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MEXICO in Perspective
An Orientation Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: GEOGRAPHY......................................................................................................... 1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 1 Physical Terrain and Topographic Features ............................................................................ 2 Climate ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Water Resources ...................................................................................................................... 4 Major Cities ............................................................................................................................. 5 Mexico City (Distrito Federal) ......................................................................................... 6 Guadalajara ....................................................................................................................... 7 Monterrey ......................................................................................................................... 8 Puebla ............................................................................................................................... 8 León .................................................................................................................................. 9 Mérida............................................................................................................................... 9 Border Towns ................................................................................................................. 10 Coastal Cities .................................................................................................................. 10 Environmental Concerns ....................................................................................................... 12 Natural Hazards ..................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 1 Assessment ............................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 2: HISTORY .............................................................................................................. 15 Ancient Civilizations ............................................................................................................. 15 Early Settlers .................................................................................................................. 15 Preclassic Period (2000 B.C.E.–200 C.E.) ..................................................................... 15 Classic Period (200–900 C.E.) ....................................................................................... 16 Postclassic Period (900–1520 C.E.) ............................................................................... 17 Spanish Conquest and Colonization ...................................................................................... 18 Cortés and Moctezuma ................................................................................................... 18 Crown and Cross ............................................................................................................ 19 Colonial Economy and Society ...................................................................................... 19 Resistance ....................................................................................................................... 20 Independence ......................................................................................................................... 21 Grito de Dolores, the Cry of Independence .................................................................... 21 First Mexican Empire ..................................................................................................... 22 Many Mexicos ................................................................................................................ 22 The Age of Santa Anna .................................................................................................. 23 Mexican–American War ................................................................................................ 24 La Reforma ............................................................................................................................ 24 Benito Juárez and the Reform Laws ............................................................................... 24 War of Reform ................................................................................................................ 25 French Intervention ........................................................................................................ 25 The Porfiriato.................................................................................................................. 26 © D LIF L C | i
Revolution.............................................................................................................................. 26 Aftermath of Revolution................................................................................................. 27 One-Party Democracy ........................................................................................................... 28 The Party Rises ............................................................................................................... 28 To the Left ...................................................................................................................... 28 To the Right .................................................................................................................... 29 Falling Down .................................................................................................................. 30 Multiparty Democracy ........................................................................................................... 30 Recent History ....................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter 2 Assessment ............................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 3: ECONOMY ........................................................................................................... 33 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 33 Agriculture ............................................................................................................................. 34 Industry .................................................................................................................................. 36 Energy............................................................................................................................. 37 Oil and Natural Gas ............................................................................................................... 37 Trade ...................................................................................................................................... 39 Transportation ........................................................................................................................ 40 Telecommunications .............................................................................................................. 41 Tourism .................................................................................................................................. 42 Banking and Finance ............................................................................................................. 43 Banking and Currency .................................................................................................... 43 Finance and Investment .................................................................................................. 44 Standard of Living ................................................................................................................. 46 Employment Trends............................................................................................................... 47 Migration ........................................................................................................................ 47 Public vs. Private Sector ........................................................................................................ 49 Outlook .................................................................................................................................. 49 Chapter 3 Assessment ............................................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER 4: SOCIETY .............................................................................................................. 52 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 52 Ethnic Groups and Languages ............................................................................................... 52 Indigenous Peoples (Indios) and Indigenismo ............................................................... 53 Mestizos and Mestizaje .................................................................................................. 54 Languages ....................................................................................................................... 55 Religion.................................................................................................................................. 57 Catholicism ..................................................................................................................... 57 Other Religions ............................................................................................................... 58 Cuisine ................................................................................................................................... 58 © D LIF L C | ii
Traditional Dress ................................................................................................................... 60 Gender Issues ......................................................................................................................... 61 Arts ........................................................................................................................................ 63 Precolumbian Traditions ................................................................................................ 63 Colonial Architecture and Arts ....................................................................................... 63 National Traditions ......................................................................................................... 64 Popular Culture ............................................................................................................... 65 Sports and Recreation ............................................................................................................ 66 Chapter 4 Assessment ............................................................................................................ 68 CHAPTER 5: SECURITY............................................................................................................ 69 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 69 U.S.-Mexico Relations........................................................................................................... 70 Migration ........................................................................................................................ 70 Drugs .............................................................................................................................. 71 Environment ................................................................................................................... 73 Relations with Neighboring Countries .................................................................................. 74 Belize .............................................................................................................................. 74 Guatemala ....................................................................................................................... 75 Police Forces .......................................................................................................................... 76 Reorganization ................................................................................................................ 77 Military .................................................................................................................................. 78 Military-Industrial Complex ........................................................................................... 79 Issues Affecting Stability ....................................................................................................... 80 Natural Resources ........................................................................................................... 80 Social and Economic Disparity ...................................................................................... 80 Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) .............................................................. 81 Outlook .................................................................................................................................. 81 Chapter 5 Assessment ............................................................................................................ 83 FINAL ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................ 84 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 86 © D LIF L C | iii
CHAPTER 1: GEOGRAPHY
Introduction
Mexico is the southernmost country in North America,
and the northernmost country of both the historical
region of Mesoamerica and the cultural area of Latin
America. It is the 14th largest country in the world.1 Over
80 distinct ecosystems range from alpine permafrost to
tropical lowland jungle. Dozens more marine ecosystems
line thousands of miles of Atlantic and Pacific coast.2, 3, 4
Mexico is biologically diverse, one of a dozen countries
that together are home to 70% of the world’s known
plant and animal species.5, 6 Corn, a native plant, was
domesticated by early humans with worldwide consequences for the development of farming and
cities.
Mexico is the 11th most populous country in the world, home to over 110 million people.7 It is
also the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, home to a quarter of the world’s
Spanish speakers.8 In 1950, the population was 57% rural; in 2005 it was 24% rural.9 One of the
hemisphere’s largest urban areas is the federal district of Mexico City in the center of the
country. The 31 states of modern Mexico, administered through 2,440 municipalities, differ
greatly in their physical and cultural geographies.
1
Central Intelligence Agency, “Mexico,” in The World Factbook, 16 August 2011,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html
2
Y. Cervantes-Zamora et al., “Clasificación de Regiones Naturales de México,” CONABIO (National Commission
for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity), 1990,
http://www.conabio.gob.mx/informacion/metadata/gis/renat4mgw.xml?_httpcache=yes&_xsl=/db/metadata/xsl/fgdc
_html.xsl&_indent=no
3
Hugh M. French, The Periglacial Environment, 3rd ed. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, 2007), 99.
4
José Rubén Lara-Lara et al., “Los Ecosistemas Costeros, Insulares y Epicontintinentales,” in Capital Natural de
México, vol. 1: Conocimiento Actual de la Biodiversidad, ed. José Sarukhán (México: CONABIO, 2008), 109–134,
http://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/pais/pdf/CapNatMex/Vol%20I/I04_Losecosistemascos.pdf
5
Russell A Mittermeier, Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, and Patricio Robles Gil, Megadiversity: Earth's Biologically
Wealthiest Nations (Mexico City: CEMEX, 1997).
6
CONABIO (National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity), “Mexican Biodiversity: What is a
Mega-diverse Country?” 2009, http://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/v_ingles/country/whatismegcountry.html
7
8
Francisco Moreno Fernández and Jaime Otero Roth, “Demografía de la Lengua Española,” Instituto Complutense
de Estudios Internacionales/Fundación Telefónica, 2006, 29, http://eprints.ucm.es/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf .
9
CONAGUA (National Water Commission), “Estadísticas del Agua en México, Edición 2011,” March 2011, 8,
http://www.conagua.gob.mx/CONAGUA07/Noticias/EAM2011.pdf
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Physical Terrain and Topographic Features
The rugged landscape of Mexico is the result of tens of
millions of years of geologic activity at the juncture of
several tectonic plates.10, 11 High deserts and scrublands
cover the north, including much of Baja California,
which is Mexico’s northwest peninsula that extends from
Tijuana 1,300 km (800 mi) south into the Pacific Ocean.
This peninsula creates the Gulf of California on its east
coast. Two mainland mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre
Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental, run north to
south along the east and west coasts. With an average
altitude of 900–2,400 m (3,000–7,900 ft), the ranges separate the high central plateau from
grassy lowlands on the Gulf of Mexico and forested lowlands on the Pacific Ocean. The Sierra
Madre Occidental contains the Copper Canyon complex, where barrancas several times the size
of Arizona’s Grand Canyon include the deepest canyon in the Western Hemisphere.12 At the
south end of the central plateau the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt extends east and west across
the country.13 Among the volcanoes are Pico de Orizaba in the east, Mexico’s highest point
(5,611 m/18,406 ft); Popocatépetl (5,426 m/17,802 ft), which threatens Mexico City; and Colima
(3,850 m/12,631 ft) in the west, Mexico's most active volcano.14, 15, 16
South of the volcanic belt another mountain range, the Sierra Madre del Sur, fills the western
half of Mexico’s Southern Highlands, giving way to the Chiapas Highlands to the east. A land
bridge between North and South America formed here at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
approximately three million years ago, permitting the species flow between continents that
created Mexico’s high biological diversity. 17, 18 East of the isthmus, the jungle lowlands of the
Yucatán Peninsula extend north into the Gulf of Mexico and east into the Caribbean Sea. The
10
California Institute of Technology Tectonics Observatory, “The Unusual Case of the Mexican Subduction Zone,”
14 May 2009, http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/highlights/mase/
11
Vincent H. Malmström, “Chapter 1: Mexico’s Place in the World: the Physical Setting,” in Land of the Fifth Sun:
Mexico in Space and Time (e-book, Hanover, New Hampshire, 2002),
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/LFS_Chapter%201.htm
12
Carl Franz and Lorena Havens, The People’s Guide to Mexico, 13th ed. (Berkeley, CA: Avalon Travel, 2006),
32–41.
13
United States Geological Survey, “Mexico Volcanoes and Volcanics,” 17 December 2002,
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Mexico/description_mexico_volcanoes.html
14
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Volcano Pico de Orizaba,” 23 August 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/118837/Volcano-Pico-de-Orizaba
15
Secretaría de Gabernación, “Nivel de Actividad del Volcán Popocatépetl,” CENAPRED, 27 August 2011,
http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/cgi-bin/popo/reportes/ultrep.cgi
16
Nick Varley, “Activity of Volcán Colima,” Centre of Exchange and Research in Volcanology, Faculty of Science,
University of Colima, 13 April 2011, http://www.ucol.mx/ciiv/home_en.php?sec=acti&sub=activ
17
Conservation International, “Biodiversity Hotspots: Mesoamerica,” 2007,
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/mesoamerica/Pages/biodiversity.aspx
18
Russell A. Mittermeier, Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, and Patricio Robles Gil, Megadiversity: Earth's
Biologically Wealthiest Nations (Mexico City: CEMEX, 1997).
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Chicxulub Crater, a hundred-mile-wide subsurface formation that was discovered near the
Yucatán coast during explorations for oil, may be the site of a meteor crash 65 million years ago
that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.19, 20
Climate
Altitude offsets latitude in much of Mexico. Elevation
defines three climatic temperature zones: tierra caliente
(“hot land”) below 600 m (2,000 ft), where average
summer highs may approach 40°C (104°F); tierra
templada (“temperate land”) from 600 m (2,000 ft) to
1,800 m (5,900 ft), where average temperatures range
between 10°C (50°F) and 22°C (72°F); and tierra fria
(“cold land”) above 1,800 m (5,900 ft), where average
winter lows drop below freezing.21, 22
The Tropic of Cancer divides Mexico into dry and wet climatic zones. The arid north receives
little to no annual rainfall, and is affected by weather systems from Canada and the United States
that occasionally bring snow to higher elevations as far south as Mexico City. Humid regions in
the south may receive as much as 2,400 mm (95 in) annual rainfall, influenced by trade winds
and prone to Pacific tropical storms and Atlantic hurricanes in the summer and fall. 23, 24 Las
aguas (“the waters”), the rainy season, lasts from May to October. La canicula (“dog days”) is a
dry spell that often interrupts the summer rainy season in late July or early August. Las sequias
(“the droughts”), the dry season, runs from October to May, often the hottest time of the year.
Occasional heavy rains may interrupt the winter dry season in January in the east and north.25
Residents who can afford multiple homes spend summers in the cooler, more comfortable
highlands, and move to the lowlands in the less steamy late winter months.
19
National Science Foundation, “Revisiting Chicxulub (Press Release 10-035),” 4 March 2010,
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116480
20
Gerrit L. Verschuur, “The Saga of the Chicxulub Crater,” in Impact! The Threat of Comets and Asteroids (Oxford
University Press, 1997), 17–31.
21
BBC, “Weather: Mexico,” 22 March 2011,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/hi/country_guides/newsid_9384000/9384161.stm
22
CONAGUA (National Water Commission), “Temperatura Máxima (1951–1980),” 2010,
http://smn.cna.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=117
23
CONAGUA (National Water Commission), “Lámina de Lluvia Media Mensual (1941–1996),” 2010,
http://smn.cna.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=119
24
Victor M. Toledo, Jerzy Rzedowski, and Jane Villa-Lobos, “Mexico: Regional Overview,” in Centres of Plant
Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for Their Conservation, Volume 3: The Americas, eds. S.D. Davis et al.
(Cambridge, UK: IUCN Publications Unit, 1997), http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/mamexico.htm#climate
25
Carl Franz and Lorena Havens, The People’s Guide to Mexico, 13th ed. (Berkeley, CA: Avalon Travel, 2006),
25–29.
© D LIF L C | 3
Water Resources
Mexico has close to 150 rivers.26 The Rio Bravo (called
the Rio Grande in the United States) marks the northern
border with Texas, and is one of the largest and longest
rivers in Mexico. The Rio Hondo marks the southern
border with Belize, and the Usumacinta marks the border
with Guatemala. The Rio Colorado (Colorado River)
flows from the United States into the Gulf of California,
separating the Baja California Peninsula from the
mainland state of Sonora. Most rivers are in the south,
and flow from the Sierra Madres to the east and west
coasts. Mexico’s longest river, the Lerma (2,730 km/1,700 mi), flows inland to Mexico’s largest
lake, Chapala, supplying water and hydroelectricity to nearby Guadalajara, Mexico’s secondlargest city.27, 28 Mexican rivers are not navigable, but many dams provide irrigation for crops,
water for settled populations, hydroelectric power, and flood control. Rivers that run beneath the
limestone of the Yucatán Peninsula are famous among divers and explorers.29
Underground water resources currently supply more than a third of the country’s needs.30 Major
aquifers and the watersheds that feed them are shared with the United States, Belize, and
Guatemala.31, 32 Parts of Mexico City are slowly sinking into depleted aquifers that can no longer
meet the region’s water needs.33
26
Victor M. Toledo, Jerzy Rzedowski, and Jane Villa-Lobos, “Mexico: Regional Overview,” in Centres of Plant
Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for Their Conservation, Volume 3: The Americas, eds. S.D. Davis et al.
(Cambridge, UK: IUCN Publications Unit, 1997), http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/mamexico.htm#climate
27
Jane’s, “Geography, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment—Central America and the Caribbean, 16 February
2011,
http://search.janes.com/Search/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/sent/cacsu/mexis030.htm@current&pa
geSelected=allJanes&keyword=Mexico%2C%20geography&backPath=http://search.janes.com/Search&Prod_Name
=CACS&
28
Earth Observatory, “Lake Chapala, Mexico,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 30 August 2004,
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4787
29
John Roach, “World’s Longest Underground River Discovered in Mexico,” National Geographic News, 5 March
2007, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070305-cave-river.html
30
31
Aaron T. Wolf and Joshua T. Newton, “Case Study of Transboundary Dispute Resolution: U.S./Mexico Shared
Aquifers,” Program in Water Conflict Management and Transportation, Oregon State University, 2007,
http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/research/case_studies/Documents/US_Mexico_aquifers.pdf
32
33
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Mexico City,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 294.
© D LIF L C | 4
Mexico’s marine waters are rich fishing grounds, as well as transportation corridors for both
legal commerce and illegal smuggling.34, 35, 36 The Exclusive Economic Zone of territorial sea
that extends 370 km (200 nautical mi) outward from shore spans over 3,000,000 sq km
(1,200,000 sq mi).37 Major ports include Veracruz and Tampico in the Gulf of Mexico, Lazaro
Cardenas and Manzanillo on the mainland Pacific coast, and Ensenada on the west coast of Baja
California.
Major Cities
Name
Municipal Population38, 39, 40
Metropolitan Area Population
Mexico City
8.8 million (Federal District)
16 to 24 million
Guadalajara
1.5 million
4.3 to 5 million
Monterrey
1.1 million
3.8 to 4 million
Puebla
1.4 to 1.5 million
2.2 to 2.6 million
León
1.2 to 1.4 million
1.7 million
Tijuana
1.3 to 1.5 million
1.6 million (5 million with San Diego)
Ciudad Juárez
1.1 million
1.3 million (2 million with El Paso)
Mérida
830,000 to 930,000
1 million
Ecatepec
1.6 million
part of Mexico City area
Zapopan
1.2 million
part of Guadalajara area
Nezahualcóyotl
1.1 million
part of Mexico City area
34
Food and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations “Fishery and Aquaculture
Country Profiles: Mexico,” 2011, http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/FI-CP_MX/en
35
American Association of Port Authorities, Port Industry Statistics, “Commercial Ports of Mexico: Traffic Profile
2009,” 2009, http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/Statistics/MEXICOPORTTRAFFIC2009.pdf
36
STRATFOR, “Mexican Drug War 2011 Update,” 21 April 2011, http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110415mexican-drug-war-2011-update
37
38
Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática, “Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010,” 2011,
http://www.censo2010.org.mx/
39
Thomas Brinkhoff, “Mexico: Major Cities,” City Population, 2011, http://www.citypopulation.de/MexicoCities.html#Stadt_gross
40
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Mexico City (Distrito Federal)
The nation’s capital sits 2,200 m (7,200 ft) high in the
Valley of Mexico, surrounded by mountains reaching
upwards of 5,000 m (16,400 ft), including the active
volcano Popocatépetl.41 The world’s largest city during
the 1990s, the urban area is home to nearly 25% of
Mexico’s total population.42 Once an island in a lake, the
city site was settled in 1325 by Mexica (better known as
Aztecs) who were seeking the sign of an eagle upon a
nopal cactus holding a snake (this sign is now a symbol
on the national flag). When Hernán Cortés arrived in
1519, he found Tenochtitlan, a city of 300,000 Aztec subjects that, at the time, surpassed Spanish
cities in size and sophistication.43, 44, 45 Spaniards soon built their colonial capital directly upon
the ruins of conquered Tenochtitlan, using destroyed Aztec palaces and temples as building
materials for their new zócalo (city plaza) and Roman Catholic cathedral.46 In the 1960s, subway
engineers excavating the Pino Suárez station discovered, and built around, an Aztec pyramid to
the wind god Ehecatl; in the 1970s, electricians working in the city center unearthed the Aztec
Templo Mayor, now a museum site of the National Institute of Anthropology and History.47, 48
Mexico City became the seat of the Viceroy of New Spain and has remained the political capital
through independence, annexation, and revolution. U.S. troops occupied the city during the
Mexican-American War, as did French troops during the rule of Austrian Archduke Maximilian.
When the Reform Laws of Benito Juárez divested the Roman Catholic Church of its local real
estate (nearly half the buildings in the city), urban patterns began where the rich settled in the
hills to the west and the poor in areas to the east.49 As landless peasants migrated to the city in
growing numbers, their neighborhoods grew, merged, and became distinct municipalities such as
Ecatepec and Nezahualcóyotl, now Mexico’s second and third largest cities.
41
National Research Council Staff, Mexico City's Water Supply: Improving the Outlook for Sustainability
(Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1995), 4, http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309052459/gifmid/4.gif
42
Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Mexico City,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 289–294.
43
Burton Kirkwood, The History of Mexico (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 39.
44
James S. Olson, ed., “Tenochtitlan,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975 (New York:
Greenwood Press, 1992), 588–589.
45
Joel Simon, Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1997), 11.
46
Burton Kirkwood, The History of Mexico (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 48.
47
Joyce Kelly and Jerry Kelly, “Ehécatl Temple (Pino Suárez),” in An Archaeological Guide to Central and
Southern Mexico (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001), 102.
48
Paul Scolieri, “Coyolxauhqui’s Impact: Aztec Historiography And The Falling Body,” Women & Performance: A
Journal of Feminist Theory 27, 14:1 (2004): 91–92,
http://bc.barnard.columbia.edu/~pscolier/Site/CV_files/Falling.pdf
49
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The city suffers from ongoing water shortages and air
pollution, as well as unpredictable natural disasters.50
The 1985 earthquakes killed 5,500 people, injured
40,000, and left 31,000 homeless.51
Guadalajara
South of the Tropic of Cancer and 1,524 m (5,000 ft)
high, Guadalajara is a region of “eternal spring.”52
Named for the hometown of conquistador Nuño de
Guzmán, the Spanish established Guadalajara at its present site in 1542, after a 10-year struggle
with local peoples.53 It is now the capital of Jalisco state and the cultural center of western
Mexico, closely associated with mariachi music. Business products range from traditional
huaraches (leather sandals) to information technology electronics and beer. Host to the 2011 Pan
American Games and the annual International Book Fair, Guadalajara also claims the largest
colony of United States expatriates in Mexico.54, 55, 56 The Hospicio Cabañas is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site that preserves a 19th century Roman Catholic hospital-orphanagepoorhouse. The site is now a state-sponsored cultural institute.57
A major transportation hub, Guadalajara is the site of
turf wars among drug cartels. In 1993, hit men shot and
killed Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas
Ocampo at the Guadalajara International Airport.58 In
1994, assailants bombed a Guadalajara hotel trying to
kill a rival trafficker.59 Recent crime reports describe
50
51
Lee Davis, Natural Disasters. Facts On File Science Library (New York: Facts On File, 2008), 75–76.
52
Carl Franz, The People’s Guide to Mexico, 13th ed. (Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel, 2006), 25–29.
53
Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal, “Guadalajara,” in Enciclopedia de los
Municipios de México, http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/jalisco/mpios/14039a.htm
54
Organizing Commitee for the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011, “Guadalajara 2011, XVI Pan
American Games,” 2011, http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/ENG/01_inicio/
55
Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, “26 Nov 4 DIC 2011: 25th Guadalajara International Book Fair,”
2011, http://www.fil.com.mx/
56
Consulate General of the United States, Guadalajara, Mexico, “About the Consulate,” 24 May 2011,
http://guadalajara.usconsulate.gov/about_the_consulate.html
57
UNESCO World Heritage Convention, “Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara,” 2011, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/815
58
Luis Astorga and David A. Shirk, “Drug Trafficking Organizations and Counter-Drug Strategies in the U.S.Mexican Conflict” (working paper, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California,
San Diego, USMEX),” 2009, http://usmex.ucsd.edu/assets/024/11632.pdf
59
PBS Frontline, “Drug Cartels: Arellano-Felix Organization: DEA Background Information,” February 1997,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mexico/etc/arellano.html
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gun battles with AK-47 automatic rifles and grenade attacks against local police.60
Monterrey
Monterrey is the capital of the state of Nuevo León. Most
of the state’s population live in the Monterrey
metropolitan area, the country’s third largest. Located in
the high desert foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the
city is both one of the warmest and one of the coldest in
Mexico. Flash floods, particularly during hurricane
season, kill pedestrians and vehicle drivers every year.61
For most of the 1500s, the area’s Chichimeca peoples
resisted colonization, but in 1596 the Spanish finally
established a permanent settlement at the present site. In
1846, the Battle of Monterrey was the first major conflict of the Mexican-American War. A trade
nexus between San Antonio, Tampico, and Saltillo, Monterrey developed as a city of
international commerce, and later heavy industry. Major products are steel, cement, glass, and
auto parts. 62 The Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma brewery also houses Mexico’s Baseball Hall of
Fame.63
In 2010, Hurricane Alex hit Monterrey. Several people were killed, thousands were left
homeless, and the city is still rebuilding.64 The same year, Monterrey saw large increases in
kidnappings for ransom, road crimes (carjacking, theft, blockades), and drug-related murders. A
shooting in front of a school led the U.S. State Department to place Monterrey into partially
unaccompanied status.65
Puebla
The Spanish colonial city of Puebla, now capital of the state of Puebla, rests a few miles east of
the ancient Olmec city of Cholula. Like Mexico City to its northwest, Puebla is in a high valley
(2,200 m/7,200 ft) surrounded by volcanic mountains. Located between Mexico City and
Veracruz, Puebla developed as a travel stop and later as a manufacturing center. Today it is
famous for mole poblano (a chocolate-tinged chili sauce), Talavera tile and pottery, and
60
Overseas Security Advisory Council, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, United States Department of State, “Mexico
2011 Crime and Safety Report: Guadalajara,” 16 February 2011,
https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=10436
61
2011 Crime and Safety Report: Monterrey,” 2 May 2011,
https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=10954
62
Parque Fundidora, “Historia,” n.d., http://www.parquefundidora.org/node/160
63
John Fisher, The Rough Guide to Mexico (London: Rough Guides, 2010), 223.
