Re: “The Rise of Mexico: America Needs to Look Again at its Increasingly Important Neighbour”

Dear Editor,

Your optimistic piece on November 24, “The Rise of Mexico,” accurately illustrates the growing importance of Mexico in the coming years as a vital exporter to the United States, and the important function that Mexican president-to-be Enrique Peña Nieto will play in the strengthening of trade relationships.  However, this discussion is dampened by the harsh dangers of the menacing drug cartels and the economic realities within the country.

The article accurately notes how, “the Mexican economy grew faster than Brazil’s” and the fact that, “by 2018 America will import more from Mexico than from any other country.”  However, it fails to mention the means and probable illegal factors that continue to contribute to the country’s economic growth. With a cumulative $418 billion USD illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2008, and with a less than stellar record on the Freedom from Corruption index, one can readily see how corruption and illegal actors have played a role in the economic growth of Mexico. [1] Furthermore, there is a potential for an increase of sweatshop workers to add to the already devastating 51.3 percent of the population that is already living below poverty, and these workers will undoubtedly play a role in the increase of Mexican exports. [2]

In addition to the illicit corruption that fuels the economy, the same plague ails the ranks of the Mexican government. The governmental corruption, that was only momentarily touched upon in this article, is an extremely vital topic that Mexico’s future president Peña Nieto will have to fully address if a spike of determined growth in the Mexican economy is to be realized in the near future.

Sincerely,

Ethan Roseman, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

In response to The Economist: The Rise of Mexico: America Needs to Look Again at its Increasingly Important Neighbour 

[2] CIA World Fact book, North America: Mexico, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html