20 years after NAFTA, Mexico has transformed

[TexasTowelie]

LA VALLA, Mexico — Leodegarco Ramírez Ramírez smiles as he stands in a spot symbolizing the rise of a new Mexico, an area of cornfields that are slowly being replaced by manufacturing plants where his sons and nephews make airplanes and automobiles.

Ramirez and his countrymen are part of a transformation as Mexico moves from a commodity, crisis-prone, agriculture-dominated economy to a more broad-based one with manufacturing plants that produce everything from aerospace and auto parts to refrigerators.

“I tell my sons things are looking up for Mexico,” he said. “We’ll go to the United States more out of curiosity than necessity.”

There is debate over how much of the change is due to the North American Free Trade Agreement. This week marks the 20th anniversary since the accord took effect for the United States, Mexico and Canada.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140101-20-years-after-nafta-mexico-has-transformed.ece .

[el_bryanto]

1. It'll be interesting to see reactions to this article

Assuming those gains are accurately reported, that's good for Mexico.

Bryant

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Now they have American fast food chains and an obesity epidemic.

[Blue_Tires]

8. And their national soccer team sucks hard...

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Oh the team is a source of endless

entertainment. You really have to follow it to understand the dark humor around it and it's tragedy. The green mice never fail... Never. I rarely follow sports. Hell, I might have to watch a game (of American football this Sunday) but the TRI is a tour de force in the Mexican media. And not precisely for their feats on the field.

[last1standing]

3. I hope Mexico does even better in the future.

But not at the expense of the US worker. The wealth of this country should be expanded out to other countries, not moved there.

[Hoyt]

4. Hope to see all our neighbors improve, along with us. We probably owe Mexico a bunch for the

land we took from them anyway.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. And Mexico saw the closure of many

Native textile factories.

The leather works were decimated.

Small farmers are out of luck

The minimum wage has less buying power than it used to.

We have a migrant crisis as family farmers are pushed to the cities and from there to the US. (Illegal migration rates crashed after 2008 however)

Nope, it is not all roses. This article is pushing the benefits, because even today there is open opposition to it.

Oh don't get me started on Walmart or the concentration of wealth and power in a few hands.

[Zorra]

6. Exactly. I would have said the same thing if you didn't beat me to it.

I'm trying to sell my home in Mexico right now because I can't stand to watch it turn into a cheesy version of Gringolandia.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. You mean the adds in oh English

For Converse shoes in Mexico City?

Or the naming of everything in English for the in kids? That actually started well before NAFTA. That bothers me little.

Mexico used to be self sufficient in corn, bean and other staples production. Land reform was working. These days it no longer is, and we have the new rise of Haciendas. The new owners are transnationals like Smithfield.

Nafta has been all kinds of evil for the working classes in the three countries. But the Dallas News Reporter could not bother with that, I am sure.