64
Agent France-Presse, “Mexico's Worst Ever Rainy Season Set to Intensify: President,” ReliefWeb, 9 September
2010, http://reliefweb.int/node/367203
65
2011 Crime and Safety Report: Monterrey,” 2 May 2011,
https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=10954
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production of Volkswagen Beetles. 66, 67 Puebla was the site of Mexico’s declaration of
independence from Spain in 1821. When France invaded in 1862, Mexicans won the Battle of
Puebla on 5 May, which is commemorated as Cinco de Mayo. (The French occupied Mexico
until 1867.) The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique mix of
classic and baroque architectural styles and colorful tile-covered buildings.68
León
León sits in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the west side of the state of Guanajuato. Since 1910,
León has been the largest city in the state famous for the Grito de Dolores that is celebrated as
Mexico’s Independence Day.69 In a place first occupied by the Chupícuaro people thousands of
years ago, the Spanish founded León in 1576 as a defensive settlement.70, 71 The city experienced
violent struggle during the war for independence and the later revolution, and in 1946 members
of the opposition political party National Action Party (PAN) died protesting what they believed
were illegitimate elections.72 Mining was an important colonial industry in the area. Today León
is internationally known for shoes and other leather products.73
Mérida
Mérida, the state capital of Yucatán, lies just above sea
level within the Chicxulub crater, 35 km (22 mi) inland
from the Gulf of Mexico on the northwest Yucatán
Peninsula. The Mayan pyramids of T’ho are incorporated
into many of the Spanish colonial buildings that fill the
historic city center, and Mayan languages have
influenced local Spanish dialects. Through the centuries,
peninsula Mayans often ignored or rebelled against
Spanish, and later Mexican claims of empire. Henequen
rope was Mérida’s main commercial export in the 18th
and 19th centuries. Today, citrus and other fruit trees have largely replaced the fields of
66
Luis Alberto Martínez Álvarez, “Talavera Poblana: Tradición de Mas de Cuatro Siglos,” Gobierno del Estado de
Puebla, 28 May 2010, http://www.puebla.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=165
67
Volkswagen, “Volkswagen Starts Production of the New Beetle in Mexico,“ 15 July 2011,
http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/info_center/en/news/2011/07/Volkswagen_starts_production_of_the_
new_Beetle_in_Mexico_.html
68
UNESCO World Heritage Convention, “Historic Centre of Puebla,” 2011, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/416
69
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Guanajuato,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
70
Jorge Ramos de la Vega and Amalia Ramírez Garayzar, “Sitios Arqueológicos del Municipio de León” (#3
Colección Entornos, Universidad Iberoamericana, 1993).
71
Portal del Gobierno Municipal de León, “La Ciudad de León,” 24 August 2011,
http://www.leon.gob.mx/explorando/ciudad.php#informacion
72
David A. Shirk, “The Origins and Development of the PAN,” in Mexico’s New Politics: The PAN and Democratic
Change (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005), 63–66.
73
Instituto para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal, Secretaría de Gobernación, “Estado de Guanajuato,” in
Enciclopedia de los Municipios y Delegaciones de México, 2010, http://www.elocal.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_guanajuato
© D LIF L C | 9
henequen agave cactus, and maquiladoras (factories that import and assemble duty-free
components for export) produce most items for commercial trade.74, 75 At meetings in the city in
March 2007, Presidents Felipe Calderon and George W. Bush began to develop the Mérida
Initiative, a plan for U.S. participation in the fight against drugs and arms trafficking and
associated financial crimes in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.76, 77
Border Towns
The stereotypical sleepy Mexican border town has been
largely replaced by the transnational conurbation, a
populated area where economies, infrastructure, and
environment are shared across a political boundary. From
an urban planning perspective, Tijuana triples in size
when combined with San Diego. Ciudad Juárez nearly
doubles in size combined with El Paso, and Matamoros,
Reynosa, and Nuevo Laredo also increase significantly
when combined with their neighbors to the north.78, 79
Their location on the United States border fueled the
growth of these cities in the 20th century, as did international economic agreements including the
Bracero program (which invited Mexican farmhands to work temporarily in the U.S.) from the
1940s, the Border Industrialization program (which encouraged maquiladoras along the border)
from the 1960s, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994.
Unfortunately, their location on the U.S. border also makes these cities targets for international
criminal activity.80 Juárez suffered 3,111 murders in 2010 and reports increasing random
violence.81
Coastal Cities
Mexico’s high mountains and lack of navigable rivers made coastal settlements historically
important sites of travel, trade, and diplomacy. Fishing and petroleum industries propelled the
74
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Mérida (Mexico),” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/376044/Merida
75
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Maquiladora,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363663/maquiladora
76
White House of President George W. Bush, “Joint U.S.-Mexico Communiqué,” 14 March 2007,
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070314-4.html
77
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, United
States Department of State, “Merida Initiative,” n.d., http://www.state.gov/p/inl/merida/index.htm
78
79
United States Census 2010, “Interactive Population Map,” n.d., http://2010.census.gov/2010census/popmap/
80
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, United States Department of State, “Country
Reports: Mexico,” in International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control,
March 2011, http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2011/vol1/156361.htm#mexico
81
2011 Crime and Safety Report: Ciudad Juarez,” 14 April 2011,
https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=10830
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development of modern commercial ports. Recently, Mexico has made itself famous for coastal
tourist resorts.
In 1518, the Spanish first landed at Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico near the Totonac Indian city
of Cempoala. A year later, Spaniard Hernán Cortes named the port town for the Catholic holy
day of Good Friday on which he first landed (in Spanish Good Friday is Veracruz, the day of the
true cross”). Veracruz became a city of plantations and slaves, as well as the port where gold and
silver mined throughout the region was loaded onto ships bound for Spain. Today, Veracruz has
more than half a million residents.82 Its ports are undergoing expansion to handle the majority of
seagoing trade to and from Mexico.83
Nahuatl-speaking people named Acapulco long before the Spanish discovered its bay in 1512.
On Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, the town became a transit point for goods from the
Philippines, which travelled overland to Veracruz and on to Spain. Slaves also moved through
Acapulco on their way to work in silver and gold mines. A paved road from Mexico City built in
1927 began the development of Mexico’s oldest beach resort.84 Competition from newer resorts
in Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo, and Los Cabos, as well as pollution of the bay
and criminal activity have diminished Acapulco’s tourist trade. Nevertheless, the city remains the
second largest along any coast with well over 700,000 residents.85, 86, 87
Cancun is currently Mexico’s fastest-growing city and the Caribbean’s number one tourist
destination.88 The National Fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR) targeted the isolated
area on the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula for development in 1974.89 Today, Cancun’s
airport claims to handle the most international passengers of any airport in Latin America.90
82
83
Administracion Portuaruia Integral de Veracruz, SA de CV, “Master Plan of Port Development 2006–2015,”
March 2011, http://www.puertodeveracruz.com.mx/apiver/archivos/PMDP%2020062015%20Mzo%202011%20Dif.pdf
84
Carl Franz, The People’s Guide to Mexico, 13th ed. (Berkeley, CA: Avalon Travel, 2006), 44.
85
History.com, “Guerrero,” 2011, http://www.history.com/topics/guerrero
86
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, “The Slave Trade in Mexico,” Hispanic American Historical Review 24, no. 3 (August
1944): 420–429, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2508494
87
88
Kitty Bean Yancey, “Cancun: Is It Safe for Visitors?” USA Today, 14 April 2011,
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2011/03/-Cancun-Is-it-safe-for-visitors-/45305906/1
89
Sheela Agarwal and Gareth Shaw, “Re-Engineering Coastal Resorts in Mexico,” in Managing Coastal Tourism
Resorts: A Global Perspective (Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2007), 216–219.
90
Aeropuertos del Sureste, “Cancún International Airport,” 2011,
http://www.asur.com.mx/asur/ingles/aeropuertos/cancun/cancun.asp
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Cancun has also developed crime problems in recent years, as a transshipment point for
Colombian cocaine, a place for retail drug sales to tourists, and a money laundering center.91
Environmental Concerns
Human population pressures and industrial processes are
endangering Mexico’s diverse environments. The
Mexican government has declared water a national
security issue.92 Water use is exceeding natural
replacement rates and water quality is deteriorating, the
greatest pollution occurring in the most populated (thus,
most needy) areas.93 Unregulated or poorly planned land
use (agricultural land-clearing, chemical fertilization,
overharvesting, overgrazing) has led to deforestation, soil
erosion and desertification.94 The problem of air
pollution is no longer limited to Mexico City, but a growing concern along the Mexican-U.S.
border and other transportation corridors and industrial regions.95 Oil extraction practices
threaten the marine resources of the Gulf of Mexico.96 Environmentally safe waste disposal—
from industrial and residential sources, in solid, liquid, electronic, and nuclear forms—has
become a challenge, as Mexico tries to grow an economy that can support a growing
population.97, 98, 99
91
William Booth, “Mayor of Cancun, Mexico, Charged with Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering,” Washington
Post, 27 May 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604854.html?hpid=sec-world
92
93
Jane’s Defence, “Geography, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment—Central America and the Caribbean, 16
February 2011,
geSelected=allJanes&keyword=Mexico%2C%20geography&backPath=http://search.janes.com/Search&Prod_Name
=CACS&
94
World Wildlife Fund, “Chihuahuan Desert,” Wild World Ecoregion Profile, 2001,
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/na/na1303.html
95
United State Environmental Protection Agency, “Technology Transfer Network: U.S.-Mexico Border Information
Center on Air Pollution (CICA),” 27 September, 2007, http://epa.gov/ttn/catc/cica/
96
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, “Country Profile: Mexico,” July 2008, 10,
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Mexico.pdf
97
Robert Varady, Patricia Romero-Lankao, and Katherine B. Hankins, “Managing Hazardous Materials Along the
U.S.-Mexico Border,” Environment 43, no. 10 (2001): 22–36.
98
Otoniel Buenrostro and Gerardo Bocco, “Solid Waste Management in Municipalities in Mexico: Goals and
Perspectives,” Resources, Conservation and Recycling 39, no. 3 (2003): 251–263.
99
Luz Aurora Ortiz Salgado (General Director of Distribution and Supply of Electricity), “Radioactive Waste
Management in Mexico (presentation, Secretaría de Energía ([SENER]),” 28 October 2010,
http://www.pbnc2010.org.mx/pdfs/plennary/thursday/8.30_RadioactiveWasteManagement.pdf
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Natural Hazards
Geological hazards include active volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Altitude sickness can
affect new arrivals in Mexico City and the high central plateau. Climate hazards range from heat
stroke to hypothermia. 100, 101, 102 Flash floods occur throughout the country, and in the south
hurricanes and Pacific storms whip up flying debris. Mexico is full of plants, insects, and animals
that prick, sting, or bite, many of which can sicken or kill humans. Diseases of concern include
brucellosis, carried by unpasteurized dairy products; malaria and encephalitis, transmitted by
mosquitoes; and hepatitis and typhoid, passed human-to-human by saliva or fecal contamination
of shared food and drink. In the south, black flies may carry river blindness (onchocerciasis), and
sand flies may carry leishmaniasis, known locally as chiclero ulcer.103, 104, 105
100
Karl Eschbach, Jacqueline Hagan, and Nestor Rodriguez, “Causes and Trends in Migrant Deaths Along the U.S.Mexico Border, 1985–1998” (paper, Center for Immigration Research, University of Houston, 2001),
http://web.archive.org/web/20070926034617/http:/www.uh.edu/cir/Causes_and_Trends.pdf
101
PBS, “Beyond the Border—Más Allás de la Frontera,” n.d.,
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/beyondtheborder/immigration.html
102
Mariano Castillo, “Freezing Temperatures Kill 65 Zoo Animals in Mexico,” CNN, 7 February 2011,
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-07/world/mexico.frozen.zoo_1_zoo-animals-zoo-officialscrocodiles?_s=PM:WORLD
103
David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook, rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: Hesperian
Foundation, 2010), 69, 227, 406, http://site.ebrary.com/lib/hesperian/docDetail.action?docID=10411911
104
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Health Information for Travelers to Mexico,” 1 July 2011,
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/mexico.htm
105
Jon B. Woods et al., eds., USAMRIID’s Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook, 6th ed. (Fort
Detrick, MD: U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 2005), 27,
http://www.usamriid.army.mil/education/bluebookpdf/USAMRIID%20BlueBook%206th%20Edition%20%20Sep%202006.pdf
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Chapter 1 Assessment
1. Mexico is one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries.
True
Mexico is one of the world’s 12 megadiverse countries, which as a group contain 70% of
known species.
2. The Tropic of Cancer divides Mexico into cold northern and hot southern climates.
False
The Tropic of Cancer divides Mexico into dry northern and wet southern climates.
3. Because of the rugged mountains in the middle of the country, most Mexicans live along the
coastal lowlands.
False
Most Mexicans live in the country’s center, concentrated in the urban areas around Mexico
City.
4. Mexico City’s elevation can give some people altitude sickness.
True
New arrivals from low elevations might need a day or two for “altitude adjustment.”
5. Air pollution in Mexico extends beyond Mexico City.
True
Industrial and transportation corridors along the border are generating air and water pollution
and toxic waste.
© D LIF L C | 14
CHAPTER 2: HISTORY
Ancient Civilizations
Early Settlers
The first Mexicans were descendants of nomadic peoples
who crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia at the
end of the last Ice Age. These people camped in central
Mexico 20,000 years ago, and butchered mammoths
there as recently as 9000 B.C.E. As the post-Ice Age
environment changed and mammoths became extinct,
humans began to domesticate plants. By 5000 B.C.E.
maize (corn), beans, squash, tomatoes, chiles, cocoa,
avocadoes, and cactus (maguey and nopal) were in
cultivation, and by 2000 B.C.E. farming supported
permanent settlements.106, 107
Preclassic Period (2000 B.C.E.–200 C.E.)
The Olmecs developed the earliest of Mexico’s ancient civilizations along the Gulf of Mexico
from about 1500 B.C.E. Later groups named these “People of the Rubber Country” for locally
harvested latex, which formed the balls used in a ritual game that became widespread throughout
Mesoamerica. Other aspects of Mesoamerican culture traceable to the Olmecs include
monumental stone structures, human sacrifice, and hieroglyphic writing.108, 109, 110 After the
unexplained collapse of the Olmecs, the Zapotecs came to dominate Mexico’s southern
highlands around 200 B.C.E.111 Stone carvings at their capital, Monte Albán, in the valley of
Oaxaca show hundreds of killed and dismembered prisoners, suggesting rule by force.112, 113 The
Zapotecs were succeeded by the Mixtecs, who recorded their military exploits in deerskin
106
Robert M. Carmack, Janine Gasco, and Gary H. Gossen, The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a
Native American Civilization (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 42–45.
107
John C. Super and Luis Alberto Vargas, “V.D.1.: Mexico and Highland Central America,” in Cambridge World
History of Food, eds. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Coneé Ornelas (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2000), http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/mexico.htm
108
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press 2004), 25.
109
110
Burton Kirkwood, The History of Mexico (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series) (Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press), 16.
111
112
Native American Civilization (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 56.
113
Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Ember, eds., “Monte Albán,” in Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Middle America,
Volume 5 (New York: Kluwer Academic-Plenum Publishers, 2001), 265.
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codices.114, 115 The Zapotecs and Mixtecs are two of 56 indigenous peoples surviving in Mexico
today.116
Classic Period (200–900 C.E.)
In Mexico’s classic period, the dominant civilizations
were the Maya, settled throughout the Yucatán Peninsula
and south into Guatemala, and the rulers of Teotihuacan
in the Valley of Mexico. The Mayans, like the Olmecs,
lived in many decentralized city-states, which made
them difficult to conquer. Archaeologists once believed
that the early Mayans were a peaceful people who
abandoned their cities because of environmental disaster
or external attack. However, more recent archeological
discoveries and linguistic breakthroughs suggest that
slavery, warfare, and human sacrifice were as common among the Mayans as among other
Mesoamerican civilizations.117, 118 Although the ancient civilization collapsed around 900 C.E.,
Mayan peoples continue to live in the region, often ignoring or opposing the rule of governments
from colonial Spain to present-day Mexico.
In contrast, most of the people of Teotihuacan disappeared in the seventh or eighth century; their
origins and fate remain a mystery.119, 120, 121 The city ruins that Aztecs named the “Place of the
Gods” spread across 20 sq km (7.7 sq mi) north of Mexico City, above natural caves that link to
chambers within huge pyramids where rituals including human sacrifice took place.122 Around
500 C.E. the city had 200,000 residents at its time of peak influence. Residents stratified into
four social classes (kings and priests, artisans, farmers, and merchants) and an underclass of
slaves. The Mesoamerican god Quetzalcoatl first appears at Teotihuacan.123, 124 Murals among
114
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego: Greenhaven Press 2004), 30–31.
115
John Pohl, “Ancient Books: Mixtec Group Codices,” FAMSI (Foundation for the Advancement of
Mesoamerican Studies), n.d., http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec1.html
116
World Wildlife Fund Mexico/Dia Siete, “Naturaleza Mexicana,” 2006,
http://www.wwf.org.mx/wwfmex/publicaciones.php?tipo=post
117
CT: Greenwood Press), 22–23.
118
INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), Ministry of Public Education, “Murals Reveal Maya
Military Life,” 8 October 2010, http://www.inah.gob.mx/index.php/english-press-releases/52-research-andhistorical-studies/4632-murals-reveal-maya-military-life
119
120
121
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego: Greenhaven Press 2004), 32.
122
123
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the ruins suggest that the society became increasingly militarized in response to threats from
external forces.125
Postclassic Period (900–1520 C.E.)
From 900 the Toltecs controlled Teotihuacan and sites to
the north from their capital Tula. The Toltecs continued
to worship Quetzalcoatl, but paired him with the war god
Tezcatlipoca.126 When Tula fell in the 12th century,
several independent city-states arose in central Mexico,
and interacted with Mayans in Yucatán. 127, 128
Around this time, nomadic Chichimeca peoples began to
move south onto the central plateau. According to
tradition, one group, the Méxica, left their homeland
Aztlán in 1111 and arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the early 1300s.129, 130 From their
settlements Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco on the marshy islands of Lake Texcoco, the Méxica
formed alliances, collected tribute, and waged repeated war to expand the Aztec Empire.
Expansion filled the empire with resentful subjects and made enemies of the Tlaxcalans to the
east and the Tarascans to the west.131 Repeating the patterns of Teotihuacan, Aztec rulers
presided over a highly stratified society from a densely populated capital. To feed their people,
they intensified the Mayan agricultural practice of raised fields in Aztec chinampas (“floating
gardens”).132 To feed their gods, they staged ball games, flower wars, and other rituals that ended
in human sacrifice.133
124
Saburo Sugiyama, “Feathered Serpent Pyramid Pages,” 20 August 2001,
http://archaeology.asu.edu/teo/fsp/index.htm
125
126
127
128
129
Edward B. Sisson, “Aztec,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975, ed. James S. Olson
(Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 69–72.
130
131
Hubert Herring, A History of Latin America: From the Beginnings to the Present, 3rd ed. (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1968), 47.
132
133
Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, “Flower Wars,” in Handbook to Life in the Aztec World (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2007), 133–135.
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Spanish Conquest and Colonization
Cortés and Moctezuma
In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived at Veracruz a veteran of Spanish expeditions to the Caribbean
and the Yucatán. Though he lacked royal authority to explore and trade, he was prepared for
conquest with cannon, horses, dogs, and soldiers.134, 135, 136 As he traveled inland, he met a local
woman whom the Spanish came to call Doña Marina (now also known as La Malinche), a
former slave who spoke Nahuatl (the lingua franca of the Aztec Empire) and learned Spanish.
When he reached Tlaxcala, he first fought, then allied with the Tlaxcalans against the Aztecs.137,
138
(The Tlaxcalans and La Malinche are considered traitors in many Mexican histories for aiding
the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.)139 As Cortés approached Tenochtitlan, lookouts
described him as an incarnation or emissary of the god Quetzalcoatl, who had been banished to
the east by the god Tezcatlipoca in the time of the Toltecs.
Moctezuma II, ninth Méxica ruler of the Aztecs, was as
much a philosopher-king as a martial leader.140 Whether
or not he believed Cortés to be divine, he received the
Spaniards into Tenochtitlan with diplomatic
courtesies.141 Cortés arrested him four days later (on
reports that Aztecs were fighting Spaniards in Veracruz).
When the Spaniards’ presence in Tenochtitlan became
untenable, they had Moctezuma speak publicly for their
safe departure from the city, and he died in the following
melee—Aztecs and Spaniards each blamed the other for
his death.142 The Spanish and their allies fought their way out of Tenochtitlan on the evening of
June 1520, losing hundreds as they retreated to Tlaxcala. After smallpox weakened Tenochtitlan
134
135
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (Greenhaven Press 2004), 53–64.
136
137
138
Edward B. Sisson, “Tlaxcala,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975, ed. James S. Olson
(Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 594–595.
139
Sandra Messinger Cypess, La Malinche in Mexican Literature: From History to Myth (Austin, TX: University of
Texas Press, 1991), 1–2.
140
Frances F. Berdan, “Moctezuma II,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975, ed. James S.
Olson (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 423–424.
141
Olson (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 423–424.
142
Ross Hassig, “The Collision of Two Worlds,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and
William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 94–97.
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in September 1520, the Spanish returned in 1521, laying siege in June and retaking the city in
August.143
Crown and Cross
In 1493, colonization of the New World became justifiable when Pope Alexander VI made the
Spanish crown responsible for the souls of New Spain.144 By 1524, Franciscan friars arrived in
Veracruz to begin the work of conversion, claiming 9 million baptisms by 1537. The colony’s
first bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, arrived in 1528 with the title “Protector of the Indians,” a role
that placed priests at odds with secular officials for centuries, even as Roman Catholicism
became the state religion.145, 146, 147
Similarities between Spanish Catholic and indigenous religious beliefs and practices helped with
conversions. A syncretic New World Catholicism emerged, embodied in the story of Juan Diego,
a native peasant the Virgin Mary told to build a church on the site of an Aztec goddess’s temple.
An image of the Virgin that appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak as he stood before Bishop
Zumárraga became Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is an icon of Mexico to the present day.148
Colonial Economy and Society
Spanish colonists brought new plants (wheat, rice, sugar
cane), animals (horses, pigs, sheep, cattle), and tools
(iron plow, agricultural wheel) to Mexico.149, 150 New
kinds of economic organization included the
encomienda, land grants that included control of the
people who lived and worked on the land, and
repartimiento, labor allotments that required villagers
and townspeople to contribute work and goods to a
143
144
Frances Gardiner Davenport and Charles Oscar Paullin, eds., “The Bull Inter Caetera (Alexander VI.). May 4,
1493,” in European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies (Clark, New Jersey:
The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2004 [orig. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1917–1937]), 71–
78.
