NAFTA History Final
Luis Antonio Perez
Chicano History
12/11/14
North American Free Trade Agreement vs. Mexico
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed on January 1, 1994. NAFTA was initially supposed to create more jobs and to help stimulate the economy of Canada, United States, and Mexico. The bill was advertised to be the positive future of the economy of North America. The main promise if offered Mexico specifically was that there would be stability and growth in the economy of Mexico so that would lead to more jobs. Overall it promised to protect and stimulate the economy on both sides of the borders. However, we can see that with its passing we have seen much more disastrous symptoms come about it. Mexico’s economy is not being stimulated, immigration still happens, and we have seen that the crime rate around the maquiladoras has risen since it’s passing. I will be discussing how NAFTA has affected Mexico social political, and economically for the worse. Socially we will be examining the roles of gender pre-NAFTA and post-NAFTA, the way crime level was affected by NAFTA, and the effect of status of women. Economically, we will be examining the maquiladora industry, how the economy was “stimulated” and whether that outweighs the damage it cause Mexico overall. Finally we will be discussing how NAFTA was played out during the politics of it all and how the political party that was in charge of Mexico during its signing might have used it for personal benefits.
Socially
Mexico has never been notably to be a safe country for it citizens, having one of the highest death rates amongst news reporters and women its safe to say that Mexico is no where near close to being a safe country. However, that doesn’t mean one should ignore the rise in crime level since the passing of the NAFTA. Krauze from the New York Times says “more the 7,000 people, most of them connected to the drug trade or law enforcement, have died since January 2008”. This type of death toll is
Chicano History
12/11/14
North American Free Trade Agreement vs. Mexico
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed on January 1, 1994. NAFTA was initially supposed to create more jobs and to help stimulate the economy of Canada, United States, and Mexico. The bill was advertised to be the positive future of the economy of North America. The main promise if offered Mexico specifically was that there would be stability and growth in the economy of Mexico so that would lead to more jobs. Overall it promised to protect and stimulate the economy on both sides of the borders. However, we can see that with its passing we have seen much more disastrous symptoms come about it. Mexico’s economy is not being stimulated, immigration still happens, and we have seen that the crime rate around the maquiladoras has risen since it’s passing. I will be discussing how NAFTA has affected Mexico social political, and economically for the worse. Socially we will be examining the roles of gender pre-NAFTA and post-NAFTA, the way crime level was affected by NAFTA, and the effect of status of women. Economically, we will be examining the maquiladora industry, how the economy was “stimulated” and whether that outweighs the damage it cause Mexico overall. Finally we will be discussing how NAFTA was played out during the politics of it all and how the political party that was in charge of Mexico during its signing might have used it for personal benefits.
Socially
Mexico has never been notably to be a safe country for it citizens, having one of the highest death rates amongst news reporters and women its safe to say that Mexico is no where near close to being a safe country. However, that doesn’t mean one should ignore the rise in crime level since the passing of the NAFTA. Krauze from the New York Times says “more the 7,000 people, most of them connected to the drug trade or law enforcement, have died since January 2008”. This type of death toll is