Fecal gives up on Mexico and focuses on improving lives of Mexicans in US

Led by President Fecal, the Mexican government has recently begun showing more interest in taking a more active role in protecting the basic rights of Mexicans living both legally and illegally in the US. A meeting was even held last month to give US-based immigrant rights activists a chance to explain the difficulties faced currently by Mexican immigrants and what the Mexican government can do to help. While nothing has yet been set in stone, the proverbial ball is certainly rolling.

Ever since the José López Portillo government embraced the neoliberal, or free-market oriented, economic model in the wake of the 1980 economic crisis, the Mexican economy has been oriented toward serving the interests of gigantic national and multi-national corporations. Subsequently, economic opportunity for the other 90% of Mexican society, the middle class small business owners and lower class food producers, has been radically reduced. In a society in which the vast majority feel as though they aren't getting their fair share of the pie, one can only help but wonder, "Isn't the government afraid of the outbreak of another revolution?" The simple answer: at least for the time being, no.

This is because of the government's vigilant protection of its two primary 'safety valves,' or alternatives to revolution available for improving one's living standards. The first, which is of less concern to us here, is the informal economy. An astonishing 50% of Mexicans work in this economy, performing services ranging from selling pirated goods in the black market to buffing shoes on the side of the street. The second valve, immigration to the US, has grown to represent the largest source of foreign income, second only to oil. Remittances, money sent from Mexicans in the US to family members in Mexico, represents more than 25% of Mexico's overall GDP. With Mexico's economy coming to rely more and more on both, but particularly the second, it makes sense that the government would do whatever it can to make sure that these valves remain intact.

Primitivo Rodríguez, a Mexico City resident who attended the meeting, said he worries that it's too late for the Mexican government to try a new strategy, and many Mexicans may soon be returning to a country unable to provide good-paying jobs.

"There is a tsunami, not a thunderstorm, coming toward us, and I don't think the government has a plan," said Mr. Rodríguez, coordinator of the Coalition for the Political Rights of Mexicans Abroad, which has members in Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston. "What will Mexico do with so many unhappy, desperate people? Mexico is simply not prepared for what's coming next."

It's really too bad that the government of Mexico has resorted to drafting new plans for making sure its citizens living abroad have NO reason to come back. It sounds just a little backwards. It's as though Fecal has run out of good ideas for improving the lives of those living within his own country so instead, he's now focusing on how to protect those living in other countries. The fact is that while there is plenty of good to be done within Mexico, it would come at the expense of the top 10%, now including the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. And as long as that's the case, politicians here will continue looking outward for solutions.