145
Lynn V. Foster, A Brief History of Mexico, 4th ed. (New York: Facts on File, 2010), 66–67.
146
147
Thomas P. O’Rourke, “The Coming of the Franciscans to New Spain (1522–1675),” in The Franciscan Missions
in Texas (1690–1793), vol. 5 (dissertation, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1927), 2–3.
148
Linda A. Curcio-Nagy, “Faith and Morals in Colonial Mexico,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael
C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 165.
149
John C. Super and Luis Alberto Vargas, “V.D.1. - Mexico and Highland Central America,” Cambridge World
History of Food, eds. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Coneé Ornelas (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2000), http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/mexico.htm
150
© D LIF L C | 19
Spanish-appointed supervisor.151, 152 Encomienda, repartimiento, and later variations like the
hacienda concentrated economic power into a very few Spanish hands and impoverished
countless locals. Spanish officials, both military and civilian, also introduced the selling of
offices and other corruptible practices. Persons who wanted power and wealth bought positions
from those higher up in the bureaucracy—and then used the purchased position to recoup its cost
from those below them.153 From such kinds of organizations and practices a culture of patronage
developed, in which the relationship between patron and dependent became the path to survival
and success. Patronage also created an environment ripe for the caudillos (charismatic military
strongmen) who would compete to lead Mexico in the future.154
Ancestry and class stratified colonial society. At the top were Spanish-born peninsulares (later
called gachupines, a pejorative term). Ranked slightly lower were the criollos, individuals of
Spanish heritage who were born in Mexico. Beneath these elite españoles were mestizos,
individuals of mixed Spanish-indigenous parentage. (La Malinche gave birth to the iconic
mestizo, Martín Cortés.155) A century after conquest, the number of mestizos in Mexico
(130,000) roughly equaled that of españoles (120,000).156 By about 1800, the mestizo population
throughout Mesoamerica had grown to 2 million, while the criollo population remained the
same.157 Below the mestizo were the full-blooded indios. In the early years of colonization
enslavement, disease, and death decimated indigenous populations.158 Spanish colonists also
imported slaves from Africa and Asia.159, 160
Resistance
New Spain claimed territory from Colorado to Costa Rica, but never fully controlled large parts
of Mexico.161 Many indigenous peoples resisted colonization, including Puebloans in the
northern territories, Chichimecas in north and central Mexico, Zapotecs and Mixtecs in Oaxaca,
151
John Coatsworth, “Political Economy and Economic Organization,” in Cambridge Economic History of Latin
America, Victor Bulmer-Thomas, John H. Coatsworth, and Roberto Cortés Conde, eds., vol. 1 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2006), 262–264.
152
George Ochoa, Atlas of Hispanic-American History (New York: Facts on File, 2001), 26–27.
153
154
Mark Wasserman, Everyday Life And Politics In Nineteenth Century Mexico: Men, Women, and War, Dialogos
Series (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2000), 6.
155
Virginia Garrard Burnett, “Cortés, Martín,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975, ed.
James S. Olson (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 206–207.
156
Eric Wolf, Sons of the Shaking Earth (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959), 235.
157
158
159
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, “The Slave Trade in Mexico,” in The Hispanic American Historical Review 24:3
(August 1944), 412–431, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2508494
160
Walton Look Lai, Chee Beng Tan, The Chinese in Latin America and the Caribbean (Leiden, NL: Koninklijke
Brill NV, 2010), 9.
161
George Ochoa, Atlas of Hispanic-American History (New York: Facts on File, 2001), 37–38.
© D LIF L C | 20
and Mayans in Chiapas and Yucatán.162, 163, 164 Resistance periodically flared into rebellion, from
the Mixton War of 1540–1541 in New Galicia (present-day Jalisco, Nayarit, and Zacatecas) to
the Tzeltzal Revolt of 1712 in Chiapas.
Españoles also resisted Spain’s colonial rule. Wealthy and powerful elites resented the crown’s
actions to limit international trade, protect the Indians, and finance European wars with Mexican
silver. Regional caudillos increasingly took governance into their own hands. New Spain
watched as the United States, France, and Haiti declared independence from royal and colonial
rule. When Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, disagreements over the legitimate ruling body for
New Spain set criollos against loyalist gachupines.165, 166
Independence
Grito de Dolores, the Cry of Independence
Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was a free-thinking and free-living
criollo in the town of Dolores, Guanajuato. Fearing arrest for his
discussions of independence in literary and social clubs, he gathered his
Indian parishioners on September 16, 1810 and exhorted them to action.
Shouts of “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!”, “Death to bad
government!”, and “Down with the gachupines!” called for
independence from Spain and unleashed mass violence against elites, as
in the massacre at the Alhóndiga in Guanajuato.167, 168, 169 Loyalists
captured Hidalgo; the Church excommunicated him. A firing squad
executed him in 1811. The heads of Hidalgo and three compatriots were
hung in cages at the four corners of the Alhóndiga, where they
remained on display for 10 years.170, 171 The insurgents, now led by José
162
Lynn V. Foster, A Brief History of Mexico, 4th ed. (New York: Facts on File, 2010), 61, 91.
163
Robert W. Patch, “Indian Resistance to Colonialism,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer
and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 188–193.
164
165
Richard Haggerty, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Early Discontent: Criollos and Clergy,” in Mexico: A Country
Study, eds. Tim Merrill and Ramón Miró (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1997),
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+mx0017%29
166
Series (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2000), 4–5.
167
William H. Beezley and David E. Lorey, Viva Mexico! Viva la Independencia!: Celebrations of September 16
(Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc. [Rowman and Littlefield], 2001), 8–10.
168
169
Lesley Byrd Simpson, Many Mexicos, 4th ed., revised (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966), 212–
213.
170
171
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María Morelos, laid siege to Mexico City in 1814. Morelos wrote a constitution for Mexico, but
it failed to gain support. His head joined Hidalgo’s in 1815. War continued through 1821, when a
criollo loyalist officer, Augustín de Iturbide, turned against a change of monarchy in Spain and
joined the insurgents.172, 173
First Mexican Empire
In February 1821, Iturbide announced the Plan de Iguala, the first of many plans that aspiring
leaders would issue to describe intended changes in the Mexican government. (Successful
leaders ensured that the army supported their plans. 174) The Plan of Iguala proposed
independence from Spain, Roman Catholicism as the state religion, and equality for all Mexican
citizens (which at the time was understood to mean criollos and peninsulares).175, 176 Iturbide
claimed territory from Costa Rica to Oregon for the Empire of Mexico, and in1822 made himself
Emperor. Many historians regard him as Mexico’s first full-fledged caudillo and his reign as the
start of a period of caudillismo. The lack of a stable method for the orderly transfer of authority
created a system in which violence became the means to hold political power.177, 178, 179, 180
Iturbide soon ran out of funds to pay the army. He was exiled in 1823 and shot when he
attempted to return in 1824.181, 182
Many Mexicos
Some 50 different governments, 33 different presidents, and several different constitutions
marked Mexico’s first century of independence.183, 184, 185 The 1824 Constitution was modeled
172
173
174
175
176
177
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Caudillo,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/100372/caudillo
178
Carlos Perez, “Caudillo,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402–1975, ed. James S. Olson
(Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), Historical Dictionary, 153–155.
179
180
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2004), 106.
181
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2004), 109.
182
183
184
The West Film Project, PBS and WETA, “Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna,” in New Perspectives of the West,
2001, http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/santaanna.htm
© D LIF L C | 22
on the United States Constitution, defining a federal republic with executive, legislative, and
judicial branches, and the significant addition of a Roman Catholic state religion. However, there
was little understanding or experience of participation in a republic, and many loyalists wished
for a return to monarchy.186, 187 Other tensions developed in the new nation—centralists
(supporters of strong national government) vs. federalists (supporters of strong state
governments), church supporters vs. anti-clericalists, free market supporters vs. advocates of
protectionist tariffs, and communal land holders vs. individual property owners.188
The Age of Santa Anna
In the first years of independence, Antonio López de Santa Anna
emerged as Mexico’s quintessential caudillo.189, 190 A criollo from
Veracruz, he began his career as a Spanish loyalist officer. He joined
Iturbide in 1821 but turned on the Emperor, proclaiming Mexico a
republic in 1823. A nationalist who aligned with whatever political
group was useful at the time, he gave the young nation thrilling
victories and disastrous defeats. In 1829, he repulsed Spain’s attempt to
reconquer Mexico (after Mexico had expelled most Spaniards) and soon
became president. He would lose and regain the presidency 10 times in
the next 30 years.191 In 1836, he enforced Mexico’s sovereignty over
rebels in the territory of Tejas, taking no prisoners at the Alamo and
Goliad, but he was defeated and captured at San Jacinto, where he
acknowledged the independent Republic of Texas in exchange for his
freedom. Fighting against the French at Veracruz two years later he lost
his leg. The severed leg was buried with full honors in Mexico City in 1842, but dug up and
dragged through the streets in 1844 because he imposed the draft and taxes after learning of
United States plans to annex Texas.192 He soon went into exile in Cuba.193
185
Instituto de Investigactiones Juridicas, UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), “Legislación
Federal Mexicana,” 2011, http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/legmexfe.htm
186
187
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press 2004), 111–
112.
188
Series (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2000), 7.
189
Christon I. Archer, “Fashioning a New Nation,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and
William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 322–323.
190
191
115.
192
Christon I. Archer, “Fashioning a New Nation,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and
William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 335.
193
Juana Vázquez Gómez, Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997), 76.
© D LIF L C | 23
Mexican–American War
In 1845, the United States annexed the Republic of
Texas. The annexation shifted the Mexico-U.S. border
from the Rio Nueces south to the Rio Bravo (Rio
Grande), leading Mexico to cut diplomatic relations with
the United States. Santa Anna returned from exile in
1846 to lead Mexican forces into war. During the last
battle in Mexico City on September 13, 1848, six niños
heroes (military cadets) leapt to their deaths from the
walls of Chapultepec Castle rather than surrender to U.S.
forces.194, 195, 196 Santa Anna resigned two days later and
left for Venezuela.197, 198 Mexico signed away Texas and all of its northern territories in the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
In 1853, Santa Anna returned to his final presidency. He approved the Treaty of La Mesilla
(Gadsen Purchase), selling southern New Mexico and Arizona to the United States in order to
raise funds for his perpetually bankrupt nation, an action that led to his last exit from power.199
La Reforma
Benito Juárez and the Reform Laws
In 1854, Benito Juárez and other liberals announced the Plan de Ayutla,
which called for the end of Santa Anna’s rule and a new constitutional
convention. Juárez was a Zapotec orphan who learned Spanish from the
Franciscans and later earned a law degree. Governor of Oaxaca during
the Mexican–American War, he was national Minister of Justice when
La Reforma began. The liberals felt that church and military power
were hindering the development of a strong republic. In 1854, Ley
(“law”) Juárez stripped the church and the military of much of their
traditional legal autonomy, and in 1855, Ley Lerdo ordered the sale of
corporate-owned real estate—church property, but also Indian ejidos
194
Lorenza Espinola, “Los Niños Héroes, un Símbolo,” México 2010 (Gobierno Federal), 2011,
http://www.bicentenario.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:los-ninos-heroes-unsimbolo-&catid=70:200-anos-de-historia
195
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Holy Days and Holidays,” in Mexico: An
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 219.
196
Photo of Niños Heroes commemorative mural at http://www.mexico501.com/mural-of-cadet-jumping/62/
197
198
Josefina Zoraida Vásquez, “War and Peace with the United States,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds.
Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 366.
199
George Ochoa, Atlas of Hispanic-American History (New York: Facts on File, 2001), 89.
© D LIF L C | 24
(“common lands”)—into private ownership.200, 201 In 1857, a new constitution gave the republic
a unicameral legislature; a four-year, single-term presidency; freedoms of speech, press,
assembly, and education; amparo (similar to habeas corpus, the individual’s right to appear
before a court); and no state religion.202, 203
War of Reform
The Church threatened to excommunicate anyone trying to purchase their property at auction. A
three-year civil war ensued. Conservatives rebelled against the liberal government, taking control
from Mexico City. Liberals fled to Veracruz where they organized an opposition government and
continued to issue anti-clerical reform laws.204 In some places, priests who refused sacraments to
liberals were shot. In others, doctors who treated liberal soldiers were killed. Liberal forces
finally retook Mexico City in January 1861, and Juárez was elected president later that year.205
French Intervention
Dueling governments and military campaign costs left Mexico bankrupt at the close of the war.
President Juárez declared a moratorium on Mexico’s repayment of international debts. Europe
responded by threatening to occupy Mexico until debts were repaid. At the same time, Mexican
conservatives were courting European royalty to resume monarchic rule in Mexico.206
The French under Napoleon III pursued colonization of Mexico. Initially rebuffed at Puebla on
May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), 1862, with reinforcements they occupied Mexico City the following
year. Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, arrived in 1864 to realize conservative dreams of a new
Mexican monarchy. Maximilian unexpectedly upheld liberal policies and attempted to
modernize administration. He also decreed that soldiers defending Juárez’ government should be
shot on sight. Early on, French forces drove Juaristas all the way to Ciudad Juárez. However, by
1866 republican forces asserted themselves against a weakening French army being called home
200
201
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Agrarian Reform/Land and Land
Policy,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004),
2.
202
Domingo García Belaunde, “El Habeas Corpus Latinoamericano,” Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado No.
104 (May–August 2002), http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/publica/rev/boletin/cont/104/art/art2.htm
203
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, “Habeas Corpus,” 2011, http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/habeas%20corpus
204
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press 2004), 129,
134–135.
205
206
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to fight against the Prussians. Maximilian was captured and executed in 1867, and Juárez was
reelected the same year.207, 208 He died in office in 1872.
The Porfiriato
José de la Cruz Porfirio Diaz was a Mixtec-Spanish mestizo who fought
for the liberals during the War of Reform and the reign of Maximilian.
In 1876, General Diaz took the presidency with his Plan de Tuxtepec,
on the slogan “Effective Suffrage, No Reelection.”209 At the end of his
chosen successor’s term in 1884, Diaz was elected to a new term, and it
took a revolution to unseat him decades later. He achieved his vision of
“order and progress” for Mexico through attracting foreign investment
in minerals, oil, railroads, and land. The accompanying industrialization
of agriculture and manufacturing disenfranchised the working classes.
This resulted in the first large wave of emigration from Mexico to the
United States, and setting the stage for internal revolt.210, 211 Diaz used
the Rurales, a federal rural police force established by Juárez, to quell
unrest and enforce elections.212, 213
Revolution
In the 1910 presidential election, Francisco Madero opposed Diaz. Madero came from a
privileged family. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and worked in family
business before entering politics.214 Madero lost the 1910 election, fled the country to avoid
arrest by Diaz, and issued the Plan de San Luis Potosí, which called Mexicans to revolt.215
Regional resistance to the Porfiriato had been developing for some time, under the lead of men
such as Francisco “Pancho” Villa in the north and Emiliano Zapata in the south.
207
Paul Vanderwood, “Betterment for Whom? The Reform Period: 1855–1875,” in The Oxford History of Mexico,
eds. Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 380–393.
208
209
“Diaz, Porfirio,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History, eds. Don. M. Coerver,
Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 140–143.
210
211
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Immigration/Emigration,” in Mexico: An
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO, 2004), 223.
212
213
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Rurales,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
214
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Madero, Francisco,” in Mexico: An
215
© D LIF L C | 26
When Diaz resigned and left the country in 1911, Madero was elected
president, but in 1913, he was overthrown and killed. In the following
years, the revolutionaries fought for power in their own regions, and
struggled unsuccessfully to reunite the nation. In 1915, the United
States recognized Venustiano Carranza as Mexico’s legitimate leader.
He produced a constitution that guaranteed rights to the working classes
but could not enforce it.216 (The 1917 constitution now stands as the law
of the land, incorporating 196 reforms and corrections through
17 August 2011.217) In 1919, Carranza ordered the killing of rival
Emiliano Zapata.218 A year later Carranza himself was killed fleeing
violent opposition.219
Aftermath of Revolution
The Revolution cost Mexico close to a million lives (more than
2 million factoring in those who fled north).220, 221 It ended officially
with the election of Álvaro Obregón to a one-term presidency in 1920,
but violence continued for the next decade. In 1923, Obregón ordered
Pancho Villa’s ambush and killing. A few years later, Obregón himself
was killed, shortly after engineering constitutional changes to permit his
reelection to a presidential term lengthened to six years. Obregón’s
killer was part of the Cristero Rebellion of 1926–1929, an uprising of
conservative, church-loving peasants against the liberal, anti-clerical
government policies of the preceding decades.222
Mexico’s Revolution overlapped with Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution in
1917 that gave rise to the Soviet Union. The revolutions seemed to
share similar goals of better lives for the peasants and the proletariat,
and in the early 1930s, Stalin’s Five-Year Plans looked more promising
216
165.
217
Instituto de Investigactiones Juridicas, UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), “Evolución de la
Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos,” 2011,
http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/legmexfe.htm, http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/constmex/
218
Frank McLynn, Villa and Zapata: a History of the Mexican Revolution (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000), 359–
362.
219
220
Robert McCaa, “Missing Millions: the Human Cost of the Mexican Revolution,” University of Minnesota
Population Center, 2001, http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/missmill/mxrev.htm
221
222
Emily Edmonds-Poli and David A. Shirk, Contemporary Mexican Politics (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2009), 51.
© D LIF L C | 27
than the United States’ Great Depression.223 (The United States encouraged half a million
Mexicans to repatriate south during the Depression.224) But Mexico’s was a nationalist
revolution, in contrast to Soviet international aspirations; the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM)
often found itself at odds with either local leftists or Comintern (the international Communist
organization).225 Antagonism between the Soviet Union and the United States further
complicated Mexican-Soviet relations throughout the 20th century.
One-Party Democracy
The Party Rises
Obregón’s death led his successor Plutarco Elías Calles to unify the
many revolutionary factions into a single political organization, the
Partido Nacional Revolucionario (National Revolutionary Party).
Reorganized and renamed the Partido de la Revolución Mexicana
(PRM) in 1938, and the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in
1946, this group would see its presidential candidates safely into office
for 70 years.226 The PRI-backed president had extraordinary powers,
including dedazo (“the finger,” designating his successor).227
Regionally, the cacique (political boss or broker) replaced the military
caudillo as PRI political control reached into state and municipal
government.228, 229
To the Left
Calles was the jefe maximo (“maximum chief”) behind short-term presidents until agrarian
reformers were able to bring their candidate, Lázaro Cárdenas, to office in 1934.230 Cárdenas
brought peasants, urban workers, and middle-class professionals into the ruling party with a
nationalist agenda of education, land, and economic reforms.231 His most popular act was the
223
Daniela Spenser, The Impossible Triangle: Mexico, Soviet Russia and the United States in the 1920s (Durham:
Duke University Press, 1999), 193.
224
225
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Communism in Mexico,” in Mexico: An
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 106–110.
226
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Partido Revolucionario Institucional
(PRI),” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004),
106–110.
227
PBS Online NewsHour, “The End of ‘El Dedazo,’” 8 November 1999,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/july-dec99/dedazo.html
228
Hugh M. Hamill, Caudillos: Dictators in Spanish America (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992),
9–11.
229
Elena de Costa, “Caudillismo and Dictatorship,” in Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature, ed. Verity Smith
(Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 186–187.
230
231
Sara Schatz, Murder and Politics in Mexico: Political Killings in the Partido de la Revolucion Democratica and
Its Consequences (New York: Springer, 2011), 11.
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nationalization of the oil industry.232, 233 He also granted asylum to refugees from the Spanish
Civil War (1936–1939), who became influential in Mexican cultural and intellectual circles, and
to Leon Trotsky, an early leader of the communist revolution exiled by Stalin after Lenin’s
death.234 (A Soviet agent later killed Trotsky in Mexico.)
To the Right
Mexico participated in World War II with an air
squadron in the Philippines and 15,000 soldiers in the
armed forces of the United States.235 Industries grew to
supply war materiel, and braceros (agricultural guest
workers) traveled north to keep up agricultural
production on the home front. To continue post-war
economic development, PRI government policies
promoted social modernization (to assimilate indigenous
peoples) and domestic industrialization (to replace
imports with locally produced items).236, 237, 238 In the
1960s, economic nationalization (utilities, auto industry) and internationalization (maquiladoras)
disproportionately benefitted a wealthy few. Such policies and actions often set the government
against peasant farmers and labor unions, and opposition political parties appeared, starting with
the National Action Party (PAN) in 1939. Challenges to government authority were often
violently suppressed, from PAN uprisings in Leon (1946) and Tijuana (1959 and 1968), to
student demonstrations in the 1960s and killings of opposition party members in the 1980s.239,
240, 241
232
Josephus Daniels, “The Oil Expropriation,” in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, eds. Gilbert M.
Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 452–455.
233
234
Friedrich E. Schuler, “Mexico and the Outside World,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer
and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 522.
235
180.
236
237
Miguel Alberto Bartolomé, “Pluralismo Cultural y Redefinicion del Estado en Mexico (paper, 210, Serie
Antropologia, Coloquio sobre derechos indígenas, Oaxaca, IOC, 1996),”
http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/iard4010/documents/Pluralismo_cultural_y_redefinicion_del_estado_en_Mexico.pdf
238
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Import Substitution Industrialization,” in
Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 230–233.
239
David A. Shirk, Mexico's New Politics: The PAN and Democratic Change (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005),
63–66.
240
Elena Poniatowska, “The Student Movement of 1968,” in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, eds.
Gilbert M. Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 555–569.
241
Sara Schatz, Murder and Politics in Mexico: Political Killings in the Partido de la Revolucion Democratica and
Its Consequences (New York: Springer, 2011).
© D LIF L C | 29
Falling Down
An overdependence on future income from oil discovered in the 1970s produced economic debt
in the 1980s that the government tried to reduce by floating the peso. Massive falls in the peso
(from 12 to the dollar in 1975 to 3000 to the dollar in 1992) led to hyperinflation and a painful
bailout from the International Monetary Fund.242, 243
Much of Mexico City literally fell to the ground in the 1985 earthquake. From the inadequate
government response to the disaster emerged a new grassroots activism that fed into support for
political candidates outside the PRI. 244, 245
In 1988, PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari almost lost the presidential election to
opposition candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (son of past president Lázaro Cárdenas). Salinas
signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), motivating the Zapatista
National Liberation Army (EZLN) rebellion in Chiapas. While in office, his appointed successor
and another PRI official were killed. After he left office, his brother was convicted of the latter
killing and of “illegal enrichment” (extortion of fees for access to government leaders) and was
linked to drug cartels.246
Multiparty Democracy
Non-PRI candidates had won local elections since the 1940s, but never
in numbers to control the national agenda. In the 1980s, regional
elections went increasingly to opposition parties, and in 1997
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, now a member of the Democratic Revolutionary
Party (PRD), was elected mayor of Mexico City. (In 1996, political
reforms had converted the office from a presidential appointment to an
elected position.) With the 2000 presidential election of PAN candidate
Vicente Fox, analysts began to consider Mexico a real democracy. Fox
worked to regulate migration, implement government transparency, and
modernize the justice system.247, 248
242
Tim L. Merrill and Ramón Miró, eds., Mexico: A Country Study (Federal Research Division, Library of
Congress, 1996), 385.
243
Adriane Ruggiero, ed., Mexico (The History of Nations series) (San Diego: Greenhaven Press 2004), 189.
244
245
Victims’ Coordinating Council, “After the Earthquake,” in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, eds.
Gilbert M. Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 579.
246
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Salinas de Gortari, Carlos,” in Mexico:
An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 459–463.
