NAFTA Archives - Page 5 of 11 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Don’t Celebrate Mexico’s Independence…Yet

by Manuel Perez-Rocha | Sep 15, 2010

Contrary to common belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s national holiday. That date is September 16, which this year marks the bicentennial of the independence of Mexico. In 1810 Mexico started its independence struggle against Spain, its formal colonial ruler. One hundred years after that, in 1910, Mexico rose up to free itself from three decades of dictatorship under Porfirio Díaz and leave behind the unjust redistribution of wealth, the concentration of large extensions of land (latifundios) in a few hands, the exploitation of workers by capitalist industrialists, corruption, the denial of democracy in elections, and other historic problems.

Calderon’s Visit to Washington

by Manuel Perez-Rocha | May 24, 2010

Mexican President Felipe Calderón came to the United States last week assuming the moral high ground as a victim of U.S. drug consumption and weak gun laws. In his speech before the U.S. Congress, Calderón firmly called on the United States to take concrete steps to cut the traffic of high-caliber arms and illicit money from the United States to Mexico, and reform its immigration policies, particularly Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law. By contrast, President Barack Obama had nothing but words of support for his southern neighbor.

Latin America: C-

by Manuel Perez-Rocha | Feb 12, 2010

Recently I had the opportunity to accompany two labor union leaders from my country, Mexico, to meet with high-level officials of the Obama Labor Department. The meeting was an example of the kind of new U.S.-Latin America relations that so many hoped would come from an Obama presidency.

The Struggle Against Free Trade Continues

by Gabriela Campos | Oct 27, 2009

On October 15th, La Mesa Nacional Frente a La Minería Metálica en El Salvador, also known as El Salvador’s National Roundtable on Mining, won the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award awarded by the Institute for Policy Studies for their fight against mining in El Salvador.

Lack of North American Leadership

by Laura Carlsen, John Feffer | Aug 13, 2009

Times of crisis require bold leadership and innovative solutions. Crises demand the casting aside of old, failed paradigms and the mobilization of people to create new ones.

Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA as You Promised

by Manuel Perez-Rocha, Emily Schwartz Greco, Stuart Trew | Jul 27, 2009

Starting my first year in office, I will convene annual meetings with Mr. Calderón and the prime minister of Canada. Unlike similar summits under President Bush, these will be conducted with a level of transparency that represents the close ties among our three countries. We will seek the active and open involvement of citizens, labor, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in setting the agenda and making progress.

Mexicans Say: Integrate This!

by John Feffer, Katie Kohlstedt | Feb 8, 2008

As part of a broadened alliance of civil society groups demanding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexicans from all parts of the country occupied Mexico City’s Zocalo and surroundings on January 31. In a display of unity, in solidarity with their country’s agricultural producers, and the spirit that "without corn, there is no Mexico," Mexican farmers and others seem to be coming together. Mexico’s movements appear to be united in a sort of "buy Mexican" campaign. This is not necessarily so.

Militarizing Mexico: The New War on Drugs

by Laura Carlsen, John Feffer | Jul 11, 2007

President Richard Nixon invented the phrase “war on drugs” and used it in a political context similar in many ways to today’s. Bogged down in an unwinnable war abroad, with a growing deficit and rising inflation, Nixon declared illegal drugs “public enemy number one” on June 17, 1971.
Nixon took office promising to crack down on crime. Due to the characteristics of the problem and the division of powers that placed crime-fighting largely in the hands of state and local governments, he soon realized the difficulties of showing concrete results through a federal program. So Nixon devised a major, executive-led counternarcotics offensive to increase presidential powers and galvanize support from conservatives for his presidency and re-election.

NAFTA: Kicked Up a Notch

by Laura Carlsen, John Feffer | May 23, 2007

The North American Free Trade Agreement is the world’s most advanced example of the U.S.-led free trade model. It’s not just about economics any more. The expansion of NAFTA into the Security and Prosperity Partnership reveals the road ahead for other nations entering into free trade agreements. It is not a road most nations — or the U.S. public — would take if they knew where it led.

Raw Deal Between Washington and Seoul

by John Feffer, Tim Shorrock | Apr 30, 2007

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of South Koreans have demonstrated their opposition to a sweeping free trade agreement (FTA) signed on April 1 by the United States and South Korean governments. Although polls show that a slight majority of Korean citizens support the pact, Korean workers and farmers want their parliament to reject the agreement and have demanded that President Roh Moo-Hyun hold a public referendum on the issue. Leading politicians, including the former chairman of the ruling Uri Party, have participated in hunger strikes to protest the pact, and two activists have taken the extreme step of lighting themselves on fire to call attention to economic disparities in their country that will be exacerbated by the agreement.