As chapter 3 pointed out, NAFTA was
this “great” plan for
developing an equal playing field amongst the US, Mexico, and Canada so that
all of us could play in the same sandbox together. And sharing our toys is ok
for some of us until Hank’s older brother hides his pot in our favorite toy car
that we’ve been allowing into our sandbox without any hesitation.
Maybe that metaphor doesn’t exactly
portray the issue at hand, but it’s a start. NAFTA has tried to open up the
gates for free trade since 1994, and only a handful of producers from Mexico
gained an advantage, unless you’re into smuggling drugs. Opening our borders to
trade for legal goods opens the gate for pretty much anything else as well.
“Fueled by easy access because of
NAFTA, the Mexican drug trade has made a handful of drug kingpins as powerful
as any government official in Mexico.”
Now imagine that you’re a Mexican
trying to illegally cross the border into the US, you’re not selling drugs,
just trying to start a new life with your family. You’re vulnerable, scared,
and willing to do anything to get across that 14 foot wall. You and your family
are a mile away, and suddenly a gang of Mexican “narcos” roll up with AK-47’s
pointed right at you. They pay you 400$, give you a bunch of drugs to give to
their friends on the other side, and if you disagree they shoot you.
NAFTA has made these transactions
possible because the “narcos” (a term used to describe the Mexican drug lords
that control every aspect of business in Mexico) can ship drugs, guns, and even
prostitutes across the border, with only 1 out of 5 trucks being inspected.
We’re told that Mexico is a
dangerous place due to the drug cartel that has little reservations about
murder, but we probably don’t realize that our free trade agreement has created
the perfect infrastructure for their illegal business. So I guess in a perverse
way, NAFTA worked. It brought money to producers in Mexico, but probably not
the producers we had in mind. Maybe we shouldn’t be so worried about the
hardworking families that are trying to play in the sandbox, and instead focus on
that seemingly fun toy car filled to the brim with illegal drugs, and the
murder and corruption that allowed it to get there.
http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/violence-and-drug-trafficking-in-mexico
http://economyincrisis.org/content/nafta-fueling-drug-trade
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