247
248
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, “Background Note: Mexico,” 14
December 2010, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35749.htm
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In 2006, PAN candidate Felipe Calderón narrowly won the presidency over PRD candidate
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, populist former mayor of Mexico City. Calderon’s actions to
crack down on drug trafficking, crime, and corruption have coincided with a jump in drugrelated murders in some parts of Mexico.249, 250
Recent History
Headlines from Mexico in recent years seem filled with violence and tragedy. In 2006, more than
60 miners were killed in a Coahuila coal mine. In 2007, floods throughout the state of Tabasco
displaced 500,000. In 2008, growing drug-related violence prompted the United States Joint
Forces Command to compare Mexico to Pakistan as a “large and important state” whose “rapid
and sudden collapse” would be a “worst-case scenario for the Joint Force and indeed the
world.”251 In 2009, flu shut down schools and public buildings. However, in 2010, Mexicans
mounted a grand celebration marking two hundred years of independence and a hundred years of
a revolution still in progress.
249
Sindy Chapa, Angela Hausman, and Michael Minor, “Partidos Políticos en Guerra: The Impact of Partisanship in
Political Advertising in the 2006 Mexican Presidential Election,” Journal of Spanish Language Media 4 (2011):
150–168, http://www.spanishmedia.unt.edu/english/downloads/journal/vol4JSLM.pdf#page=152
250
Anthony Peter Spanakos and Lucio R. Renno, “Speak Clearly and Carry a Big Stock of Dollar Reserves:
Sovereign Risk, Ideology, and Presidential Elections in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela,” Comparative
Political Studies 42, no. 10 (2009): 1292–1316, http://cps.sagepub.com/content/42/10/1292.full.pdf+html
251
United States Joint Forces Command, “The Joint Operating Environment 2008: Challenges and Implications for
the Future Joint Force,” 25 November 2008, 36, https://us.jfcom.mil/sites/J5/j59/default.aspx
© D LIF L C | 31
1. The Méxica are the mixed-race people of modern Mexico.
False
The Méxica were a Chichimecan people from Aztlán who became known as the Aztecs.
Mestizo is the term for people of mixed Spanish-indigenous parentage.
2. The Catholic Church approved, on spiritual grounds, the Spanish conquest of Mexico to
convert the New World Indians.
True
The early friars were also responsible for protecting the Indians from abuse by colonists.
3. Mexican independence began with enslaved peoples who wanted freedom from their masters.
False
Independence began with criollos who resented Spanish control. It progressed to include
uprisings of the lower classes against the colonial oppression of all elites.
4. The Mexican–American War was engineered by the United States to expand its southwestern
territories.
True
The war started from U.S. claims that pushed the Texas border south to the Rio Grande, and
ended with defeated Mexico’s cession of its northern territories.
5. The Reform Laws of the 1850s moved to limit the power of the church and the military.
True
Benito Juárez and liberal colleagues wished to strengthen the power of civil government and
increase the civil rights of Mexican citizens.
© D LIF L C | 32
CHAPTER 3: ECONOMY
Introduction
Humans have exploited Mexico’s natural riches for
millennia. Small-scale farmers, foragers, and fishers
have persisted through the rise and fall of colonial, and
national economies. Their work in the informal economy
generates untaxed income equal to 30% of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and employs more than 25% of
the workforce in hard economic times.252, 253, 254 A
global, macroeconomic analysis classifies today’s
Mexico as an upper-middle-income country with a
moderately free economy in the trillion dollar class.255,
256, 257
Mexico ranks second among Latin American economies (surpassed only by Brazil), and is
an important economic partner of the United States.258, 259 Agriculture and industry account for
about one-third of the GDP and employ 40% of the workforce. Business and government
services ranging from tourism to transportation contribute the rest of the GDP and the majority
of jobs.260, 261, 262 Analysts attribute the poverty that still plagues half the population to too much,
252
José Brambila Macias and Guido Cazzavillan, “Modeling the Informal Economy in Mexico: A Structural
Equation Approach,” The Journal of Developing Areas 44, no. 1 (Fall 2010): 345–365,
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_developing_areas/v044/44.1.macias.pdf
253
Friedrich Schneider, “Size and Measurement of the Informal Economy in 110 Countries around the World,”
(Workshop of Australian National Tax Centre, Australia National University, Canberra, Australia, 17 July 2002),
http://www.amnet.co.il/attachments/informal_economy110.pdf
254
Reuters, “Mexico’s Informal Economy Swells Through Recovery,” Mexico Portal, 25 August 2010,
http://mexicoinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/mexicos-informal-economy-swells-through-recovery/
255
World Bank, “Data by Country: Mexico,” 2011, http://data.worldbank.org/country/mexico?display=default
256
257
258
John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America (New York: W.W. Norton,
2001), 25–27.
259
Economist Intelligence Unit, “Mexico: Business,” 14 September 2010,
http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=137445398&Country=Mexico&topic=Business&subtopic=Business+e
nvironment&subsubtopic=Mexico--highlights%3a+Business+environment+outlook
260
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Ocupacion: Poblacion Ocupada Segun Sector de
Actividad Economica, Nacional,” 18 August 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.org.mx/cgiwin/bdiecoy.exe/597?s+est&c=25585
261
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Producto Interno Bruto [GDP]: Estructura Porcentual
del Producto Interno Bruto por Sector de Actividad Economica,” 4 May 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.org.mx/cgiwin/bdiecoy.exe/785?s=est&c=24420
262
© D LIF L C | 33
too little, or the wrong kinds of government intervention, often in the form of corruption or
“crony capitalism.”263, 264, 265
Agriculture
Mexico’s primary economic sector, agriculture, includes
farming, ranching, forestry, fishing, and hunting. About
15% of the workforce is in agriculture, which contributes
4% of the GDP.266, 267 Farming has been a central
economic activity in Mexico since the domestication of
corn 7,000 years ago. Today, the majority of farmers are
subsistence growers, cultivating less than 5 hectares (12
acres) with the staple crops of corn and beans.268 About
one-tenth of Mexico is farmland, but only a small
fraction is irrigated.269 Raised field cultivation, practiced
continuously in Xochimilco’s chinampas (“floating gardens”) outside Mexico City since preColumbian times, has been reintroduced as a sustainable agricultural method for modern
peoples.270, 271 Much small-scale farming remains outside the formal economy, and apart from
international investments to industrialize agriculture. Once self-sufficient in staple food
production, Mexico now imports grains.272, 273, 274 Corn, beans, wheat, rice, barley, and potatoes
263
National Council of Evaluation of Social Development (CONEVAL), “Evolución de las Dimensiones de la
Pobreza 1990–2010,” n.d.,
http://www.coneval.gob.mx/cmsconeval/rw/pages/medicion/evolucion_de_las_dimensiones_pobreza_1990_2010.es
.do
264
Paul R. Ehrlich, Loy Bilderback, and Anne H. Ehrlich, The Golden Door: International Migration, Mexico, and
the United States (Cambridge, MA: Malor Books [Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge], 2008), 152–159.
265
Carlos Heredia, “Social Progress in Mexico and How to Achieve It” (paper, Mexico Under Calderón Task Force,
Center for Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami, 19 August 2009), 10–11,
https://www6.miami.edu/hemispheric-policy/arlosHerediaEdited.pdf
266
267
268
269
270
271
Kelly Lichter et al., “Aggregation and C and N Contents of Soil Organic Matter Fractions in a Permanent RaisedBed Planting System in the Highlands of Central Mexico,” Plant Soil 305 (2008): 237–252.
272
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Food,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
273
Justin Gillis, “A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself,” New York Times, 4 June 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/science/earth/05harvest.html?pagewanted=all
© D LIF L C | 34
are today’s staple crops. Tomatoes, avocadoes, sugarcane, coffee, and cotton are major cash
crops. The Mexican government reported the eradication of 17,200 hectares (42,502 acres) of
marijuana and 14,800 hectares (36,572 acres) of opium poppy in 2010.275 Mexico sends most of
its agricultural exports to the United States, and the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) has significantly increased the export of fruit and vegetables.276, 277
Other important agricultural goods include meat, dairy, fish, and wood products.278, 279 Ranching,
like farming, is an historical economic activity with cultural significance—the vaquero
(“cowman”) is the ancestor of the American cowboy and cousin to the more elegant charro
(horseman).280, 281, 282 Today, livestock production occupies 40% of Mexico’s total land area, and
accounts for over half of the agricultural GDP and about one-eighth of the agricultural export
trade. As with staple crops, Mexico is now a net importer of meat.283, 284 Fishing is a commercial,
artisanal, and recreational activity along Mexico’s coasts, and like farming, has benefited from
NAFTA.285 Foresters harvest wood for domestic fuel, construction, and paper mills. Some see
Mexico’s forests as a climate-friendly energy resource, but recent deforestation rates may
274
275
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, United States Department of State, “2011
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Mexico,” 3 March, 2011,
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2011/vol1/156361.htm
276
277
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, “Country Profile: Mexico,” July 2008, 14–15,
278
279
280
Jorge Iber, “Chapter 3: Vaqueros in the Western Cattle Industry,” in The Cowboy Way: An Exploration of History
and Culture, ed. Paul H. Carlson (Texas Tech University Press, 2000), 22–24.
281
Jonathan Haeber, “Vaqueros: The First Cowboys of the Open Range,” National Geographic News, 15 August
2003, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0814_030815_cowboys.html
282
Anne Rubenstein, “Mass Media and Popular Culture in the Postrevolutionary Era,” in The Oxford History of
Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 661.
283
Ricardo Améndola, Epigmenio Castillo, and Pedro A. Martínez, “Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles:
Mexico,” Food and Agriculture Organization, February 2005,
http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/Mexico/Mexico.htm
284
Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch, Food and Agriculture Organization, “Mexico,”
Livestock Sector Brief, March 2005, 1, 11–13,
http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/en/publications/sector_briefs/lsb_MEX.pdf
285
Trina Trollvik, “The Impact of World Trade Organization Agreements on Fish Trade,” FAO Fisheries Circular
977 (2002): 48, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/005/y4325e/y4325e00.pdf
© D LIF L C | 35
endanger renewability.286 Small communities have traditionally owned and operated forests, as
they have farmlands.287, 288
Industry
Mexican workers built the oldest and largest pyramids in
the Western Hemisphere, and today construction is part
of the industrial economic sector that employs almost
one-quarter of the workforce and accounts for more than
one-quarter of the GDP.289, 290 Mining, manufacturing,
and energy production are also included in this sector.
Mining was the most important colonial industry—
Mexico produced as much silver as the rest of the world
combined in the 18th century, and returned to the
position of the world’s number one silver producer in
2010.291, 292, 293 Other minerals are iron, sulfur, fluorite, zinc, copper, manganese, mercury,
bismuth, antimony, cadmium, phosphates, gold and uranium.294, 295, 296
Manufacturing is dominated by machinery and equipment (especially automobiles), processed
agricultural products—mainly edibles (food, beverages, tobacco) but also textiles and clothing,
286
Food and Agriculture Organization, “Woodfuels and Climate Change Mitigation: Case Studies from Brazil, India
and Mexico” (working paper, Forests and Climate Change Working Paper 6, Rome, 2010), 41–67,
http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1639e/i1639e00.pdf
287
SEMARNAT, “Programa para la Integración de Cadenas Productivas,” n.d.,
http://www.conafor.gob.mx:8080/documentos/docs/22/1480Catalogo%20de%20Cadenas%20Productivas.pdf
288
Food and Agriculture Organization, “Mexico: Los Bosques y el Sector Forestal,” March 2004,
http://www.fao.org/forestry/country/57478/es/mex/
289
290
Actividad Económica, Nacional Trimestral,” 18 August 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.org.mx/cgiwin/bdiecoy.exe/597?s+est&c=25585
291
John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: a Concise History of Latin America (New York: W.W. Norton,
2001), 64–65.
292
Lynn V. Foster, A Brief History of Mexico, 4th ed. (New York: Facts on File, 2010), 91–92.
293
Mexican Geologic Service (SGM), “Chapter 4: Basic Statistics by Product for Metallic and Nonmetallic
Minerals,” in Statistical Yearbook of the Mexican Mining, 2010, 2011, 133,
http://www.sgm.gob.mx/productos/pdf/Chap_IV.pdf
294
Alberto Alexander Perez, “The Mineral Industry of Mexico,” in USGS 2009 Minerals Yearbook, United States
Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, June 2011, 15.1,
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2009/myb3-2009-mx.pdf
295
296
© D LIF L C | 36
leather and shoes, paper, gum, and natural rubber—and chemical products (including
petrochemicals and plastics). Tortillas alone generate USD 5 billion in annual worldwide
sales.297 Iron and steel, cement, glass, and consumer durables (electronics) are other
manufactured products. The economic reforms of the Salinas presidency privatized state
enterprises and created opportunities for foreign participation, transforming the manufacturing
subsector.298 NAFTA stimulated the productivity of firms that imported materials for the
manufacturing process.299
Energy
Energy production is considered extractive in the industrial economic sector. Mexico pumps oil
and gas, mines coal, and dams rivers to fuel its electricity plants, and also operates a nuclear
power plant at Laguna Verde, near Veracruz. Almost half of electricity production now uses
natural gas, and Mexico has become a natural gas net importer.300 Recent annual electricity
production runs about 240 billion kilowatt-hours, of which about 10% is lost to aging
infrastructure and other inefficiencies. Domestic consumption analyzed by value is less than
25% residential and more than 75% commercial and industrial—the state-owned oil company
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) is the largest single consumer. A small amount of electricity is
exported and imported across northern and southern borders, primarily in Baja California.301
Nearly 98% of Mexico is reportedly on the electric grid.302, 303
Oil and Natural Gas
“Black gold” replaced precious metals as Mexico’s most valuable natural resource following the
expansion of the railroads during the rule of Porfirio Díaz. Foreign oil companies became a
primary source of government tax revenue during the Revolution. Industry growth slowed after
the 1917 Constitution claimed national ownership of all subsurface resources, and reversed for a
time after nationalization created PEMEX in 1938.304 (Retaliatory boycotts by expropriated oil
297
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Food,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
298
299
Rafael E. De Hoyos and Leonardo Iacovone, “Economic Performance under NAFTA: A Firm-Level Analysis of
the Trade-Productivity Linkages” (working paper, Policy Research Working Paper 5661, The World Bank
Development Research Group Trade and Integration Team, May 2011), 26, http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2011/05/17/000158349_20110517160032/Render
ed/PDF/WPS5661.pdf
300
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Mexico: Analysis,” July 2011,
http://205.254.135.24/countries/cab.cfm?fips=MX
301
Western Electricity Coordinating Council, “WECC Members,” 2011,
http://www.wecc.biz/About/Company/Pages/WECCMembers.aspx
302
SENER (Ministry of Energy), SIE (Energy Information System), “Presentación,” n.d.,
http://sie.energia.gob.mx/sie/bdiController?action=login
303
Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), “Clientes,” 16 August 2011,
http://www.cfe.gob.mx/QUIENESSOMOS/ESTADISTICAS/Paginas/Clientes.aspx
304
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), “About PEMEX,” 20 October 2010,
http://www.pemex.com/index.cfm?action=content&sectionID=123
© D LIF L C | 37
companies led Mexico to trade oil with Germany and Italy just before World War II.) PEMEX
became a symbol of economic nationalism, putting short-term domestic needs ahead of longterm trade potential, and benefitting corrupt management as much as the public good. Despite
high international fuel prices, PEMEX posted net losses of USD 3.8 billion in 2010, reflecting
decreased production of crude oil.305 Recent efforts to reform the industry have aimed at cleaning
out politicized management, cleaning up environmental damage, and opening up the state
monopoly to outside participation.306, 307, 308, 309, 310
Mexico is consistently among the world's top producers
of crude oil, and is the second-largest supplier of oil to
the United States.311 Petroleum products, mostly crude
oil and natural gas, account for 7–10% of the GDP and
for more than one-third of annual government revenues.
Petroleum sales are also the largest source of foreign
revenue for Mexico.312, 313 The oil and gas industry
employs a modest 3% of the workforce.314 Mexico
consumes two-thirds of its own production and also
imports petroleum products, due to factors such as a lack
305
The Economist, “Mexico: Regulation,” Economist Intelligence Units, 1 August 2011,
http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1138418498&Country=Mexico&topic=Regulation&subtopic=Regulato
ry%2fmarket+assessment&subsubtopic=Regulatory%2fmarket+assessment
306
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Oil Industry,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
307
Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (New York: Free Press [Simon and
Schuster], 2008), 254–262, 416–418, 648–650.
308
the United States (Cambridge, MA: Malor Books [Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge], 2008), 137–152.
309
Joel Simon, “Pemex: A State within a State,” in Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge (San
Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1997), 157–179.
310
311
312
Paul Segal, “El Petroleo es Nuestro: The Distribution of Oil Revenues in Mexico (prepared for the study “The
Future of Oil in Mexico)” (paper, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and Mexican Studies Program
at Nuffield College, Oxford University, 29 April 2011), 9, http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/EF-pubSegalDistribution-04292011.pdf
313
314
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Ocupacion: Poblacion Ocupada segun Sector de
© D LIF L C | 38
of refinery capacity and the recent shift toward natural gas for electricity generation.315, 316 Since
2000, it has depleted more than half of its known oil reserves. Exploration for probable
deepwater reserves will be difficult and expensive.317, 318
Trade
Trade has connected Mexico’s many peoples to each
other for 4,000 years and to the world economic system
since the 16th century.319 Barter-based markets and
street vendors serve local communities and attract
tourists as part of the large informal economy that
operates beyond government control.320 Recent
estimated revenues of the annual drug trade for Mexico
were USD 5–8 billion.321, 322
Within the formal economy, annual exports and imports
are approaching USD 300 billion as of 2011. Oil is still Mexico’s top single commodity for both
export (crude) and import (refined). However, combined manufactured goods, from automobiles
to telecommunications equipment, account for over 80% of exports and imports.323, 324 For many
years, Mexico has run a slight overall trade deficit. In 2010, imports from Asia (notably China,
Japan, and South Korea) and the European Union (notably Germany) offset Mexico’s export
surplus with the United States and Canada. In Latin America, Mexico’s significant trade partners
315
316
http://205.254.135.24/countries/cab.cfm?fips=MX
317
318
319
320
Equation Approach,” The Journal of Developing Areas 44, no. 1 (Fall 2010): 346,
321
United States Joint Forces Command, “The Joint Operating Environment (JOE) 2010,” 18 February 2010, 47,
http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/joe2010.pdf
322
Beau Kilmer et al., “Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico: Would Legalizing Marijuana
in California Help?” (paper, International Programs and Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 2010),
30, http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2010/RAND_OP325.pdf
323
United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Division, “Read Me First,” United Nations Commodity Trade
Statistics Database, n.d., http://comtrade.un.org/db/ce/ceSnapshot.aspx?r=484
324
The Economist, “Mexico: Regulation,” Economist Intelligent Unit, 1 August 2011,
© D LIF L C | 39
are Brazil, Colombia, and Chile.325 More than 90% of Mexican trade happens through free trade
agreements with dozens of countries including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European
Free Trade Area, and Japan. In 1994 NAFTA increased Mexico's share of U.S. imports from 7%
to 12%, and its share of Canadian imports from 3% to 5%.326 Mexico also belongs to the World
Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the
G-20.
Transportation
Mexico’s geography—mountains, deserts, jungles, nonnavigable rivers—made the growth of domestic
transportation networks a challenge. Foreign-financed
railroads developed in the 19th century and fueled other
commercial and industrial development. Today Mexico
City, Guadalajara and Monterrey operate metro subways
and light rail systems at very reasonable rider prices.327,
328, 329
The most heavily used transportation network in
Mexico is 366,000 km (227,000 mi) of paved roads,
filled with 30 million registered trucks ,buses, taxis, and
private cars.330, 331, 332 The Ministry of Tourism operates Green Angel pickup trucks that aid
drivers along highways containing potholes, pedestrians, herds of animals, and occasional
unauthorized roadblocks.333, 334, 335 The government tried to outsource road construction and
maintenance through concessions for private toll roads, meeting with limited success.336 Road
325
United Nations, “International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Yearbook 2010,” 2010,
http://comtrade.un.org/pb/FileFetch.aspx?docID=3964&type=country%20pages
326
327
Metro de la Ciudad de Mexico, “Cifras de Operación 2010,” Datos de Operación, 4 February 2011,
http://www.metro.df.gob.mx/operacion/cifrasoperacion.html
328
Sistema de Tren Electrico Urbano, “Guadalajara,” n.d., http://www.siteur.gob.mx/index.php
329
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Monterrey,” 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.gob.mx/cgiwin/bdieintsi.exe/SER15157
330
331
World Health Organization, “Road Safety in Ten Countries: Mexico,” 2008,
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/countrywork/rs10_mexico.pdf
332
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Mexico: Transportation and Telecommunications,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379167/Mexico/27400/Transportation-and-telecommunications
333
SECTUR (Ministry of Tourism), “Angeles Verdes,” 11 July 2011,
http://www.sectur.gob.mx/es/sectur/sect_9453_angeles_verdes
334
335
Bureau of Consular Affairs, United States Department of State, “Mexico: Traffic Safety and Road Conditions,”
23 February 2011, http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html#traffic_safety
336
Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Transportation,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia
of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 508.
© D LIF L C | 40
accidents kill 17,000 passengers, drivers, and pedestrians annually, a rate three times that in the
United States or Canada, and are the leading cause of death for the 10–29 age group.337, 338
Aiming for future free trade agreements, Mexico's ports move an average 3 million 20-foot
container equivalent units (TEU) annually to destinations including “interesting opportunity
areas” such as India, Australia, Russia, Turkey, and South Africa.339 Oil and tourism make Gulf
of Mexico ports especially important. 340 Domestic airlines serve mostly middle- and upper-class
Mexicans; Mexico-based and international airlines fly to most major cities in the United States,
Canada, Europe, Japan, and Latin America.341 Much of Mexico’s transportation industry was
nationalized for most of the 20th century, and the results of recent privatizations have been
mixed.342, 343
Telecommunications
Mexicans have felt underserved and overcharged by the national telephone company.344, 345
Privatization of the state monopoly made new owner Carlos Slim Helu a magnate to rival Bill
Gates, but did not result in better rates or service for most Mexicans.346, 347 Because of high
prices, most Mexican cell phone users buy prepaid cards instead of monthly subscriptions, and
many keep a phone only for receiving calls.348 In 2011 the government fined Slim Helu’s mobile
phone unit Telmex nearly 12 billion pesos (USD 900 thousand) because of its anticompetitive
337
World Health Organization, “Road Safety in Ten Countries: Mexico,” 2008,
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/countrywork/rs10_mexico.pdf
338
North American Transportation Statistics, “Motor Vehicle Fatality Rates,” North American Transportation
Statistics Database, 18 November 2010, http://nats.sct.gob.mx/nats/sys/tables.jsp?i=3&id=13
339
340
Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fish and Food, Disemina 23, 11 April, 2011,
http://www.siap.gob.mx/opt/123/ingles/23EV.html
341
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Mexico,” 2011, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379167/Mexico
342
343
Reuters, “Mexicana Stopped Flying in August, Swamped by Debt,” 2 March 2011,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/mexicana-idUSN0222856620110302
344
Center for Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami, 19 August 2009), 7, https://www6.miami.edu/hemisphericpolicy/arlosHerediaEdited.pdf
345
346
Forbes, “The World's Billionaires: #1 Carlos Slim Helu & Family,” March 10, 2010,
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_Carlos-Slim-Helu-family_WYDJ.html
347
Sara Miller Llana, “Calderón's Challenge: Confronting Monopolies,” Christian Science Monitor, 23 January
2007, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0123/p12s01-woam.html
348
© D LIF L C | 41
practices. The government also denied Telmex’s request for a television-services concession.349,
350
Radios and televisions are common household items. About one-quarter of the population have
access to personal computers and the internet. Foreign direct investment in satellite service
became possible in 2001.351, 352
Tourism
The leisure class’s long history has produced internal
tourist destinations from Cuernevaca to Acapulco. The
tourist industry now caters primarily to U.S. and
Canadian travelers and accounts for about 1% of the
GDP.353, 354, 355 Restaurants and hospitality services in
Mexico employ over 10% of the workforce and
contribute 3% of the GDP.356, 357 Medical tourism has
produced internationally accredited facilities in
Monterrey and Guadalajara, and ecotourism could have
a promising future.358, 359, 360 President Calderón declared
349
The Economist, “Mexico: Regulation,” Economist Intelligence Unit, 1 August 2011,
350
Elisabeth Malkin, “Mexico Takes Aim at a Titan in Telecom,” New York Times, 8 May 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/business/global/09telecoms.html?pagewanted=all
351
352
353
354
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Turismo Receptivo y Egresivo segun Lugar de Origen y
Destino,” 15 March 2011, http://www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/sisept/default.aspx?t=turi04&s=est&c=25432
355
Andrea Boardman, “The U.S.-Mexican War and the Beginnings of American Tourism in Mexico,” in Holiday in
Mexico: Critical Reflections on Tourism and Tourist Encounters, eds. Dina Berger, Andrew Grant Wood (Durham,
NC: Duke University Press, 2009), 21–53.
