NAFTA, Inequality and Immigration

In June I took a television crew out to Cabeza de Juárez, a sprawling public housing project on the outskirts of Mexico City. Here families live on the edge of survival—the precariousness of their lives makes them a sensitive barometer of changes in the Mexican economy.

We went out to talk to people about the affects of the “tortilla crisis.” In early 2007, the price of tortillas throughout Mexico shot up over 50%—from five pesos to around eight-and-a-half per kilo.

In the narrow passageways between vendors’ booths, one by one, housewives told the same story. Just months before, they bought two kilograms of tortillas a day to feed their families; now they had been forced to cut their consumption by half. Even with two or three family members working, they couldn’t afford to buy the tortillas they needed.”*

Stumble it! | |