Read Online Year 501 by Noam Chomsky - Free Book Online Page B

Mexico, where another gratifying “economic miracle” is in process, though “‘Economic Miracle’ Has Yet to Reach Mexico’s Poorest,” a front-page headline reads, followed by the familiar story. Elsewhere we learn that wages are at their lowest level in history, having dropped 60 percent under the neoliberal policies of the 1980s (National Autonomous University (UNAM) Institute of Economic Research and other economists); that half of all newborns in Mexico City have lead levels in their blood high enough to impair neurological and motor-physical development; and that nutritional levels have sharply declined. GDP has risen since 1987, UNAM economists observe, “but this larger production of wealth advanced in one direction, contrary to the gradual impoverishing of millions of Mexicans,” concentrating “in the hands of businessmen.” The 1990 census reports that 60 percent of households were unable to cover basic needs. Despite the growth of maquila production (foreign-owned, export-oriented), “the industrial sector employs fewer people now than it did a decade ago,” economist David Barkin writes, and labor’s participation in personal income declined from 36 percent in the mid-’70s to 23 percent in 1992 while rewards for the rich and to foreign investors are “fabulous,” developments that have “aroused the admiration of the international press.”
    Attempting to entice foreign investors, the Mexican Secretary of Commerce stressed the sharp decline of the price of labor in Mexico, from $1.38 per hour in 1982 to $0.45 in 1990, an appealing prospect for GM, Ford, Zenith, and other foreign corporations, along with the useful absence of effective environmental restrictions. The wage level is ensured by brutal government repression of labor, with the participation of corrupt union leaders linked closely to the one-party state. The 1980s have been a particularly dim era in that respect. Typical is the experience of Ford workers at one major plant. In 1987, Dan LaBotz observes in a study of labor rights in Mexico, “the company fired the entire work force, eliminated the union contract, and then rehired the workers at a far inferior salary. When the workers attempted to win the right to democratic union elections, and to fight for their legally mandated benefits, they were subjected to beatings, kidnappings, and murder blatantly conducted through collusion between the Ford Motor Company” and officials of the union run by the always-ruling party. These are little-discussed but critical features of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), crafted so as to guarantee optimal conditions for profit, whatever the human cost may be.
    Foreign debt is increasing, along with the trade deficit, electoral fraud, government repression to bar labor organizing or critical public commentary (murder of several journalists a year makes the message clearer still), and torture that is “endemic” according to Amnesty International. As NAFTA is currently designed “most Mexicans will become irrelevant,” Barkin predicts in a review of the crisis that has resulted from “more than 35 years of successful capitalist development” oriented to the needs of domestic wealth and foreign capital. But foreign investors are happy, as is the business-professional sector that benefits. Mexico is therefore put forth by Secretary of State James Baker as “a model” for reform in Eastern Europe and the Third World, an authentic “economic miracle.” 41
    Lead headlines herald the good news: “A Breath of Fresh Economic Air Brings Change to Latin America,” though we also learn that “Latin Debt Load Keeps Climbing Despite Accords” (Nathaniel Nash, NYT ). Another reads: “South Americans Find Economic Reform Has Initial Social Costs, People Say the New Wealth Is Slow to Trickle Down” (Thomas Kamm, WSJ ). Just