356
Actividad Económica, Nacional,” 18 August 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.org.mx/cgiwin/bdiecoy.exe/597?s+est&c=25585
111
del Producto Interno Bruto por Sector de Actividad Económica,” 4 May 2011, http://dgcnesyp.inegi.org.mx/cgiwin/bdiecoy.exe/785?s=est&c=24420
358
Guadalajara Reporter, “Betting the Farm on Medical Tourism,” 27 February 2009,
http://guadalajarareporter.com/mexican-lifestyles-mainmenu-96/health-mainmenu-55/23986-betting-the-farm-onmedical-tourism.html
359
Joint Commission International, “JCI Accredited Organizations: Mexico,” 2011,
http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/JCI-Accredited-Organizations/
© D LIF L C | 42
2011 the Year of Tourism in Mexico.361 Drug violence is reportedly affecting tourism, although
statistics show recent growth in the sector.362, 363, 364
Banking and Finance
Banking and Currency
Banking has a checkered history in Mexico. Formal
financial institutions were rare through the 19th century.
(A notable exception is the National Pawnshop, Monte
de Piedad, established in 1775, which continues to
operate as a non-profit loan institution.)365, 366 Private
banking began largely as a foreign enterprise—the Bank
of London and Mexico, Mexico’s oldest existing private
bank, was established in 1864. In 1884, the government
tried to control banking by creating a national bank
(Banamex), nearly liquidating the Bank of London and
Mexico in the process.367 (The national responsibilities of Banamex were transferred to a new
central bank in 1925.) A century later, government nationalization and reprivatization of banks
from 1982–1990 led not to economic stability but to further devaluation of the peso and costly,
controversial bailouts.368, 369 Today 80% of the banks are again foreign-owned. Commercial
360
SECTUR (Ministry of Tourism), “Ecotourism in Mexico: Strategic Feasibility Study of the Ecotourism Segment
in Mexico,” 24 May 2010, http://www.sectur.gob.mx/en/secturing/sect_8980_ecotourism_in_mexico
361
SECTUR (Ministry of Tourism), “Bulletin 11: President Felipe Calderon Decrees 2011 as the Year of Tourism in
Mexico,” 25 January 2011,
http://www.sectur.gob.mx/es/secturing/Bulletin_11_President_Felipe_Calderon_decrees_2011_as_the_Year_of_To
urism_in_Mexico
362
Christopher Reynolds, “How Mexico's Drug War Affects Tourism,” Los Angeles Times, 26 December 2010,
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/26/travel/la-tr-mexico-20101226
363
Julian Miglierini, “The Price of Mexico’s ‘Drugs War,’” BBC News, 18 April 2011,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13120598
364
New Mexico State University, “Violence, Tourism and Big Bucks,” Frontera NorteSur, 12 April 2011,
http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/2011/04/12/violence-tourism-and-big-bucks/
365
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Banking and Finance,” in Mexico: An
366
Nacional Monte de Piedad, “History,” n.d., http://www.montepiedad.com.mx/en/history.aspx
367
Stephen Haber, “Banks, Financial Markets, and Industrial Development: Lessons from the Economic Histories of
Brazil and Mexico” (paper, Conference on Financial Reform in Latin America, Center for Research on Economic
Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University, CA, 9–12 November 2000), 5–7, http://wwwsiepr.stanford.edu/conferences/FFReform_LA/Haber2_all.pdf
368
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Banking and Finance,” in Mexico: An
369
Michael Reid, Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 2007), 205–206.
© D LIF L C | 43
banks are profitable and slowly increasing private lending, although only an estimated 25% of
the population has access to the banking system.370
Cocoa beans served as currency for the Aztecs.371 The old Mexican peso (MXP), like the United
States dollar, evolved from the royal Spanish silver “piece-of-eight,” and both Mexico and the
United States continue to use the same 18th century symbol ($) for their currencies.372, 373 The
central Bank of Mexico became the sole authorized currency issuer in 1925.374 At the end of
1992, a devalued new Mexican Peso (MXN) replaced the old peso at a rate of 1 MXN:1,000
MXP.375 In September 2011, USD 1 equaled about 13.5 MXN.
Finance and Investment
Mexico’s stock market began as a limited mercantile exchange in the
1880s, and joint stock companies were legalized in 1889. A general lack
of company financial reporting and limited access to capital restricted
securities investing until well into the 20th century.376 From the 1970s,
the Mexican stock exchange, Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), grew
to list shares in 137 companies and a variety of other financial products.
The BMV’s estimated total market capitalization was USD 450 billion
in early 2011. 377, 378, 379 Since 2008, the BMV has been publicly owned
370
Joydeep Mukherji, “Mexico’s Challenge: Moving From Stability to Dynamism” (paper, Mexico Under Calderón
Task Force, Center for Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami, 8 August 2008), 4,
https://www6.miami.edu/hemispheric-policy/MukherjiMexico.pdf
371
Robert W. Patch, “Indian Resistance to Colonialism,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer
and William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 184.
372
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, United States Department of the Treasury, “FAQ Library: What is the origin
of the $ Sign?” n.d., http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html
373
Lawrence Kinnaird, “The Western Fringe of Revolution,” The Western Historical Quarterly 7, no. 3 (July 1976):
259, http://www.jstor.org/stable/967081
374
Banco de México, “Historical Outline,” n.d., http://www.banxico.org.mx/acerca-del-banco-de-mexico/historicaloutline.html
375
Tim L. Merrill and Ramon Miro, eds., Mexico: A Country Study (Washington, DC: Federal Research Division,
Library of Congress, 1996), 385.
376
Stephen Haber, “Banks, Financial Markets, and Industrial Development: Lessons from the Economic Histories of
Brazil and Mexico” (paper, Conference on Financial Reform in Latin America, Center for Research on Economic
Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University, CA, 9–12 November 2000), 5–7, http://wwwsiepr.stanford.edu/conferences/FFReform_LA/Haber2_all.pdf
377
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, “Financial System,” in Mexico: A Country Study, Tim L. Merrill
and Ramón Miró, eds. (Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1996),
http://countrystudies.us/mexico/68.htm
378
Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, “List of Issuers,” 2007,
http://www.bmv.com.mx/wb3/wb/BMV/BMV_empresa_emisoras/_rid/177/_mto/3/_url/BMVAPP/emisorasList.jsf?
st=1
379
Adam Thompson, “Mexico Exchange Posts 22% Rise in Earnings,” Financial Times, 25 February 2011,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7ee340fe-4046-11e0-9140-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1ZGtBt1sB
© D LIF L C | 44
and traded. 380 Because the BMV serves primarily large companies and large investors, the
Negocios Extrabursátiles began in 2009. It caters to smaller companies, providing an online
bulletin site for listing investment opportunities.381 In general, financial services are the most
advanced component of the services sector, and bring in about one-quarter of all foreign
investment.382 Mexico recently passed legislation against money laundering, but the lack of
financial transparency in the system continues to challenge law enforcement efforts.383, 384
In recent years Mexico has worked both to convert its short-term external debt to longer-term
internal debt, and to attract continuing foreign investment (FDI).385 Inflation and public sector
deficits seem under control—the proposed 2012 budget would slightly reduce the government’s
deficit spending (already at a low level), and maintain public sector spending. 386, 387 New FDI
was USD 18.7 billion in 2010, bringing Mexico’s stock of FDI to nearly USD 300 billion.388 The
United States is Mexico’s largest foreign investor.389
380
Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, “General Information,” 2007,
http://www.bmv.com.mx/wb3/wb/BMV/BMV_informacion_general/_rid/283/_mto/3/_url/BMVAPP/pivInfoGral.js
f
381
Geoffrey Moore et al., “A Major Milestone in the History of Mexican Financial Markets,” Knowledge@Wharton,
20 April 2009,
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articlepdf/2220.pdf?CFID=159844349&CFTOKEN=30538579&jsessionid=a8
30dcf1f47903e21ed16b2431595f60247b
382
383
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, United States Department of the Treasury, “Newly Released Mexican
Regulations Imposing Restrictions on Mexican Banks for Transactions in U.S. Currency (Advisory FIN-2010A007),” 21 June 2010, http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/html/fin-2010-a007.html
384
United States Drug Enforcement Administration, “Money Laundering,” n.d.,
http://www.justice.gov/dea/programs/money.htm
385
Joydeep Mukherji, “Mexico’s Challenge: Moving From Stability to Dynamism” (paper, Mexico Under Calderón
Task Force, Center for Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami, 8 August 2008), 2–4,
https://www6.miami.edu/hemispheric-policy/MukherjiMexico.pdf
386
387
Amy Guthrie and Anthony Harrup, “Mexico's 2012 Budget Seeks To Raise Spending, Cut Deficit,” Dow Jones
Newswires, 9 September 2011, http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-newsstory.aspx?storyid=201109082142dowjonesdjonline000685&title=mexicos-2012-budget-seeks-to-raisespendingcut-deficit
388
The Economist, “Mexico: Regulation,” Economist Intelligence Unit, 1 August 2011,
389
© D LIF L C | 45
Standard of Living
Mexico’s “upper middle developed country” ranking is based on a per
capita income of USD 8,400, only one-fifth of the United States average
of USD 46,000.390 The rankings further hide high levels of income
inequality and poverty—the richest 10% of the population receive 40%
of the total income, or 31 times more than the poorest 10%, who receive
only 1.2% of the total income. (In Canada the wealthiest 10% are
9 times richer than the poorest 10%.)391, 392 Mexico (and other Latin
American countries) rank at the bottom of international educational
comparisons, and low paid, unionized teachers go on strike often.393, 394
Health indicators show a lack of access to healthcare for the poorer,
rural south, as well as a nationwide increase in noncommunicable
diseases—diabetes is now the most common cause of death.395, 396
The government’s most recent social aid program, Oportunidades, is a
foreign-funded, conditional cash transfer program—participants receive
cash if they follow the program rules, for example, making sure that children attend school. The
program targets nutrition and health, education, energy use, and aid for the aged. Some 5 million
households received assistance in 2008.397, 398, 399 In recent attempts to grow social welfare
funding, the government also liberalized pension investment regulations.400, 401
390
World Bank, “GNI Per Capita, Atlas Method (Current US$),” 2011,
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?order=wbapi_data_value_2010+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_
data_value-last&sort=asc
391
392
Caitlin Watson, “A New Narrative for Mexico,” Hemisphere Insider 1, no. 4 (July/August 2011), 1,
http://csis.org/files/publication/110805_HemisphereInsider.pdf
393
Michael Reid, Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2007), 242–245.
394
395
United Nations Development Program, “Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano de los Pueblos Indígenas en Mexico,”
October 2010, 65–69,
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/latinamericathecaribbean/mexico/Mexico_NHDR_2010.pdf
396
World Health Organization, “Mortality Country Fact Sheet 2006,” 2006,
http://www.who.int/whosis/mort/profiles/mort_amro_mex_mexico.pdf
397
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, International Food Policy Research Institute, “The
Impact of Oportunidades in Mexico, Project Fact Sheet),” May 2011,
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/dsgfs_oportunidades.pdf
398
World Bank, “Support to Oportunidades Project,” 24 March 2009,
http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=2
28424&Projectid=P115067
© D LIF L C | 46
Employment Trends
Mexico is built on the labor of farmers, miners, laborers,
servants, and slaves. The 1917 Constitution guaranteed
the rights of all workers to organize and bargain
collectively, and government-approved labor
organizations have advocated for their members (and the
ruling government) for decades.402 These formal
economy jobs require skills, and working conditions and
benefits are regulated by strict labor laws. In contrast,
workers in the informal economy are mostly unskilled,
do not pay taxes, and do not receive (job-related)
benefits.
In 2011, the government reported a formal sector workforce of 46 million in agriculture (15%),
industry (24%), and services (62%).403 The informal labor sector is estimated at 40% of the total
workforce.404, 405 The government reports unemployment of around 5%, and informal sector
underemployment as high as 29%.406, 407
Migration
Migration in Mexico is driven by violence and poverty. The Revolution pushed Mexicans north,
and conflicts since the 1980s pushed Central Americans to and through Mexico from the south.
The 3,145 km (1,954 mi) Mexican-U.S. border, “the only place in the world where a large, rich,
overdeveloped nation touches a large, poor, less-developed nation,” also pulls emigrants and
399
Beryl Lieff Benderly, “Mexico’s Model Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program for Fighting Poverty,”
Results-Based Financing for Health, World Bank, n.d.,
http://www.rbfhealth.org/rbfhealth/system/files/RBF_FEATURE_Mexico3.pdf
400
401
The Economist, “Mexico: Market Assessment,” Economist Intelligence Unit, 1 April 2011,
http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1878117972&Country=Mexico&topic=Finance&subtopic=Market+ass
essment&subsubtopic=Regulatory%2fmarket+assessment
402
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Corruption,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of
403
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Ocupacion: Poblacion Ocupada segun Sector de
404
405
Equation Approach,” The Journal of Developing Areas 44, no.1 (Fall 2010): 346,
406
407
Reuters, “Mexico Unemployment and Its Informal Economy,” 20 August 2010,
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/F/08/MX_UE0810.gif
© D LIF L C | 47
migrant workers to the United States.408, 409, 410 In 2005, an estimated 9% of persons born in
Mexico lived in the United States, including 7 million workers (equal to 14% of the Mexican
labor force).411 Annual emigration from Mexico (which is about 97% to the United States) has
decreased in the past few years (from 500,000 to 150,000), while Mexican migrants returning to
Mexico (93–96% from the United States) has remained steady (at around 400,000).412 In 2010,
Mexico received USD 21 billion in remittances, sent mostly from Mexicans in the United States.
413, 414
Remittances boost both consumable income and economic productivity at home in
Mexico when they are used for shared projects and infrastructure improvements.415, 416
Mexico suffers from “brain drain,” or the emigration of technically skilled or knowledgeable
workers to other countries. This trend is partly offset by immigration from highly developed
countries.417 The potential “migration” of outsourced jobs from Mexico to a newly competitive
Asia is another recent concern.418, 419
408
International Boundary and Water Commission (CILA), “Línea Divisoria,” 1 January 1970,
http://www.sre.gob.mx/cila/
409
International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), “U.S.-Mexico Border Map,” n.d. [est. 1889],
http://www.ibwc.gov/Files/US-Mx_Boundary_Map.pdf
410
the United States (Cambridge, MA: Malor Books [Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge], 2008), xiii.
411
Migration Policy Institute, “Mexican-Born Persons in the US Civilian Labor Force,” Immigration Facts,
November 2006, http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS14_MexicanWorkers2006.pdf
412
Pew Hispanic Center, “Mexican Immigrants: How Many Come? How Many Leave?” 22 July 2009, i,
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/112.pdf
413
World Bank, “Workers' Remittances and Compensation of Employees, Received (Current US$),” 2011,
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT/countries/1WMX?order=wbapi_data_value_2009%20wbapi_data_value&sort=asc&display=default
414
Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohaptra, and Ani Silwal, “Mexico,” Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, 2011,
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/Mexico.pdf
415
J. Edward Taylor and Alejandro Lopez-Feldman, “Does Migration Make Rural Households More Productive?
Evidence from Mexico” (working paper, ESA Working Paper No. 07-10, Agricultural Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization), March 2007, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ah852e/ah852e.pdf
416
417
Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohaptra and Ani Silwal, “Mexico,” Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, 2011,
418
Michael Reid, Forgotten Continent: the Battle for Latin America’s Soul (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2007), 207.
419
Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, United States Department of State, “2011 Investment Climate
Statement: Mexico,” March 2011, http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/rls/othr/ics/2011/157324.htm
© D LIF L C | 48
Public vs. Private Sector
Mexico has long struggled to balance economic
nationalism with private, especially foreign, ownership
and investment. In the 1980s, the government ended
support for land reform and agricultural subsidies, labor
unions, and import substitution industrialization.420
Privatization and government regulation reform since the
1990s have improved business operations and
opportunities, but in some shifts of public-to-private
ownership from the state to Mexican nationals,
monopolistic advantages remain.421, 422 Foreign direct
investment has remained stable in recent years, even in the face of increased drug violence, but
benefits for the majority of Mexicans have yet to trickle down.423, 424 Since the 2000 election,
presidents without guaranteed legislative support are finding it difficult to make changes that
benefit the private sector and have immediate public benefits.425
Outlook
In the short term, Mexico’s place in the second tier of
world economies seems secure. Looking ahead, the
country needs to find new sources of income to replace
declining oil revenues, and new trade partners to
decrease the current risk in a heavy trade dependence on
the United States. Mexico also needs new opportunities
for its citizens, who have felt compelled to leave the
country in search of opportunities elsewhere. The
creation of legitimate economic opportunities for new
entrants to the work force may be difficult in the face of a
420
Taeko Hoshino, Privatization of Mexico’s Public Enterprises and the Restructuring of the Private Sector,” The
Developing Economies, XXXIV-1 (March 1996), 34–35,
http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/96_01_02.pdf
421
World Bank, “Doing Business 2011,” 2010, 180,
http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/FPDKM/Doing%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB11FullReport.pdf
422
Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, United States Department of State, “2011 Investment Climate
Statement: Mexico,” March 2011, http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/rls/othr/ics/2011/157324.htm
423
Geoffrey Ramsey, “Why Mexico's Drug Violence Doesn't Deter Foreign Direct Investment,” Christian Science
Monitor, 19 September 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2011/0919/WhyMexico-s-drug-violence-doesn-t-deter-foreign-direct-investment
424
Michael Reid, Forgotten Continent: the Battle for Latin America’s Soul (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2007), 207–211.
425
© D LIF L C | 49
long-term environment of predicted slow growth.426, 427
426
427
The Economist, “Mexico: Economy,” Economist Intelligence Unit, 14 September 2011,
http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=227445407&Country=Mexico&topic=Economy&subtopic=Longterm+outlook&subsubtopic=Mexico--highlights%3a+Long-term+outlook
© D LIF L C | 50
1. Mexico, the “tortilla basket” of North America, is self-sufficient in staple foods.
False
Mexico imports grains and meat.
2. Most of the goods Mexico manufactures are traditional items like leather shoes and colorful
blankets.
False
Mexican manufacturing is dominated by automobiles, processed foods and beverages, and
chemical products.
3. Mexico needs oil and gas to produce electricity, and electricity to extract oil and gas.
True
Mexico imports natural gas to produce electricity for domestic use.
4. Silver, not gold, is Mexico’s most valuable natural resource.
False
Oil has replaced precious metals as Mexico’s most valuable natural resource.
5. Most Mexicans have a middle class standard of living in this upper middle developed
economy.
False
About half of Mexico’s population still lives in poverty.
© D LIF L C | 51
CHAPTER 4: SOCIETY
Introduction
There have always been “Many Mexicos,” wrote Lesley
Byrd Simpson in his classic study by that name.428 Long
before the Spanish conquest, peoples living to the north
and south of Mexico’s central plateau developed
languages and life ways quite different from (and
independent of) Aztec imperial culture and society. The
subsequent encounter between New and Old Worlds
extinguished some, but not all of these peoples. It also
gave rise to new peoples who mixed ideas and habits
from around the world into many new social conventions
and practices. With their declaration of independence, new Mexicans faced the challenge of
finding a national identity, mexicanidad, that would achieve sociocultural integration and support
socioeconomic growth. It was a difficult challenge that led to a revolution that raised issues
about social equality and economic fairness that are still being negotiated.
Ethnic Groups and Languages
In Mexico, “ethnicity” is a fluid concept. Consisting of Europeans,
Africans, Asians, and dozens of indigenous peoples, the society is
stratified and still conscious of race and class. Mestizaje (“race
mixture,” a synthesis of racial and cultural mixing) and indigenismo (the
support and promotion of “Indian,” i.e., indigenous cultures) are two
organizing principles of ethnicity that identify most people as mestizo
(“mixed”) or a member of an indigenous community.429 A small number
of Mexicans claim a European ethnicity—they tend to be light-skinned
and upper class.430
Language serves as a marker of indigenous ethnicity in official
statistics. Adopting Spanish is a way to shift one’s ethnic identity from
Indian to mestizo, as is adopting non-indigenous habits of cuisine or
dress.431, 432
428
Lesley Byrd Simpson, Many Mexicos, 4th ed., revised (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966), 11.
429
Robert M. Buffington, “Mestizaje and Indigenismo,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and
History, Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004),
283–287.
430
Hugo G. Nutini, “Class and Ethnicity in Mexico: Somatic and Racial Considerations,” Ethnology 36, no. 3
(1997): 227–238, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3773987
431
286.
© D LIF L C | 52
Indigenous Peoples (Indios) and Indigenismo
There are about 60 surviving, government-recognized indigenous groups in Mexico.433, 434
Roughly 10% of the population claim indigenous ancestry. Collectively, they own or control
thousands of hectares of land, mostly in forests and jungles, including more than half of
Mexico’s recognized biodiversity-supporting lands.435 The highest population concentrations of
indigenous peoples are in the south and east, with pockets to the west in the Huicol country of
Nayarit and Durango, and to the north in the Tarahumara region of Chihuahua.436 This
distribution pattern is unfortunately mirrored in markers of poverty.437
Indian societies tend to value harmony in human relationships to the cosmos and to each other.
This leads to an emphasis on community participation in religious activities that is sometimes
characterized as “traditional” behavior, and contrasts with more “modern” behaviors of mestizos
that Indians view as selfish, aggressive, impatient, and lacking respect for nature.438, 439, 440, 441
Social policies of indigenismo have been criticized for isolating indios in a romanticized past, or
for encouraging indio assimilation to a national culture instead of supporting indigenous efforts
to retain their cultures. In recent decades some indigenous groups have come together to pursue
both social and political recognition of their autonomy government aid and support for their
climb out of poverty.442 The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) of Chiapas and the
432
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Regiones Indígenas de México,” 8 February
2009, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=245&Itemid=49
433
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Diagnostico Sociodemografico de los
Adultos Mayores Indigenas de Mexico,” 2006, 14,
http://www.cdi.gob.mx/adultos_mayores/diagnostico_adultos_mayores_indigenas.pdf
434
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Nombres de Lenguas, Pueblos y
Distribución,” 19 January 2010,
http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=758&Itemid=68
435
World Wildlife Fund Mexico/Dia Siete, “Naturaleza Mexicana,” 2006,
http://www.wwf.org.mx/wwfmex/publicaciones.php?tipo=post
436
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Regiones Indígenas de México,” 2006, 10,
http://www.cdi.gob.mx/regiones/regiones_indigenas_cdi.pdf
437
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Indicadores Sociodemograficos de la
Poblacion Indigena 2000–2005,” September 2006, 2, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/cedulas/sintesis_resultados_2005.pdf
438
Robert Redfield, Tepoztlan, a Mexican Village: A Study in Folk Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1930).
439
Virgilio P. Elizondo, Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation (Orbis Books, 1997), xiii–xv.
440
441
Anne Rubenstein, Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation: a Political History of Comic
Books in Mexico (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998), 41–45.
442
Roland Terborg, Laura Garcia Landa, and Pauline Moore, “The Language Profile of Mexico,” in Language
Planning and Policy in Latin America, Vol. 1: Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay, eds. Richard B. Baldauf, Jr. and
Robert B. Kaplan (Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters, 2007), 142–146.
