Dear Americas Readers,
Welcome to our very first MexicoBlog!
As many of you already know, the Americas Policy Program (formerly of the IRC and now a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for International Policy) has its offices in Mexico City. We´ve been following Mexican politics, U.S. policy, and U.S.-Mexico relations for over twenty years and decided it was time to give it its own space in our program.
A lot is going on here that seldom gets attention in the mainstream U.S. or Mexican media. We feel our program has a unique ability to provide crossborder information and analysis, due to our long experience in both U.S. and Mexican policy analysis, our network of qualified analysts and contacts, and our bilingual website at www.americaspolicy.org
Rarely have so many issues converged to pose such urgent challenges to the binational relationship. We´ll be looking at the demands of hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers and their supporters to renegotiate the NAFTA agricultural chapter, the relationship between NAFTA and immigration, the nefarious Plan Mexico, NAFTA´s impact after fifteen years, human rights violations, and indigenous autonomy.
Here you´ll find updates on the social movements that continue to give voice to the millions of Mexicans who did NOT vote to continue the neoliberal project of the Calderón government, including grassroots resistance to plans to privatize the state-owned oil and electricity companies and calls for national development that put poverty alleviation and human rights before the fortunes of transnational corporations and foreign investors.
And that's just for starters.
What this blog is not: this blog is not a space for us to pontificate. It´s a space to share. That´s where you all come in. Please use the comments section liberally. Tell us what you think--your questions, responses, interesting links, new ideas.
Dialogue is the perfect antidote to the wall-like mentality of U.S. policy toward Mexico that has done so much damage to the binational relationship over the past years. We´re excited about this new cyber-space and look forward to hearing from you soon.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
NAFTA is believed to provide extra-legal powers to an appointed business panel that will make decisions that can supercede US legal decisions. Also, some claim that a new constitution has already been written that will be imposed on all three nations. I think this idea of the gradual subversion of our legal system - already well underway during the last several years - coupled with the eventual imposition of some Soviet-style constitution has led to the widespread anxiety about this issue. I know that CNN, FOX and some other cable news show have reported on the SPP/NAU and the Amero. CNN, at least, claimed this was all well-documented. How can this be if it is, as you say, a conspiracy theory or scare story floated by the neocons to divert attention from their disasterous trade policies? I'd like to believe you are right, but I wonder how so many could get it so wrong? Of course, they get the news wrong most of the time anyway, so we shouldn't be too surprised if they get it wrong this time, as well...
ReplyDeleteCould you perhaps write more about the topic?
Can you explain how so many got it so wrong about the SPP/NAU? I know that CNN and other news shows have reported that the threat to our national sovereignty is well-documented. As is, they say, they plan to implement a new currency. I know the financial community has been abuzz with this for some time. They are far removed from the extreme right wing. It is all indeed very confusing.
ReplyDelete