Here's a tremendously thoughtful article about the world's richest man. No, not Bill Gates. Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecoms magnate. His irresistible rise is, to quote the author, Louis Nevaer, "the story of how NAFTA’s limitations distort income distribution in both Mexico and the United States."

The article comes from a news source which I'm not familiar with, but which I'm pleased to have stumbled upon. New American Media is an outlet for 'ethnic media', an unfortunate term for writing by people of colour. On the site, you'll find stories that aren't making it to CNN, precisely because they're written without the chauvinism and bully boy patriotism that seems to be the sine qua non of mainstream US media. Check out, for instance, American guns fueling violence in Mexico. And here's the article on Carlos Slim: ... read more »

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Posted on 28 July, 2007 - 17:23

Here's something from the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, covering the intimidation and violence suffered by farmworkers (and their union organisers) in Mexico and the US.

Santiago Rafael Cruz, Labor Oranizer For U.S. Union, Killed In Mexico

By Dan La Botz

Santiago Rafael Cruz, an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) based in Toledo, Ohio, was murdered in Monterrey, Mexico on April 9. Cruz was found bound and beaten to death in the union offices; there had been no forced entry and there was no robbery. Baldemar Velasquez, president of FLOC, believes that he may have been murdered because the union had disturbed the operations of corrupt individuals involved in labor contracting operations in Mexico. ... read more »

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Posted on 3 May, 2007 - 20:12

My good friend and co-editor Peter Rosset recently responded to this article in the New York Times. His letter wasn't published, but deserves to be read. So here it is:

Dear Sirs:

The recent upward spiral of prices for corn tortillas, the basic staple of the Mexican population, has garnered a lot of international media attention ("Thousands in Mexico City Protest Rising Food Prices," NY Times, February 1, 2007).

Sadly, most stories have missed the point. ... read more »

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Posted on 9 February, 2007 - 21:03

A posting at the Monthly Review Zine tells of the new NAFTA supercorridor. If you've not heard of it, that's partly the point. Surreptitiously, construction has begun on the proposed route, which will link the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico to Duluth at the US Canada border on Lake Superior (download map from MR).

In a bilious op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Senior Fellow at the US Business and Industry Council points out that the effect will be to relegate Mexico into a trans-shipment point for Asian imports into the US. ... read more »

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Posted on 5 December, 2006 - 08:26