© D LIF L C | 53
Popular Liberation Army (EPR) of Guerrero are two of several insurgent groups that claim to
fight for indigenista causes.443, 444
Mestizos and Mestizaje
Mexico’s mestizo population stems from the union of
Spanish soldiers with indigenous women, who were often
taken as servants or slaves. Couplings also occurred
between Spanish and Aztec nobility, and indigenous men
and Spanish women.445 Mestizo was the racial catch-all
category for anyone not of “pure” Spanish or Indian
blood. Recent scholarship has pointed out how ideas of
mestizaje evolved to embrace and to obscure the mixing
of local peoples and Europeans with Africans, Asians,
and other Americans who arrived as slaves and freed
slaves, sailors and soldiers, adventurers, or refugees.446, 447, 448 By the time of the Revolution in
the early 20th century, mestizaje was a part of a mexicanidad defined by culture and class as
much as race.449, 450 Analysts have noted Mexicans becoming mestizo by changing cultural
characteristics such as appearance, language, work habits, or family relationships.451 Mestizos
have also adapted such characteristics in order to gain the wealth and power of the Mexican
upper class.452
443
Jane’s, “Non-State Armed Groups, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment—Central America and the
Caribbean, 16 February 2011.
444
Graham H. Turbiville, Jr., “Mexico’s Other Insurgents,” Military Review LXXVII, no. 3 (May–June 1997): 81–
90, http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p124201coll1/id/428/rec/5
445
Gregory Rodriguez, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of
Race in America (New York: Pantheon Books, 2007), 20–21.
446
Gregory Rodriguez, “Chapters 1–3,” in Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration
and the Future of Race in America (New York: Pantheon Books, 2007), 3–79.
447
Taunya Lovell Banks, “Mestizaje and the Mexican Mestizo Self: No Hay Sangre Negra, So There is No
Blackness,” Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal 15, no. 2 (Spring 2006): 199–234.
448
Edward R. Slack, Jr., “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a Distorted Image,” Journal of World
History 20, no. 1 (March 2009): 35–67.
449
283–287.
450
Mario Vargas Llosa, “The Paradoxes of Latin America,” The American Interest 3, no. 3 (January–February
2008): http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=366
451
Eric Wolf, Sons of the Shaking Earth (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959), 233–256.
452
Hugo G. Nutini, “Class and Ethnicity in Mexico: Somatic and Racial Considerations,” Ethnology 36, no. 3
(1997): 227–238, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3773987
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Languages
Mexico is home to speakers of some 300 languages.453,
454
Spanish is the first language of 90% of the population,
and the shared national language that links Mexico to one
of the largest language communities in the world (only
Chinese has more speakers).455 A Mexican dialect of
Spanish probably began to develop in the 18th century.
Among other distinctions, Mexican Spanish is more open
to borrowings (from Nahuatl to English) than other
international forms. Regional dialects also exist within
Mexico. Attitudes toward Spanish have a residue of
colonial identity: 84% of Mexicans consider Spanish an important marker of Mexican national
identity, but only 29% think Mexico City is home to the ideal Spanish, compared to 39% who
look to Madrid.456 Mexican Spanish is likely to dominate the future through mass media—
Mexican telenovelas (television soap operas) transmit colloquial speech throughout the world.457
In colonial times, royal policy favored Spanish. However, the friars responsible for educating the
indigenous population believed that "true understanding of the word of God could only be
achieved in the speaker's first language."458 Nahuatl, Latin, and Spanish were all languages of
colonial formal education, and Spanish remained a minority language (spoken by only 10% of
the population) until after the War for Independence.459 The new government promoted a single,
shared language—Spanish—as a means to unify the new nation.460. Bilingual education for
nonnative Spanish speakers, mostly indigenous peoples, began in the 19th century.461 It came to
453
M. Paul Lewis, ed.,“Languages of Mexico,” in Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL
International, 2009), http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MX
454
CDI (National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples), “Preguntas Frequentes,” 23 February
2009, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=272&Itemid=58
455
M. Paul Lewis, ed., “Statisticial Summaries,” in Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed., online version
(Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2009), http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size#3
456
José G. Moreno de Alba, La Lengua Española en México (México: Fonda de Cultura Económica, 2003), 74–85.
457
458
Robert B. Kaplan (Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters, 2007), 140.
459
Linda A. Curcio-Nagy, “Faith and Morals in Colonial Mexico,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael
C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 155.
460
461
Roland Terborg, Laura Garcia Landa, and Pauline Moore, “The Language Situation in Mexico,” in Language
© D LIF L C | 55
be seen as revolutionary and leftist in opposition to Spanish-only immersion instruction, which
was characterized as nationalistic and conservative.462
Mexico’s National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) recognizes 11 families of “IndianAmerican” languages containing 68 language groups and 364 dialects.463 Nearly 1.5 million
speakers of Nahuatl and other Nahua languages are spread throughout Mexico, and Mexican
Spanish uses many Nahuatl loan words (starting with México). About a million speakers of
indigenous languages are monolingual, especially among the Mayans in Yucatán and Chiapas,
and there are efforts to develop educational, legal, religious, and literary materials in these
languages.464 A series of events in the 1990s—the 500th anniversary of Columbus in the New
World, the Zapatista uprising, and the San Andres Accord that proposed a new equality among
indigenous peoples, the wider society, and the state—led to the 2003 General Law for the
Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People that created INALI.465
Mexico is also home to many immigrant communities who retain their languages of origin, from
Mennonite speakers of Plattdeutsch to Native North American speakers of Kickapoo.466 In urban
areas one can hear French, German, Italian, English, Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Lebanese Arabic,
and Russian. French and English are part of the lower secondary (middle school) curriculum, and
German, French, English, and Italian are taught in preparatoria (high school) and college.467
462
Roland Terborg, Laura Garcia Landa, and Pauline Moore, “The Language Situation in Mexico,” in Language
463
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “Preguntas Frecuentes,” 23 February 2009,
464
465
Robert B. Kaplan (Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters, 2007), 121–122, 140–142.
466
M. Paul Lewis, ed., “Languages of Mexico [map],” in Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed. (Dallas,
TX: SIL International, 2009), http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=MX&seq=10
467
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Religion
Catholicism
Most Mexicans consider themselves Catholics.468 Pre-Columbian
religious traditions pervade Mexican Catholicism and underlie the
elaborate celebrations of village saint’s days, Semana Santa (the “Holy
Week” leading up to Easter), and Las Posadas of the Christmas season.
The rituals surrounding Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead),
November 1, entered the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity in 2008.469 Our Lady of Guadalupe, the “brown
Virgin,” symbolizes for many a fundamental spiritual mestizaje of
Mexican identity.470, 471 The banner with her image that Father Hidalgo
carried into the War of Independence is considered the first flag of
Mexico.472
After independence many Catholics continued to fight for their church,
for example in the Reform War of the 1850s and the Cristero Rebellion
of the 1920s. Catholic priests have fought for their parishioners in the
Latin American tradition of liberation theology, in which the church takes a social activist stance
in support of the poor. In Mexico, the inspiration for liberation theology is Fray Bartólome de las
Casas, a contemporary of Hernán Cortés and the first great advocate of Mexico’s indigenous
peoples among Europeans.473 From the 1960s, the bishops of Cuernevaca, Morelos, and San
Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas were especially noted for supporting church activism. The
Vatican censured these priests for various words and actions, some of which were deemed to be
Marxist in nature, and thus antithetical to Church doctrine.474, 475, 476 Liberation theology inspired
468
The CIA World Factbook reports 76.3%, citing a 2000 census; Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and
Geography (INEGI) reports 83.9% in their 2010 census. INEGI, “Principales Resultados del Censo de Población y
Vivienda 2010,” http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/Proyectos/ccpv/cpv2010/Principales2010.aspx
469
UNESCO, “The Indigenous Festivity Dedicated to the Dead,” Intangible Heritage Lists, 2010,
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00054
470
Virgilio P. Elizondo, Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997), xi–xiii, 112.
471
Gregory Rodriguez, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of
Race in America (New York: Pantheon Books, 2007), 33–38.
472
Embassy of Mexico in the United States, “About Mexico: National Symbols,” 26 January 2011,
http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/about-mexico
473
Hamad Dabashi, Islamic Liberation Theology, New York: Routledge [Taylor & Francis e-library], 2008, 48–50.
474
Peter Hebblethwaite, “Liberation Theology and Roman Catholic Church,” in The Cambridge Companion to
Liberation Theology, 2nd ed., ed. Christopher Rowland (Cambridge University Press, 2007), 209–213.
475
Robert Sean Mackin, “Becoming the Red Bishop of Cuernavaca: Rethinking Gill’s Religious Competition
Model,” Sociology of Religion 64, no. 4 (Winter, 2003): 499–514, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3712338
476
Phillip E. Berryman, “Latin American Liberation Theology,” Theological Studies 34, no. 3 (1973): 357–395,
http://www.ts.mu.edu/content/34/34.3/34.3.1.pdf
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the development of many non-governmental organizations in Mexico, and in 1992 the
government eased constitutional restrictions on church political activity.477
Other Religions
A small but growing number of Mexicans profess one of several other Christian beliefs,
including evangelical Pentecostals, Protestants, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
and Mormons (Latter-day Saints).478 There are Jewish communities of 10,000 or more in several
large cities, and small communities of Muslims in Torreon, Coahuila and San Cristobal de las
Casas, Chiapas. Some followers of Mayan religions in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Yucatán have
integrated Catholicism into their traditions. About 3% of the population claims no religious
affiliation.479
The proselytization efforts of non-Catholic Christians have been controversial. In Chiapas, where
over 20% of the population identify themselves as Protestant, some local leaders reportedly
manipulated religious tensions in their communities for personal gain.480 Work to translate the
Bible into indigenous languages has benefitted language preservation, but also introduced
conflict into some communities.481
Cuisine
Mexico’s many cuisines are a tasty fusion of native and imported foods and cooking techniques.
Corn, the crop that settled and civilized ancient Mexico, is prepared in many ways: roasted on
the cob and smeared with mayonnaise and paprika; ground into masa and formed into tortillas,
tostadas, tamales, and gorditas; lime-soaked into nixtamal (hominy) and stirred into pozole soup
or atole drink; and popped.482 Wheat and rice, colonial additions to the diet, receive similar
treatment in flour tortillas and the cinnamon-spiced rice drink horchata, but also become
European-style breads (bolillos), bakery sweets (pastel, pan dulce), and sweets like arroz con
leche (similar to rice pudding). Beans, squash, chilies, tomatoes, and nopal round out the preconquest contributions to modern cuisines, along with wild game and seafood. Native flavorings
include oregano, cilantro, epazote, pumpkin seed, chocolate, and vanilla. Spanish beef, pork, and
477
Fernanda Somuano, “Nongovernmental Organizations and the Changing Structure of Mexican Politics,” in
Changing Structure of Mexico: Political, Social, and Economic Prospects, ed. Laura Randall (Armonk, NY: M.E.
Sharpe, 2006), 490.
478
The CIA World Factbook reports 6.3%, citing a 2000 census; Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and
Geography (INEGI) reports 7.6% in their 2010 census . INEGI, “Principales Resultados del Censo
de Población y Vivienda 2010,”
http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/Proyectos/ccpv/cpv2010/Principales2010.aspx
479
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State, “International Religious
Freedom Report 2010,” 17 November 2010, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148766.htm
480
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State, “International Religious
Freedom Report 2010,” 17 November 2010, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148766.htm
481
482
Lesley Byrd Simpson, “The Tyrant,” in Many Mexicos, 4th ed., revised (Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press, 1966), 12–21.
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chicken arrived with new cooking techniques using animal fats (especially frying), and gave rise
to meat-based criollo dishes such as mole poblano, carnitas, and carne asada, as well as cheese
quesadillas and refried beans. Onions, garlic, cinnamon, cane sugar, and citrus fruits are other
colonial imports that flavor many dishes today.483, 484
Drinking pulque, a fermented, alcoholic drink of the maguey cactus,
became common when the Spanish conquest ended Aztec regulations on
alcohol consumption. Mexico City consumption at the end of the
colonial period was reported at 75 gallons per capita annually.485 (Aztec
nobility had preferred the bitter, frothy xocolatl prepared from the cocoa
bean.) The Spanish also applied their distilling techniques to agave to
produce tequila, which has since been declared a national product under
the regulation of the Mexican government.486 Imported Spanish grapes
now yield Mexican brandy and wine, and colonial sugar cultivation led
to Mexican aguardiente and rum, as well as today’s sodas.
Conquistadors may also have introduced European-style beer to
Mexico, although the beer industry started in earnest with the influx of
Europeans during the reign of Maximilian.487, 488
After the conquest, food became a marker of class and race. By the 19th
century cientificos (the elite group of technical experts) claimed that the advancement of
Mexican civilization depended upon substituting a wheat and meat diet for corn and beans. After
the Revolution, corn reemerged as the basis of a mestizo “national cuisine” in popular cookbooks
of the 1940s.489 UNESCO recognized traditional Mexican cuisine as an Intangible Cultural
Heritage of world significance in 2010.
483
John C. Super and Luis Alberto Vargas, “Mexico and Highland Central America,” in Cambridge World History
of Food, eds. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas (December 2000),
http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/mexico.htm
484
Walter Reuther, Herbert John Webber, and Leon Dexter Batchelor, eds., “Introduction of Citrus into other
Countries,” in The Citrus Industry: Vol. 1: History, World Distribution, Botany, and Varieties, revised ed.
(University of California Division of Agricultural Sciences, 1967),
http://websites.lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter1.htm#countries
485
Lynn V. Foster, A Brief History of Mexico, 4th ed. (New York: Facts on File, 2010), 64.
486
SEGOB/OJN (Ministry of the Interior/Department of Justice), “Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-006-SCFI-2005,
Bebidas Alcoholicas-Tequila-Especficaciones,” 2 December 2005,
http://www.ordenjuridico.gob.mx/Federal/PE/APF/APC/SE/Normas/Oficiales/NOM-006-SCFI-2005.pdf
487
Jose R. Ruiz, “Mexico,” in The Oxford Companion to Beer, eds. Garrett Oliver et al. (Oxford University Press,
2012), 583–584.
488
Randy Mosher, “Immigration (Effects on Brewing),” in The Oxford Companion to Beer, eds. Garrett Oliver et al.
(Oxford University Press, 2012), 478.
489
Robert M. Buffington, “Food,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History, eds. Don. M.
Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO, 2004), 181.
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Traditional Dress
Mexico’s many indigenous peoples make and wear a variety of
traditional clothing. Fabrics of native cotton, sisal (from the maguey
cactus), and wild palm fiber were joined by wool and silk of colonial
introduction and the modern addition of rayon. Traditional dyes of
yellow, blue, red, purple, orange, and black, produced from indigo and
achiote (annatto) plants, snail shells, and cochineal (scale) insects are
now supplemented by chemical dyes. Spinning, weaving, and
embroidering are cherished yet disappearing traditions. Women wear a
loose, embroidered huipil (“dress” in Nahuatl), often covered with a
quechqhemel (closed shoulder cape) or rebozo (shawl). Embroidery
patterns, carrying bags, and hairstyles and ornaments identify particular
ethnic groups. Men wear cotton shirts and pants (often rolled partway up
the leg for work or hot weather), distinctive hats, and in cooler climates,
serapes.490 Many groups have special outfits for community celebrations
and religious rituals, such as the parachicos, who dance through the saints’ days of January in
Chiapas.491
Spanish colonial fashions have become a national traditional dress for performers such as
mariachi musicians, charros (horsemen in the charreada [Mexican-style rodeo]), and dancers in
ballet folklorico.492, 493
Dress has been an indicator of social status from pre-Columbian times. Aztec nobility lived
extravagantly, for example, never wearing the same cloak twice.494 Spanish colonial laws
mandated “traditional” dress for the lower classes to maintain the status quo. After
independence, dress became an indication of ethnic identity, particularly in the passage from
Indian to mestizo in the city. With the Revolution, artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo
made indigenous traditional dress fashionable as part of the new national identity.495, 496
490
National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, “El Traje Tradicional Indígena,” 2011,
491
UNESCO, “Parachicos in the Traditional January Feast of Chiapa de Corzo,” Intangible Heritage Lists, 2010,
492
Houston Institute for Culture, “Traditions of Mexico: Ballet Folklorico,” n.d.,
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/ballet.html
493
Sydney Hutchinson, “The Ballet Folkloric de México and the Construction of the Mexican Nation through
Dance,” in Dancing across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos, eds. Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Norma Elia Cantú, and
Brenda M. Romero (University of Illinois Press, 2009), 211–213.
494
Olson (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992), 423.
495
Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 598–634.
496
Rick Anthony López, “Ethnicizing the Nation: The India Bonita Contest of 1921,” in Crafting Mexico:
Intellectuals, Artisans, and the State After the Revolution (Duke University Press, 2010), 29–64.
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Gender Issues
Mexico is infamous for machismo, a cultural construction
of exaggerated masculinity with probable roots in both
Aztec and Spanish cultures that is now widespread in
Latin America.497 The macho male must exert his power
over his sexual partners, his social relationships, and,
ultimately, his fear of death.498, 499 In his 1950 essay The
Labyrinth of Solitude, Octavio Paz, Mexico’s Nobel
Prize-winning writer, connected machismo with a
mestizo mexicanidad.500 Mexican opinions about
machismo are mixed. There is admiration for the strength
to stand up for oneself and take no abuse from others, but there is doubt about the need to display
that strength by fathering many children or harming others.501, 502
Machismo implies a complementary femininity that is passive, submissive, and dependent. The
ultimate traditional role model for Mexican womanhood has been the Virgin of Guadalupe.503 An
early challenger of this tradition was Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, one of the world’s greatest
Spanish language authors, who in the 17th century entered the Convent of San Jerónimo in
Mexico City to pursue a scholarly life. After defending women’s rights in print, the church
pressured her to stop writing and give away her library of 4,000 books.504, 505 Women’s societal
opportunities and relations with men have changed over the centuries, as the Revolutionary
soldadera (“camp follower”) and the post-Revolutionary chica moderna (“modern girl”)
attest.506, 507, 508 Yet today girls and women continue to be unequal at home, at school, and at
497
Sylvia H. Chant and Nikki Craske, Gender in Latin America (Rutgers University Press, 2003), 14–17.
498
Gonzalo Bacigalupe, “Machismo,” in Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology, ed. Yo Jackson (Sage, 2006),
291–292.
499
Alfredo Mirande, “Macho: Contemporary Conceptions,” in Hombres y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture
(Westview Press [Perseus Books, LLC], 1997), 28–38, http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/hdh9/e-reserves/Mirande__Macho_PDF.pdf
500
Octavio Paz, “The Sons of La Malinche,” in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, eds. Gilbert M.
Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 20–27.
501
Matthew C. Gutmann, “Mexican Machos and Hombres,” ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America (Fall 2001),
http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/81
502
Alfredo Mirande, “Macho: Contemporary Conceptions,” in Hombres y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture
(Westview Press [Perseus Books, LLC], 1997), 28–38.
503
Anne Rubenstein, Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation: A Political History of Comic
Books in Mexico (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998), 46.
504
George Ochoa and Carter Smith, Atlas of Hispanic-American History, Revised ed. (New York: Facts on File,
2009), 44.
505
Sam L. Slick, “Cruz, Sor Juana Ines de la,” in Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, ed. James S. Olson,
(New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), 215–216.
506
Mark Wasserman, Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico: Men, Women, and War, Dialogos
507
Suzanne B. Pasztor, “Soldaderas,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History, eds. Don.
M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 472–473.
© D LIF L C | 61
work.509, 510 Local practice may ignore state or federal mandates—for example, some indigenous
communities do not allow women to vote or hold office.511 In 2006, Mexico’s national household
survey reported rates of domestic (partner) violence against women at 40%, and other recent
estimates run as high as 60% for some regions. 512, 513, 514 Violence against women outside the
home is equally troubling.515, 516 An extreme example is the growing number of unsolved
murders of “poor, dark-skinned, and indigenous-looking” women in Ciudad Juárez that have
accumulated since the early 1990s.517, 518, 519
508
Books in Mexico (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998), 46.
509
Fernando Reimers, “Principally Women: Gender in the Politics of Mexican Education,” in Changing Structure of
Mexico: Political, Social, and Economic Prospects, ed. Laura Randall (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2006),
278–294.
510
Anne M. Fiedler and R. Ivan Blanco, “The Challenge of Varying Perceptions of Sexual Harassment: An
International Study,” Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management 7, no. 3 (May 2006): 279, 281,
http://www.ibam.com/pubs/jbam/articles/vol7/no3/JBAM_7_3_3_The_Challenge.pdf
511
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State, “2010 Human Rights
Report: Mexico,” 8 April 2011, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/wha/154512.htm
512
INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography), “ENDIREH (National Household Survey),” 2006, 38–39,
http://archivos.diputados.gob.mx/Centros_Estudio/ceameg/violencia/sivig/doctos/end06.pdf
513
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, “2010 Human Rights Report:
Mexico,” 8 April 2011, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/wha/154512.htm
514
Nacha Cattan, “International Women’s Day Shines Fresh Light on Mexico’s ‘Femicides,’” Christian Science
Monitor, 8 March 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0308/International-Women-s-Dayshines-fresh-light-on-Mexico-s-femicides/%28page%29/2
515
AFL-CIO, “Life on the Line: Violence against Women Working in Factories in Mexico,” n.d.,
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/upload/Juarezflyer.pdf
516
Mercedes Olivera, “Violencia Femicida Violence against Women and Mexico’s Structural Crisis,” Latin
American Perspectives 33, no. 2 (March 2006): 104–114.
517
Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Georgina Guzmán, eds., Making a Killing: Femicide, Free Trade, and La Frontera
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010), 1.
518
Nacha Cattan, “International Women’s Day Shines Fresh Light on Mexico’s ‘Femicides,’” Christian Science
Monitor, 8 March 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0308/International-Women-s-Dayshines-fresh-light-on-Mexico-s-femicides/%28page%29/2
519
Katherine Pantaleo, “Gendered Violence: An Analysis of the Maquiladora Murders,” International Criminal
Justice Review 20, no. 4 (December 2010): 349–365.
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Arts
Precolumbian Traditions
Mexico’s ancient cultures made art to last for millennia.
Massive stonework, carved and painted with bright
colors, recorded their myths and histories. The national
government has preserved pre-Columbian art in worldfamous museums, and duplicated it in modern
constructions such as the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City.520, 521
Traditions of pottery, featherwork, and textile production
continue as do unique ritual performances such as the
voladores of Veracruz.522 In a fertility ritual, these
“flying men” fling themselves from the top of a tall pole. Tied to the pole with long ropes, they
circle the pole, spinning through the air as if flying.523, 524 Ancient art influences modern artists
as well. The Ballet Folklorico de Mexico performs re-imagined Aztec dances, and the recent film
Eréndira Ikikunari tells the Purepecha legend of a young princess who resisted the Spanish
conquistadors. Both productions draw inspiration from 16th century illustrated codices.525, 526
Colonial Architecture and Arts
Mexico has more than a dozen UNESCO World Heritage Sites that testify to the importance of
colonial architecture, including the entire historic center of Mexico City.527 Many of these are
religious buildings and preserve the “Indocristiano” art of early converts to Catholicism.528
Catholic influence also made its way into traditional arts with clay figurines of the Virgin, metal
retablos (devotional paintings) and milagros (healing charms), and streamers of papel picado
520
INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), “Red de Museos del INAH,” 3 October 2011,
http://www.inah.gob.mx/index.php/museos
521
World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, “Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México (UNAM),” World Heritage List, 2011, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1250
522
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Latin American Art,” Hispanic Heritage in the Americas, 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/hispanic_heritage/article-253316
523
INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), “Voladores de Papantla,” 9 October 2009,
http://www.inah.gob.mx/index.php/boletines/9-declaratorias/3755-voladores-de-papantla
524
UNESCO, “Ritual Ceremony of the Voladores,” Intangible Heritage Lists, 2010,
525
Sydney Hutchinson, “The Ballet Folklorico de Mexico and the Construction of the Mexican Nation through
Dance,” in Dancing across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos, eds. Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Norma Elia Cantú, and
Brenda M. Romero (University of Illinois Press, 2009), 211–212.
