mexico, corn, migration and trade policies

[rodeodance]

In case anyone missed this.


Sally Kohn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/migration-and-corn_b_48801.html

Migration and Corn

......Posted May 18, 2007 | 12:10 PM (EST)

........

And here "root" cause is not just a metaphor. The seeds of the immigration dynamics we now face are planted on the U.S. side of the border, the kernel of which is corn. Corn is what causes migration and corn is the only way the injustices of immigration, on both sides of the border, will ever be solved.

As the birth nation of just over half of the undocumented immigrants in the United States, Mexico provides a good example. Although agriculture is less than 5 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product, more than a quarter of Mexicans still make their living as farmers. And most of the poorest of those farmers grow corn. Over 60 percent of Mexico's cultivated land is planted with corn, most of which are small family plots. In all, 18 million Mexicans, including farmers and their families, rely on corn for their livelihood.

Enter NAFTA in 1994, which opened the U.S.-Mexico border to trade. It's worth noting that before the wealthy nations in the European Union like France and Germany expanded trade with poorer nations like Portugal and Greece, the wealthier countries first transferred huge sums of money to the poorer nations, to build their infrastructure and help get them to the equal footing necessary for trade to work. Not so with Mexico. The United States (1990 GDP: $23,130 -- a.k.a. Goliath) became "equal trading partners" with Mexico (1990 GDP: $6,090 -- a.k.a. David).
.......

So what's the result? Imported corn now dominates the Mexican market. For instance, in Mexico -- the birthplace of corn -- one-out-of-three tortillas is now made with imported maize. An estimated two million family farmers who can't compete with subsidized U.S. corn have been driven from their land. They now have to buy imported corn to feed their families but don't have the income to afford it. Meanwhile, American politicians following the instructions of corporate farm lobbyists start pushing ethanol. Even though the "alternative" fuel actually wastes more energy than it produces, it's made from corn, so agribusiness loves it. The new demand for corn drives up prices. And so the price of a tortilla in Mexico has risen 279 percent since NAFTA. The overall effect impacts not only farmers but all Mexicans, especially the poor. Since NAFTA, poverty in Mexico has increased. As of 2001, over 80 percent of people in rural Mexico were living in poverty........

[Rydz777]

1. Excellent post. It can't be too strongly stressed that the surge

(I hope that word has not become contaminated) of impoverished Mexicans into the United States was given impetus by the economic effects of NAFTA, the peasantry unable to compete with products of US agribusiness, and now the tying (thru ethanol)of the price of energy to the price of corn.

It may all have been coincidental. On the other hand, it may be fallout from the intention of our elites to create a North American economic union, assuring cheap labor from Mexico and natural resources from Canada - led of course from Washington and New York.

[mema42]

2. Bipartisan Globalization Effort

This is an article from the signing of NAFTA, Clinton, Gore, Bush (first), Ford, Carter

It is an interesting read, what we were told, the politics of fear, everyone that reads this and looks at the situation today, should have cause to wonder why we trust our government to do the right thing at all, in any situation.


http://www.multied.com/Documents/Clinton/SigningNaFTA.html

For Immediate Release September 14, 1993


read the other day a prominent Mexican political leader
said, pass NAFTA and we will have jobs for Mexicans in Mexico. Defeat
NAFTA and there will be a tremendous flow of Mexicans to the United
States wanting jobs in the United States. We don't want that. We want
Mexicans to stay in Mexico so they can work in their home country. We
don't want a huge flow of illegal immigrants into the United States
from Mexico.


And I say with all respect to my former members of the
House and the Congress, don't gamble. If you defeat NAFTA, if you
defeat NAFTA, you have to share the responsibility for increased
immigration to the United States, where they want jobs that are
presently being held by Americans. It's that cold-blooded and
practical. And members of the House and Senate ought to understand
that.

[Karenina]

3. WOW!!!

:wow: