based manufacturing markets in the developed world-beginning post World War Two, the United States and impactful developing states sought to create regional zones of economic integration that could provide solutions to internal economic concerns of employment, growth, and governmental sustainability, as well as provide a platform for prosperity in regards to capitalism, inter-market sustainability, and geo-economic authority within the region. In order to do this, beginning in the late nineteen seventies, pro-capitalistic states, such as Chile, Mexico, and most recognizably the United States- , and different economic institutions-such as the World Bank and the IMF- pushed for a new wave of liberalism, emphasizing revamped laissez-faire policies. This resurgence of classical economic liberal ideology, which is known as neoliberalism, emphasized growth

The first elements Zuloaga points out is that “the protection of the Mexican cultural industry never came up”. (Zuolaga,2001) Indeed, the NAFTA agreements made between major world powers, it is expected that many will question the validity of these agreements on an equality scale for Mexico, known as a weak country on many levels.

Diaz had made Mexico into an oligarchy system which it had everyone in their place. The idea of the oligarchy didn’t last very long along with eliminate serious competition and close the door to all but a few . That seems the reason why conditions were bad in Mexico while the rich enjoy the wealth.

The article, “Displaced People: NAFTA’s Most Important Product”, written by David Bacon for North American Congress on Latin America, discusses how economic crises have caused Mexicans to be displaced. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has caused the price of crops in Mexico to lower so much that there are no economic benefits from planting them. There are around 500,000 indigenous Mexicans from the state of Oaxaca now living in the United States as farmworkers. The article states that between 2000 and 2005, the countryside in Mexico has lost a million and a half jobs. This causes indigenous Mexicans who relied on planting crops to make money to migrate to the United States. Families that cannot migrate to the United States and are now jobless will go hungry as they search for buyers to buy the crops they grow. While the crops they grow continue to lose money value, the price of the food that they need to survive keeps increasing. After Mexico adopted NAFTA, the price of tortillas has more than doubled and companies continue to monopolize tortilla production. Poor Mexicans are left with no ability to make money and

Mexico is a product of its past; political violence early in its history proceeded to cause a quasi-authoritarian, corporatist regime. Its nationalist tone was a result of both foreign intervention and a search for stability, workers were expectant of unionized labor creating job security and a living wage, and businesses were accustomed to subsidies and tariff protection (Gill, 2014). However, this all changed in the 1980’s when Mexico experienced an economic crisis when the international economy changed, but interests in Mexico did not, causing a reimagining of both economic policies and the political system. Grassroots demand for democracy led the system from a one party system to a multiparty one. This crisis also showcased economic

From the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) to the National Action Party (PAN) to the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD), Mexico has had many political parties in the past and present but many have questioned the fact that how has PRI manage to stay in power and maintain its place as the dominant party in the past. In this short research paper I am going to be talking about Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) and Mexico. I want to discuss the history of PRI and how it came about during and after the Mexican Revolution. I will also touch upon the party’s weaknesses and precursors that might have signaled its loss in the elections of 2000.

One effect of globalization has been the freedoms regarding trading and companies’ abilities to acquire labor. In North America we signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), allowing trade and mobility between the countries of Mexico, Canada, and the United States of America. While designed to be a trade bloc between the countries, NAFTA has had many undesired effects especially on Mexico and industrial America. Mexican farmers have been badly hurt by the incorporation of NAFTA. While Americans have farm subsidies, specifically in the crops of corn, America is able to keep competitive prices if nor cheaper prices with that of Mexico. Moreover, this dumping by America has caused many Mexican farmers to stop farming corn and look elsewhere for employment. Thus, with America’s predatory pricing in agriculture, many Mexicans are forced out of business and forced to look elsewhere for work. Of course the most prosperous place to work is America, thus, we have a circle in which NAFTA has added to the amount of undocumented workers coming to America.

Mexican dependence on the U.S. is notable. After the failure of the drive to diversify trade patterns in the 1970s and eighties (the local equivalent of Canada's Third Option policy), a 'realist' approach began to mark the nation's traditional nationalist and protectionist economy. From opposition to excessive U.S. dependence, Mexico moved to welcome it as inevitable. With time, the Mexican economy became even more dependent on the United States than the Canadian economy.2

The year 1994 marks the final year of Carlos Salinas de Gotari’s administration in Mexico. In order to boost the popularity of the party in hope of garnering more votes, Salinas went a high spending splurge which led to high deficits. Mexico’s trade deficit further deteriorated due to trade liberalization through the participation in North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Trade Agreement (WTA) in 1994. Fuelled by the overvalued peso and trade liberalization, Mexico was importing at a rate much faster than it could, leading to rising trade deficits.