526
Juan Mora Catlett, “Erendira Ikikunari: A Filmmaker’s Journey,” ReVista:Harvard Review of Latin America
(Fall 2009/Winter 2010): 12–15, http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/files/ReVista_ItsFilm.pdf
527
World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, “Mexico,” World Heritage List, 2011, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/
528
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Latin American Art,” Hispanic Heritage in the Americas, 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/hispanic_heritage/article-253316
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(hand cut paper) that decorate religious festivities.529, 530 The traditional dancing of community
fiestas took on a Catholic purpose in the celebration of saints’ days, and a colonial appearance in
the European features of dancers’ masks.531, 532
National Traditions
Mexican visual art is most famously represented in the Muralist
movement of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente
Orozco. Siqueiros wrote: “Art must no longer be the expression of
individual satisfaction (which) it is today, but should aim to become a
fighting educative art for all.”533 Mexican murals appear throughout
North America in public buildings such as the Detroit Institute of the
Arts and the Pacific Stock Exchange in San Francisco. Rivera’s “Man at
the Crossroads,” originally designed for the Rockefeller Center in New
York City, now stands as “Man, Controller of the Universe” in the
Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, because Nelson Rockefeller
objected to Rivera’s inclusion of Lenin in the mural.534 The Palacio
itself is an architectural expression of Mexican mestizaje, combining
neoclassical, art nouveau, and art deco styles with pre-Hispanic motifs
and modern murals. The stage curtain in the main hall is a million-piece
Tiffany glass rendering of the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl.
Mexico has a rich literary tradition and an active intellectual scene. Octavio Paz is as famous for
resigning his government post in protest of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre as for his essays and
poetry.535 Author, diplomat, and social critic Carlos Fuentes similarly resigned his
ambassadorship. The narrator of his 2011 novel, Destiny and Desire, is a severed head
considering the corrupt politics, drug violence, and telecom monopoly in Mexico.536 Elena
Poniatowska wrote key works on the Tlatelolco massacre (in which her brother was killed) and
the Mexico City earthquake, and continues to work as a journalist and a fiction writer.537, 538 The
529
Fred R. Kline Gallery, “Annotated Record: La Virgencita del Nuevo Mundo,” 2010,
http://www.klinegallery.com/Mundo01.html
530
Robert M. Buffington, “Folk Art,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History, Don M.
Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 176–179,
531
Cochiti C. Chávez, “La Feria de Enero: Rethinking Gender in Ritual Festival,” in Dancing across Borders:
Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos, eds. Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Norma Elia Cantú, and Brenda M. Romero (University of
Illinois Press, 2009), 52–53.
532
UNESCO, “Parachicos in the Traditional January Feast of Chiapa de Corzo,” Intangible Heritage List, 2011,
533
Desmond Rochfort, Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1993),
6–9.
534
Dora Apel, “Diego Rivera and the Left: The Destruction and Recreation of the Rockefeller Center Mural,” Left
History 6, no.1 (1999): http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/lh/article/view/5360/4555
535
Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Paz, Octavio (1914–1998),” in Mexico:
an Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 375–377.
536
Carlos Fuentes, “Carlos Fuentes on ‘Destiny and Desire,” interview by Tom Ash Brook, On Point, 18 January
2011, http://onpoint.wbur.org/2011/01/18/carlos-fuentes-destiny
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National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI) supports literary
productions in indigenous languages.
In the performing arts, early 20th century educators taught a “national canon” of regional music
and dance. By mid-century the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico was touring internationally with
these expressions of mexicanidad. Dances include the jarabe tapatio (“Mexican Hat Dance”),
and musical styles include the string and brass mariachi music of Jalisco, the Afro-Cuban
influenced harp sounds of son jarocho from Veracruz, and the marimba bands of Oaxaca.
Nineteenth century German immigrants contributed the button accordion and polka beat to dance
and song of the norteña music style.539
Popular Culture
Mexican popular culture often makes fun of the
government and the upper class, and resists those
authorities who try to censor or absorb it. Corridos are a
musical example—songs that comment on events from
the point of view of local, often “marginal”
communities.540, 541 Corridos of the Revolution
applauded the outlaw Pancho Villa and the rebel
Emiliano Zapata. Recent narcocorridos cast drug lords as
outlaw heroes, or criticize the “narcoculture” that fuels
international drug trafficking.542, 543 In print, populist
engraver Jose Guadalupe Posada produced satirical calaveras (skeletons) of the Mexican society
of his time that still have artistic and political appeal.
Official attempts to influence popular culture sometimes succeed. Films of the “golden age”
contributed archetypes for national consumption such as the swaggering, singing charro and the
virtuous, religious woman.544 When the “bad language” and “naked ladies” of early historietas
(comic books) led to a government censorship office, religious and educational historietas soon
537
Elena Poniatowska, Massacre in Mexico (New York: Viking Press, 1975).
538
Elena Poniatowska, Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake (Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1995).
539
Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, “Popular Music,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia
of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 401–406.
540
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, “Corridos sin Fronteras, ” n.d., http://www.corridos.org/
541
Paul Allatson, “Corrido, Narcocorrido,” in Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural and Literary Studies (Malden, MA:
Blackwell, 2007), 79–80.
542
Chris Summers and Dominic Bailey, “Mexico’s Forbidden Songs,” BBC News, 3 October 2004,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm
543
Monica Ortiz Uribe, “ ‘Narco’ Culture Becoming Popular North of the Border,” KPBS, 26 May 2011,
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/may/26/narco-culture-becoming-popular-north-border/
544
Robert M. Buffington, “Cinema from 1930 to 1960: The Golden Age,” in Mexico: an Encyclopedia of
Contemporary Culture and History, Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington (Santa
Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 88–93.
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appeared.545 However, Mexican authorities trying to outlaw narcocorridos are finding that the
demand north of the border for these songs (as well as narcotics) makes enforcement difficult.546
Sports and Recreation
The Mesoamerican ritual ball game may be the world’s
oldest organized sport, played with the world’s first
rubber ball. The game required a playing court and
protective equipment, and the consequence of losing was
sometimes death. Spanish friars suppressed the game as a
pagan ritual, although a group of people from Sinaloa, a
northwestern Mexican state, still play a team game with a
small rubber ball and are trying to renew interest in it.547,
548
Other indigenous athletic activities include the
“flying” of the voladores in Veracruz, the long-distance
running of the Tarahumara in the Copper Canyon area, and diving off cliffs, and into Yucatán
cenotes (well or sinkhole).549, 550, 551 With horses and cattle from Spain came bullfighting—the
Plaza México in Mexico City claims to be the largest bullfighting ring in the world—and the
horse-handling contests of the charreada, the Mexican-style rodeo.552 Baseball and soccer are
popular international sports.
Lucha libre (“free fight”), the Mexican version of professional wrestling, is less brutal than the
U.S. version, but more acrobatic and just as eccentric. Cultural observers see the Mexican
political system reflected in this spectator sport where the competitors are masked, the rules are
inconsistently enforced, the referees can be bribed, the outcome is fixed, and participants risk
injury or death when the system breaks down. 553, 554 Lucha libre gave rise to the Mexican
545
Books in Mexico (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998).
546
Monica Ortiz Uribe, “ ‘Narco’ Culture Becoming Popular North of the Border,” KPBS, 26 May 2011,
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/may/26/narco-culture-becoming-popular-north-border/
547
“The Sport of Life and Death: the Mesoamerican Ball Game,” National Endowment of the Humanities/Mint
Museum of Art, 2001, http://www.ballgame.org/main.asp?section=5
548
Coleen P. Popson, “Extreme Sport,” Archaeology 56, no. 5 (September/October 2003),
http://www.archaeology.org/0309/abstracts/ballgame.html
549
INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), “Voladores de Papantla,” 9 October 2009,
http://www.inah.gob.mx/index.php/boletines/9-declaratorias/3755-voladores-de-papantla
550
Cynthia Gorney, “A People Apart,” National Geographic, November 2008,
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/tarahumara-people/gorney-text
551
George Frederick Kunz and Charles Hugh Stevenson, “Mexico,” in The Book of the Pearl: The History, Art,
Science, and Industry of the Queen of Gems (New York: The Century Co., 1908), 241–252.
552
Lamexico.com, “Historia de Plaza México,” 2011, http://www.lamexico.com/2011/historia.php
553
Mexico, eds. Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 598–634.
554
Heather Levi, “Chapter 2: Trade Secrets and Revelations,” in The World of Lucha Libre (Duke University Press,
2008), http://www.americanethnography.com/article.php?id=88
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“superhero” El Santo, who played the role of the “little guy” in the wrestling arena, fighting
against the cheating los rudos (“bad guys”), and went on to star in magazines and movies.555
Until recently lucha libre avoided referencing drug violence in its performances.556 The recent
arrest of a former wrestler in connection with the 2011 Monterrey casino arson attributed to the
Zeta drug cartel may change this voluntary censorship.557
555
John W. Sherman, “The Mexican ‘Miracle’ and its Collapse,” in The Oxford History of Mexico, eds. Michael C.
Meyer and William H. Beezley (Oxford University Press, 2000), 537–568.
556
William Booth, “Mexican Pro Wrestlers Keep Drug-Trafficking Culture out of the Lucha Libre Ring,”
Washington Post, 2 January 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2011/01/02/AR2011010202440.html?sid=ST2011010202494
557
Associated Press, “Mexico Police Arrest ex-Lucha Libre Wrestler Accused of Planning Casino Arson with Other
Zetas,” Washington Post, 4 October 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/mexico-police-arrest-exlucha-libre-wrestler-accused-of-planning-casino-arson-with-other-zetas/2011/10/04/gIQAYoszLL_story.html
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1. The term mestizaje describes the mixed race of most Mexicans.
False
Today the term applies to the mixing of cultures and classes as well as to genetic diversity.
2. All Mexicans are Catholic.
False
Missionaries from other Christian denominations have been successful in Mexico. There are
also small communities of Jews and Muslims. Others continue to practice traditional
indigenous religions.
3. In spite of the objections of the Vatican, Mexican bishops have supported social activism of
their church.
True
Liberation theology inspired many Mexican Catholics to fight against poverty.
4. In Mexico, men who display machismo are universally admired.
False
Some macho behaviors are not always admired, such as fathering many children or harming
others.
5. Ethnic identity can change depending on language and clothing.
True
Mexicans may change their ethnic identity when they change the language they speak, the
food they eat, or the clothes they wear.
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CHAPTER 5: SECURITY
Introduction
For a thousand years before the Spanish conquest, New
World civilizations used fear and force to control, if not
outright conquer, the many peoples of Mexico. The
Spanish continued with “blood and fire” against violent
resistance to colonization.558, 559 The United States and
France posed external threats through Mexico’s first
century of independence. The Revolution refocused the
nation on internal security, and today Mexico avoids
projection of force and champions national sovereignty
(sometimes in opposition to U.S. interests).560, 561
The aftermath of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre—in which military and police security forces shot
and killed hundreds of student protestors and bystanders in the Plaza of Three Cultures at
Tlatelolco, Mexico City—is widely held to mark a turn away from government repression and
toward transparency.562, 563, 564 The 1994 emergence of the Zapatista National Liberation Army
(EZLN) returned issues of social and economic inequality to the national agenda, and problems
of controlling internal insurgencies to security forces. The Calderon administration’s crackdown
on drug cartels and associated corruption in government and law enforcement may mark another
turning point—Mexico’s drug problem has external causes and involves transnational players,
and may require international solutions.565, 566
558
John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America (New York: W.W. Norton,
2001).
559
Roland Arthur Greene, Unrequited Conquests: Love and Empire in the Colonial Americas (University of
Chicago Press, 1999), 265, fn. 79.
560
Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez, Interview, Center for Homeland Security, Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA), 2
September 2011.
561
David W. Dent, ed., “Intervention,” in Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2002),
169.
562
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Militarism,” in Mexico: An Encyclopedia
of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), 297–301.
563
Elena Poniatowska, “The Student Movement of 1968,” in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, eds.
Gilbert M. Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 555–569.
564
Kate Doyle, “Tlatelolco Massacre: Declassified U.S. Documents on Mexico and the Events of 1968,” National
Security Archive Electronic Briefing Books, George Washington University, 2011,
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB10/intro.htm
565
Stephanie Hanson, “Mexico’s Drug War,” Council of Foreign Relations, 20 November 2008,
http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689
566
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U.S.-Mexico Relations
For much of its independent history, Mexico has
experienced the United States as a belligerent power.567,
568
The United States occupied Veracruz as recently as
1914 and sent forces under General John J. Pershing into
northern Mexico after Pancho Villa in 1916–1917.569 Yet
social networks have connected residents of Mexican and
U.S. territories for hundreds of years.570 Today, economic
wealth enables the United States to absorb most of
Mexico’s exports, while Mexican workers provide a
cheap and elastic source of labor for U.S. businesses.
Shared natural and social environments in the border region and beyond present long-term
management challenges to both nations.
Migration
United States policies have both encouraged and limited immigration from Mexico according to
the changing needs of U.S. industries and the shifting climates of U.S. politics. Early in the 20th
century, Mexico opposed enganchadores (labor recruiters from U.S. companies). In mid-century
the government tried (and mostly failed) to improve the treatment of Mexicans working north of
the border through the U.S.-sponsored Bracero Program. By the 1970s, emigration became a de
facto solution to population growth, and today Mexico welcomes the remittances from workers
abroad, which are its second largest source of foreign currency after oil.571, 572 Since 1990, the
government has worked to strengthen emigrant ties through easing citizenship regulations,
contributing matching funds for infrastructure projects in emigrants’ hometowns, and sponsoring
the Institute for Mexicans Abroad.573
In 2010, the majority of the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States comprises
Mexicans, at 58%, or 6.5 million people.574 From a Mexican perspective, the solution to this
567
Graham H. Turbiville, Jr., “US-Mexican Border Security: Civil-Military Cooperation,” Military Review, July–
August 1999 (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Foreign Military Studies Office),
http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/border/border.htm
568
September 2011.
569
Robert W. Tucker, “Woodrow Wilson’s ‘New Diplomacy,’” World Policy Journal 21, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 92–
107.
570
September 2011.
571
Deborah Cohen, “Caught in the Middle: The Mexican State’s Relationship with the United States and Its Own
Citizen-Workers, 1942–1954,” Journal of American Ethnic History 20, no. 3 (Spring 2001): 110–132.
572
David Fitzgerald, “Inside the Sending State: The Politics of Mexican Emigration Control,” International
Migration Review 40, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 259–293.
573
David Fitzgerald, “Mexico,” focus Migration, no. 14, August 2008, http://focusmigration.hwwi.de/Mexico.5296.0.html?&L=1
574
Pew Hispanic Center, “Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010,” Pew Research
Center, 1 February 2011, 9–10, http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/133.pdf
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migration problem is for the United States to improve guest worker programs and to extend
amnesty or a realistic future possibility of legal U.S. residence for migrant workers.575, 576 In the
United States, more legalistic perspectives favor preventing unauthorized entries and deportation
of illegal aliens.577
Historically, the United States may have routed its western border with Mexico through
inhospitable deserts with an eye toward defensibility.578 Nevertheless, the border is porous. In
1924, the U.S. Congress began to fund the U.S. Border Patrol to secure U.S. land borders
between established legal crossing points.579, 580 The creation of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) post-9/11 has altered government relations between Mexico and the
U.S.—communications formerly handled through diplomatic channels now go first to the DHS,
and more often pass to military and law enforcement.581 In 2010, 1,200 U.S. National Guard
troops joined the Border Patrol along the southwest border.582 The renewed focus on security at
the border has had some unintended consequences: undocumented Mexican workers die more
often entering the U.S., and those who arrive safely stay in the U.S. longer.583, 584
Drugs
U.S. demand for illegal drugs has supported their production in and transit through Mexico for
over a hundred years.585 Estimated revenues for Mexican drug cartels in 2010 were
USD 8 billion.586, 587 Mexico’s efforts to reduce supply will have to be matched by U.S. efforts to
575
Luis Carlos Ugalde, “U.S.-Mexico Relations: A View from Mexico,” in Mexico Under Fox, Luis Rubio and
Susan Kaufman Purcell, eds. (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004), 115–142,
576
Susan Kaufman Purcell, “The Changing Bilateral Relationship: A U.S. View,” in Mexico Under Fox, Luis Rubio
and Susan Kaufman Purcell, eds. (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004), 143–164.
577
Charles Krauthammer, “Why is Border Security ‘Conservative’?” Washington Post, 19 May 2006,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051801774.html
578
Stratfor Global Intelligence, “The Geopolitics of the United States, Part 1: The Inevitable Empire,” 25 August
2011, http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110824-geopolitics-united-states-part-1-inevitable-empire
579
September 2011.
580
Kelly Lytle Hendandez, Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol (Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press, 2010), 32.
581
September 2011.
582
Daniel Gonzalez and Dan Nowicki, “Guard Troops at Arizona Border to Stay Extra 90 Days,” Arizona Republic,
8 September 2011, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/08/20110908arizona-guard-trooops-stayextended.html
583
David Fitzgerald, “Mexico,” focus Migration, no. 14, August 2008, http://focusmigration.hwwi.de/Mexico.5296.0.html?&L=1
584
Pew Hispanic Center, “Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010,” Pew Research
Center, 1 February 2011, 9–10, http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/133.pdf
585
Luis Astorga, “Drug Trafficking in Mexico: A First General Assessment” (discussion paper, UNESCO
Management of Social Transformations (Phase I, 1994–2003) 1999),
http://www.unesco.org/most/astorga.htm#note85
586
United States Joint Forces Command, “Joint Operating Environment (JOE) 2010,” 18 February 2010, 47,
http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/joe2010.pdf
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reduce demand.588, 589 Both countries are trying to assess the effects of their limited
implementations of decriminalization.590, 591, 592
Drug dealing in the region has evolved into transnational
organized crime. Military special forces-style tactics and
equipment are transforming the gang-on-gang violence
among regional cartels.593, 594 Demographers note the
“balloon effect” of anticrime enforcement efforts;
criminal activity squeezed out of one location pops up
elsewhere.595 Both countries blame each other for some
of the violence within their own borders in recent
years.596, 597
587
in California Help? (Occasional Paper, International Programs and Drug Policy Research Center, RAND
Corporation, 2010), 30, http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2010/RAND_OP325.pdf
588
Hal Brands, “Mexico’s Narco-Insurgency and U.S. Counterdrug Policy” (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute,
United States Army War College, May 2009), v–vi,
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubid=918
589
Joe C. Shipley, “What Have We Learned from the War on Drugs? An Assessment of Mexico’s Counternarcotics
Strategy” (master’s thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, June 2011), 75–81,
http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2011/June/11Jun_Shipley.pdf
590
in California Help? (Occasional Paper, International Programs and Drug Policy Research Center, RAND
Corporation, 2010), http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2010/RAND_OP325.pdf
591
Ioan Grillo, “Mexico’s New Drug Law May Set an Example,” Time.com, 26 August 2009,
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1918725,00.html
592
Dennis Wagner, “Drug Law Changes Little for Life in Mexico,” The Arizona Republic, 10 January 2010,
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/01/10/20100110mex-drugs.html
593
Philip Treglia, “Emerging Threat to America: Non-State Entities Fighting Fourth Generation Warfare in
Mexico,” (master’s thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, September 2010),
http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=15958
594
Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, and Sheldon Whitehouse, “Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico
(Report to the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, 112th Congress, 1st Session),” June
2011, http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Files.View&FileStore_id=beaff893-63c14941-9903-67a0dc739b9d
595
September 2011.
596
Associated Press, “Mexican President: Cartels Control Migrant Trafficking, US Dumping Criminals at Border,”
Washington Post, 20 October 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/mexican-president-cartelscontrol-migrant-trafficking-us-dumping-criminals-atborder/2011/10/20/gIQAldu80L_story.html?wprss=rss_americas
597
CBS San Francisco News, “Alleged Marijuana Growers from Mexico Arrested in Healdsburg Murder,” 17
October 2011, http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/10/17/alleged-marijuana-growers-arrested-in-healdsburgmurder/
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The Mexican government is a strong advocate of sovereignty, and forbids political activities by
foreigners in Mexico, including foreign military and police.598, 599 Nevertheless, clandestine U.S.
operations have occurred for decades.600, 601 A year after the Calderon presidency began its
unilateral fight against drugs in 2006, the United States joined Mexico and Caribbean states in
the Merida Initiative that committed U.S. funds, equipment, and training to the fight. Through
the initiative Mexican security forces are receiving helicopters, and in the cooperative climate
U.S. drones are surveying the border.602, 603
Environment
Water usage has been a contentious issue since the United States made the Rio Grande part of its
border with Mexico in the 1840s. Rivers change course, creating an ongoing need for arbitration
of boundaries that is filled by the bilateral International Boundary and Water Commission.604, 605
More importantly, water is a valuable resource that requires increasingly careful management to
sustain its availability and quality. Agreement among local, state, and federal agencies from both
Mexico and the U.S. is difficult to achieve.606, 607
Water is only one of many environmental issues that have generated collaborative attempts.608
Acting within the 1983 La Paz Agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
598
Bureau of Consular Affairs, United States Department of State, “Mexico: Country Specific Information,” 23
February 2011, http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html
599
Economist Intelligence Unit, “Mexico: Politics,” 1 September 2011,
http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1588408943&Country=Mexico&topic=Politics&subtopic=Recent+dev
elopments&subsubtopic=The+political+scene%3a+The+US+looks+set+to+expand+its+anticrime+efforts+in+Mexico
600
Jefferson Morley, Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA (Lawrence: University
of Kansas Press, 2008).
601
Ginger Thompson, “U.S. Agencies Infiltrating Drug Cartels Across Mexico,” New York Times, 24 October 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/world/americas/united-states-infiltrating-criminal-groups-acrossmexico.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
602
USASAC Public Affairs, “Three Black Hawks Delivered to Mexico through FMS Program,” 3 October 2011,
http://www.army.mil/article/66568/Three_black_hawks_delivered_to_Mexico_through_FMS_program/
603
Ginger Thompson and Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Drones Fight Mexican Drug Trade,” New York Times, 15 March
2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/americas/16drug.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp
604
SRE (Ministry of Foreign Relations), Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas Entre México y Los Estados
Unidos, Sección Mexicana, “Quienes Somos,” n.d., http://www.sre.gob.mx/cila/
605
International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, United States Section, “About Us,”
n.d., http://www.ibwc.state.gov/About_Us/About_Us.html
606
Aaron T. Wolf and Joshua T. Newton, “Case Study Transboundary Dispute Resolution: U.S./Mexico Shared
Aquifers” (paper, Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD), Oregon State University, 2007),
http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/research/case_studies/Documents/US_Mexico_aquifers.pdf
607
Peggy Connolly, et al., “Till the Rivers Run Dry: Mexican-American Water Politics,” in Ethics in Action: A
Case-Based Approach (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 194–198.
http://books.google.com/books?id=FUE5EBdYseUC&pg=PA194#v=onepage&q&f=false
608
Robert G. Varady et al., “The U.S.-Mexican Border Environment Cooperation Commission: Collected
Perspectives on the First Two Years,” Journal of Borderland Studies XI, no. 2 (Fall 1996),
http://www.udallcenter.arizona.edu/programs/usmex/publications/jbs_becc.html
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Mexico’s Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) established the
Border 2012 program to address shared concerns about water, air, and hazardous wastes.609
Relations with Neighboring Countries
Belize
Belize lies south of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo,
on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula facing the
Caribbean Sea. It was first settled by Mayans and other
Amerindians, then colonized by the British. Belize
became independent in 1981, but remains a member of
the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental
association comprising chiefly former British colonies.610
English is the official language, but the ethnically varied
population also speaks Creole, Spanish, Garifuna, and
Mayan.611
Mexico is Belize’s second largest provider of imports (after the United States), and also provides
educational and natural disaster assistance to Belize.612, 613 The countries’ Binational
Commission coordinates shared work in many spheres, including environmental cleanup and
security issues.614
The Belize-Mexico border follows the Rio Hondo, which flows northeast into Chetumal Bay.
Belize’s Ambergris Cays extend south from Mexico’s Xcalak peninsula to separate the bay from
the Caribbean Sea. In the 1890s, Britain, as administrator of then-British Honduras, granted
Mexico maritime transit rights in perpetuity from the port of Chetumal through Belizean waters
to the open seas.615, 616 In more recent times, Mexico built the bridges at the international border
609
United States Environmental Protection Agency, “What is Border 2012: Background,” U.S.–Mexico Border
2012, 19 October 2011, http://www.epa.gov/Border2012/framework/background.html
610
Hubert Herring, A History of Latin America: From the Beginnings to the Present, 3d ed. (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1968), 471.
611
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, “Background Note: Belize,” 2 May
2011, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1955.htm
612
UN Comtrade, “Snapshot: Belize,” 2010, http://comtrade.un.org/db/ce/ceSnapshot.aspx?r=84
613
Embassy of Mexico to Belize, “Mexican Cooperation with Central America and the Caribbean,” n.d.,
http://portal.sre.gob.mx/belice_eng/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=63&op=page&SubMenu
614
SRE (Ministry of Foreign Relations), “Mexico and Belize Held the Sixth Technical Meeting of the Binational
Commission,” 5 October 2010,
http://portal3.sre.gob.mx/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=746&Itemid=9
615
Tim Merrill, ed., “Relations with Latin American and Caribbean Countries,” in Belize: A Country Study.
Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1992), http://countrystudies.us/belize/86.htm
616
Jonathan I. Charney and Lewis M. Alexander, “Treaties of Saint-John—Mariscal (1893),” in International
Maritime Boundaries, vol. 2, (Boston, MA: Martinus Nijhoff, 1993), 281, 571 fn. 13.
© D LIF L C | 74
crossings that link the two countries.617 Respecting Belizean autonomy, Mexico supports
negotiation to resolve the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala.
In 2010, the British military decided to close their base in Belize. The 1,000-member Belize
Defense Force currently receives military assistance from the United States. The Merida
Initiative recently designated funds for enhancements of Belizean law enforcement, including
improvements to prisons and a fingerprint exchange system.618, 619, 620
Guatemala
Guatemala lies southeast of Mexico, at the political divide between
North and Central America. Guatemala achieved freedom from Spain at
the same time as Mexico. It was part of the short-lived first Mexican
Empire, and then the United Provinces of Central America, before
becoming independent in 1839. During the next century, a 36-year civil
war cost 100,000 deaths before a peace agreement was signed in 1996,
and many of an estimated one million refugees fled north to and through
Mexico.621 Today more than half of Guatemalans claim Mayan ancestry,
and mestizos (known as ladinos in Guatemala) are the largest ethnic
group.622 Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion, but 25% to
40% of the population profess to practice Protestantism.623, 624
Guatemala considered the Mexican state of Chiapas part of its territory
until 1883, when it signed a treaty recognizing Chiapas as part of
Mexico.625 Guatemala also claims part of Belize as Guatemalan
617
Embassy of Mexico to Belize, “The Mexico-Belize Border,” n.d.,
http://portal.sre.gob.mx/belice_eng/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=70&op=page&SubMenu
618
Thomas Harding, “Jungle Training Axed as Belize Base Shuts,” The Telegraph (UK), 15 December 2010,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8204320/Jungle-training-axed-as-Belize-base-shuts.html
619
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, “Background Note: Belize,” 2 May
2011, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1955.htm
620
Ministry of National Security, Government of Belize, “One Million US Dollars to Enhance Belize’s National
Security,” 9 February 2009, http://www.belize.gov.bz/ct.asp?xItem=1082&ctNode=348&mp=27#4
621
Central Intelligence Agency, “Guatemala,” in The World Factbook, 18 October 2011,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html
622
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, “Background Note: Guatemala,” 27
July 2011, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2045.htm
623
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Guatemala: Religion,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/701217/Guatemala/40927/Religion
624
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State, “July–December, 2010
International Religious Freedom Report,” 13 September 2011, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168217.htm
625
Don. M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington, eds., “Boundary Conflicts,” in Mexico: An
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC–CLIO, 2004), 48–49.
© D LIF L C | 75
territory, but has agreed to submit this disputed claim to the International Court of Justice for
arbitration.626, 627 Today, the 962 km (598 mi) Guatemala-Mexico border is partly defined by the
Usumacinta River, which flows northwest from Guatemalan highlands to the Bay of Campeche
in the Gulf of Mexico.628 Though much shorter than the Mexico-U.S. border, the jungle climate
and volcanic terrain make it a more difficult border to manage. Illegal drugs from South America
are more likely to move along coastal waters than across the land border, but hundreds of
thousands of Guatemalans and other Central Americans seeking work or refuge cross the border
into Mexico each year.629, 630, 631
Guatemala and Mexico (and Honduras and El Salvador) signed a free trade agreement in
2000.632 Although Guatemala is neither a major import nor export partner to Mexico, Mexico is
Guatemala’s fourth largest export market and second largest provider of imports.633
Police Forces
Mexican police forces are estimated at 350,000 to
400,000. The policía preventiva maintain public order,
while the policía judicial investigate crime.634, 635 About
90% of Mexico’s 2,440 municipios (administrative
districts similar to counties) have local policía
preventiva. Preventive forces are concentrated in large,
urban municipios where they are relatively well trained,
equipped, and financed. In contrast, small, rural
626
Press Department, Organization of American States, “Guatemala and Belize Sign Historic Agreement on
Territorial Differendum,” 8 December 2008, http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E463/08
627
628
Central Intelligence Agency, “Guatemala,” in The World Factbook, 18 October 2011,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html
629
September 2011.
630
Cynthia Gorney, “Mexico’s Other Border,” National Geographic, February 2008,
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/mexicos-southern-border/cynthia-gorney-text.html
631
Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohapatra, and Ani Silwal, “Mexico,” Migration and Remittances Unit, World Bank, 2011,
632
633
UN Comtrade, “Snapshot: Guatemala,” 2010, http://comtrade.un.org/db/ce/ceSnapshot.aspx?r=320
634
Benjamin Reames, “Police Forces in Mexico: A Profile” (USMEX 2003–04 Working Paper Series, Project on
Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico, Center for U.S.–Mexican Studies, University of California San
Diego, 15 May 2003), http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1sq4g254
635
Jane’s, “Security and Foreign Forces, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment; Central America and the
Caribbean, 16 February 2011,
geSelected=allJanes&keyword=tank&backPath=http://search.janes.com/Search&Prod_Name=CACS&keyword=
© D LIF L C | 76
municipios are served by part-time or volunteer forces (or no one at all). Each of Mexico’s
31 states also maintains preventive forces, as well as judicial forces attached to state attorneys
general offices. State police budgets tend to be highly dependent on federal funds; federal
funding for this kind of security is low compared to other countries.636 Drug cartels with superior
firepower technology and training can easily overpower local police forces.637 As a result, some
local police forces have resigned en masse.638, 639, 640
The Federal District of Mexico City, site of the country’s highest population density and crime
rates, has its own police force.641 A 10 billion peso (USD 763 million) annual budget supports
90,000 public security officers, about half in special divisions such as public transit, tourism,
emergency rescue, terrorist threats, roadway security, and mounted police, motorcycle, and
helicopter units. Another 5,500 investigators operate on a 3 billion pesos (USD 229 million)
annual budget.642
Reorganization
Federal police forces have been reorganized in attempts
to reduce corruption and increase effectiveness against
transnational criminal threats. In 1999, federal highway,
fiscal, and immigration forces merged with a brigade of
military police into the Federal Preventive Police, which
handles serious crimes such as kidnapping and trafficking
in humans, arms, and drugs.643 In 2001, on the order of
President Vicente Fox, the Federal Attorney General’s
Office (PGR) replaced the Federal Judicial Police with
the Federal Agency of Investigation (AFI), which
636
Jane’s, “Security and Foreign Forces, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment; Central America and the
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=bdada6
f15427725675bd8a51e93932ab
637
September 2011.
638
Associated Press, “Mexican Town’s Police Force Resigns,” Tucson Citizen, 23 May 2008,
http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2008/05/23/86152-mexican-town-s-police-force-resigns/
639
Adam Thomson, “Terrified Mexican Police Force Resigns,” Financial Times, 27 October 2010,
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2161066e-e15a-11df-90b7-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html#axzz1c3HVbCGT
640
BBC News, “Mexico Town's Police Force Resigns Over Drug Attacks,” 4 August 2011,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14411672
641
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), “Volumen y Crecimiento: Densidad de Población por
Entidad Federativa, 2000 y 2010,” 3 March 2011,
http://www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/sisept/Default.aspx?t=mdemo11&s=est&c=17520
642
Benjamin Reames, “Police Forces in Mexico: A Profile” (USMEX 2003-04 Working Paper Series, Project on
Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico, Center For U.S.–Mexican Studies, University of California San
Diego, 15 May 2003), http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1sq4g254
643
SSP (Ministry of Public Security), “Federal Police,” 15 October 2010,
http://ssp.mx/portalWebApp/appmanager/portal/desk?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=portals_portal_page_m2p1p2&cont
ent_id=818626&folderNode=818721
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investigates and prosecutes federal crimes.644 In 2007, efforts began to integrate these two
agencies under the umbrella name of Federal Police.645 Controversy continues: human rights
groups object to the current head of the AFI as a person responsible for previous incidents of
police brutality, and AFI personnel were accused of aggravated abuse of authority as recently as
October 2011.646, 647 Mexicans have traditionally believed the federal police to be less corruptible
than state and local forces. When they, too, are suspected of dishonesty, the president turns to the
military.648
Military
Mexico’s military has constitutional authority to defend
the integrity of Mexico’s territory against external
aggression; defend against internal disruption; and defend
the civilian population during natural disasters or other
emergencies.649 Historically, this put them at war
primarily with the United States.650 More recently,
defense against internal aggression has moved to the
forefront, as witnessed by operations against guerillas in
Chiapas and Guerrero states since the 1990s and against
transnational crime organizations (TCOs) in 10 Mexican
states since 2006.651 Mexican soldiers assisted in Texas after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.652
644
PGR (Federal Attorney General’s Office), “Agencia Federal de Investigacion,” 9 August 2010,
http://www.pgr.gob.mx/Combate%20a%20la%20Delincuencia/Agencia%20Federal%20de%20Investigacion/Agenc
ia%20Federal%20de%20Investigacion.asp
645
Jane’s, “Security and Foreign Forces, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment–Central America and the
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=bdada6
f15427725675bd8a51e93932ab [subscription access]
646
Justice in Mexico News Report, “Human Rights Groups Deplore Appointment of Robledo Madrid to Head
Federal Ministerial Police,” January 2010, http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/jan2010.pdf
647
Presidencia de la Republica, “La Visitaduría General de la PGR logró auto de formal prisión para siete policías
federales ministeriales,” 21 October 2011, http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/2011/10/la-visitaduria-general-de-la-pgrlogro-auto-de-formal-prision-para-siete-policias-federales-ministeriales/
648
September 2011.
649
Jane’s, “Armed Forces, Mexico,” Sentinel Security Assessment–Central America and the Caribbean, 9 June
2011.
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=3dc36c
2f82d13e0310bf5dc4572a7a18
650
September 2011.
651
652
CBC News, “Hurricane Katrina Timeline,” 2011,
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/katrina/katrina_timeline.html
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Under the President as Commander-in-Chief, the army’s top general heads the Ministry of
National Defense, which is responsible for the Army and Air Force. The navy’s top admiral
heads the Ministry of the Navy, responsible for the Navy and the Marines.653, 654, 655, 656 Joint
operations across different army, air force, and navy protocols have proven problematic, and in
2009 the Mexican legislature began a project that may someday combine the two ministries
under a single, civilian Minister of Defense.657 In 2010, the army numbered 212,000 soldiers
including 11,750 Air Force members, and the Navy had 56,500 members including 1,250 fliers
and 19,533 marines.658 In recent years modest annual defense expenditures (USD 4.7 billion or
0.54% of the GDP in 2009) have financed new equipment and higher pay and benefits for the
volunteer forces.659 Mexico requires registration for an annual lottery that selects young adults
for a year of once-a-week reserves training. 660
Military-Industrial Complex
Mexico’s small defense industry has produced its small arms and munitions since the early 20th
century. The army has ordered up to 250 Israeli-designed Oshkosh Sand Cat protected patrol
vehicles; up to 1,000 may be produced by 2015.661 The navy is working with the National
Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics Institute (INAOE) of Mexico’s prestigious National
Autonomous University (UNAM) on several research projects, including missile, infrared, laser,
surveillance, satellite, and navigation technologies. Deployment against transnational criminal
organizations (TCOs) has also driven the modernization of the military. They may have to
continue their efforts against the TCOs until civilian institutions—not just police, but the entire
legal system—increase their effectiveness.662, 663
653
2011,
2f82d13e0310bf5dc4572a7a18
654
SEDENA (National Defense Secretariat), “Mexican Army and Air Force,” 2011, http://www.sedena.gob.mx/en/
655
SEMAR (Secretariat of the Navy), “Secretaría de Marina,” 2001, http://www.semar.gob.mx/sitio_2/
656
SEMAR (Secretariat of the Navy), “Armada de México, Fuerza de Infantería de Marina,” 11 April 2011,
http://www.semar.gob.mx/sitio_2/armada-mexico/infanteria-marina.html
657
2011,
2f82d13e0310bf5dc4572a7a18
658
International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Chapter 8: Latin American and the Caribbean,” in The Military
Balance 111, no. 1 (2011), 378–380.
659
International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Chapter 10: Country Comparisons,” in The Military Balance 111,
no. 1 (2011), 475.
660
SEDENA (National Defense Secretariat), “How to Comply with the National Military Service?” 2011,
http://www.sedena.gob.mx/en/index.php/national-military-service/how-to-comply
661
Defense Update, “‘Sand Cat’ – All-Protected Combat Vehicle,” 17 December 2008, http://defenseupdate.com/products/s/sandcat.htm
662
Jane’s, “Defence Production R & D, Mexico,” in Sentinel Security Assessment–Central America and the
Caribbean, 24 August 2011,
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Issues Affecting Stability
Natural Resources
Mexico is running out of water and polluting its
dwindling supplies.664 Mexico’s 20th century population
growth and agricultural “greening” of arid lands is no
longer sustainable. Water shortages are creating conflicts
internally—for example, between the State of Mexico
and the Federal District over depleted aquifers. An
international conflict exists between Mexico and the
United States over the Colorado River. Disruptive
protest—blocking roads, occupying public spaces, etc.—
has a long tradition in Mexico, and water issues have
motivated both local and international actions in recent years.665, 666
Mexico may also run out of saleable oil in the near future. Current proven reserves of 10.4
billion barrels will be exhausted in 10 years at the current extraction rate of 3 million barrels per
day.667 Decreases in oil revenues will have a negative impact on the national budget and
international trade balance if alternative income sources are not generated. Mexico’s national oil
company PEMEX also faces disruptive protest in response to the environmental damage it
causes at its work sites.668
Social and Economic Disparity
Mexico has yet to close the gap between its small, wealthy elite and masses of urban and rural
poor. Violent opposition to external authority has never completely disappeared from the
Mexican landscape. Among guerilla groups that claim to act on behalf of the poor, the Zapatista
National Liberation Army (ZLN) has moved into nonviolent political activism, while the Popular
Revolutionary Army (EPR), last active in 2007, is still considered a threat. An unknown number
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=ec76bc
cd75b1d4155121fc7f36956972
663
Inigo Guevara Moyano, “Adapting, Transforming, and Modernizing Under Fire: The Mexican Military 2006–
11,” The Letort Papers, Strategic Studies Institute (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, September 2011), 33–35,
www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1081.pdf
664
Ursula Oswald Spring, ed., Water Resources in Mexico: Scarcity, Degradation, Stress, Conflicts, Management,
and Policy (Heidelberg: Springer, 2011), 5–9.
665
Associated Press, “Mazahua Indians Seize Plant, Briefly Shut One of Mexico City's Main Water Sources,” The
Houston Chronicle, 14 December 2006, http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Mazahua-Indians-seizeplant-briefly-shut-one-of-1894903.php
666
Mikita A. Weaver, “‘El Agua No Se Vende: Water is Not For Sale!’ The Latin American Water Tribunal as a
Model for Advancing Access to Water,” Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal 11, no. 3 (2011): 519–545,
http://law.pepperdine.edu/dispute-resolution-law-journal/issues/volume-eleven/10%20Weaver.pdf
667
http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=MX
668
Joel Simon, “Pemex: A State within a State,” in Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge (San
Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1997), 157–179.
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of “ghost guerilla” groups may also exist, or their existence may be a fabrication designed to
destabilize regions or justify the use of force.669
Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs)
Gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), which are
spread from Nicaragua to the United States, lack a
political agenda, instead focusing on local turf protection
and control of cash-generating businesses such as
kidnapping, extortion, and smuggling people, drugs, and
guns.670 Paramilitary groups such as the Zetas, who
control much of eastern Mexico, have turned special
forces training and technology to illegal activity,
changing turf battles to cartel wars. When these groups
cannot intimidate or corrupt local law enforcement, they
kill the enforcers and as many other community members as necessary to control their territory
and conduct their business. Attempts to end the violence from the national level are undercut by
regional weaknesses.671 Attempts to strengthen the rule of law, end impunity, and prosecute
crimes are needed at all levels and beyond borders.672
Outlook
Mexico’s short-term security outlook is unsettling. In 2011, international and Mexican media
reported numerous killings attributed to drug gangs, including tortured and mutilated corpses;
prison riots; kidnapping and enslavement; and alleged drug cartel involvement in international
terrorist activity. In the campaign season for the 2012 presidential elections, politicians are as
likely to criticize each other as to work together toward improving security.673, 674, 675, 676
669
Jane’s, “Non-State Armed Groups, Mexico,” Sentinel Security Assessment–Central America And The Caribbean, 16
February 2011,
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=72c2a1705cd
57f82aceeaf99f333fe2c
670
Jane’s, “Mexico: Non-State Armed Groups,” Sentinel Security Assessment–Central America And The Caribbean, 16
February 2011,
https://www.intelink.gov/Reference/janes/display.html?type=S&nav=C_12&sn=cacsu&ed=cacsu31&docid=72c2a1705cd
57f82aceeaf99f333fe2c
671
672
Andrew Becker and Richard Marosi, “Border Agency’s Rapid Growth Accompanied by Rise in Corruption,” Los
Angeles Times, 16 October, 2011, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-corrupt20111017,0,4783023.story
673
SEDENA (National Defense Ministry), “Communicados de Prensa (Lomas de Sotelo, D.F.),” 15 October 2011,
http://www.sedena.gob.mx/index.php/sala-de-prensa/comunicados-de-prensa/7865-16-de-octubre-de-2011-lomasde-sotelo-df ; http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=433858&CategoryId=14091
674
BBC News, “Mexico Prison Shooting: Police Row over Response,” 27 July 2011,
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The 2010 bicentennial of independence and centennial of the Revolution caused many Mexicans
to reflect on the continuing need for change to achieve the equality and democracy promised in
these historic events. It may be up to the people to bring about that long-term change.677, 678
675
Sara Miller Llana, “Iran Assassination Plot: Terrorists Join Forces with Mexican Drug Cartels?” Christian
Science Monitor, 11 October 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-AmericaMonitor/2011/1011/Iran-assassination-plot-Terrorists-join-forces-with-Mexican-drug-cartels;
676
BBC News, “Calderon Comments Spark Mexico Drugs War Row with PRI,” 16 October 2011,
677
Ken Ellingwood, “Mexico’s President Offers to Meet with Anti-Violence Movement,” Los Angeles Times, 10
May 2011, http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/10/world/la-fg-mexico-violence-20110510
678
CRJensen, “Javier Sicilia: Demands to the Government, Capture of Son’s Murderer,” Justice in Mexico Project,
22 October 2011, http://justiceinmexico.org/2011/10/22/javier-sicilia-demands-to-the-government-capture-of-sonsmurderer/
© D LIF L C | 82
1. Mexico has never encouraged its citizens to emigrate to the United States.
False
In the past, Mexico has opposed enganchadores (labor recruiters from U.S. companies), as
well as the poor treatment of Mexican guest workers.
2. In 2010, about 6.5 million Mexicans were in the United States without authorization.
True
This was about 58% of the unauthorized immigrant population.
3. Mexico’s drug problem stems from the use of hallucinogens by its indigenous peoples.
False
Mexico’s drug problem stems from the demand for illegal narcotics in the U.S.
4. The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) heads a violent insurgency that threatens
the Mexican state.
False
The EZLN has moved into nonviolent political activism on behalf of Mexico’s poor.
However, if social and economic disparity continues to widen in Mexico, violent opposition
may recur.
5. State local police forces are easily overpowered by drug cartels because they lack federal
funding and training, ultimately leading local police to resign.
True
Part-time or volunteer forces with few resources are no match for increasingly powerful and
sophisticated drug cartels.
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FINAL ASSESSMENT
1. Most Mexicans are rural peasants.
True / False
2. Mexico is home to active volcanoes.
True / False
3. Mexico City is home to the country’s largest community of expatriates from the United
States.
True / False
4. Government policies from the 20th century discouraged economic cooperation across the
Mexican-U.S border.
True / False
5. People are using up Mexico’s water supplies faster than nature can replenish them.
True / False
6. The Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Mayans, and people of Teotihuacan had disappeared by
the time of the Spanish conquest.
True / False
7. Success in Spanish colonial society required the sponsorship of a personal patron.
True / False
8. The Spanish subjugated all the local peoples and achieved firm control throughout New
Spain.
True / False
9. The Mexican Revolution was a communist revolution that made Mexico a socialist state.
True / False
10. Mexico has been a multi-party democracy since the end of the revolution.
True / False
11. The United States is Mexico’s most important trade partner.
True / False
12. Most Mexicans are farmers.
True / False
13. Remittances from migrant workers in the United States can increase economic
productivity in Mexico.
True / False
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14. The tourism sector is shrinking due to the growing drug violence.
True / False
15. Due to economic nationalism, Mexican banks must be domestically owned.
True / False
16. Women in Mexico who do not submit to male authority may risk punishment and abuse.
True / False
17. In creations such as corridos and lucha libre, Mexicans poke fun at political and social
problems.
True / False
18. All Mexicans speak Spanish.
True / False
19. Most of the Mexican population are indigenous peoples.
True / False
20. Mexican national cuisine is a mix of regional native dishes and colonial imports.
True / False
21. The deployment of Mexican military forces against transnational crime organizations
(TCOs) is justified as a defense of the state against internal aggression.
True / False
22. The Mexican Federal Police are the equivalent of the U.S. Border Patrol.
True / False
23. Since 9/11, most Mexico-U.S. government communication passes through the diplomatic
channels of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. State Department.
True / False
24. Water is a long-standing source of contention between Mexico and the United States.
True / False
25. Few people cross the Guatemala-Mexico border because of its difficult climate and
terrain.
True / False
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FURTHER READING
Castañeda, Jorge. Mañana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2011.
Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. New
York: W.W. Norton, 2001.
Ehrlich, Paul R., Loy Bilderback, and Anne H. Ehrlich. The Golden Door: International
Migration, Mexico, and the United States. Cambridge, MA: Malor Books, 2008.
Franz, Carl and Lorena Havens. The People’s Guide to Mexico, 13th ed. Edited by Steve Rogers.
Berkeley, CA: Avalon Travel, 2006.
Fuentes, Carlos. The Crystal Frontier: A Novel in Nine Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, and
Giroux, 1997.
Gibler, John. Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt. San Francisco, CA: City
Lights Books, 2009.
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