By Francisco Peyret
It has been 30 years since Mexico signed the first free trade agreement with Canada and the United States of America (NAFTA 1994). Two years ago, the commitment was updated on July 1, 2020 with the signing of the T-MEC agreement, which replaces the first treaty. The three countries currently contribute nearly 25 percent of global GDP. The US with 15 percent, Canada with 8 percent, and Mexico with nearly 2 percent.
Mexico’s economy grew considerably, however, between 1990 and 2019 it only grew at an average annual rate of 2.6 percent. The performance has varied throughout this period, but the results are not good. The per capita income in 1994 was on average about 5,000 dollars. Current per capita income is estimated at about $6,600 a year. These results make it clear why the migratory issue of Mexicans moving to the United States in search of better opportunities continues to be a major issue.
It seems that Mexicans naively expected that the free trade agreement would increase investments, and that trading merchandise would solve the problems of education and poverty. Unfortunately, the country has concentrated its efforts on the manufacturing sectors and not on technological development, which would produce high value-added goods. The opening of borders did not simply create a regulated exchange of merchandise, goods, and services. The most serious consequence is that the trade agreement has brought about an exponential growth in the exchange of weapons, drugs and people.
The death of many Mexicans caught inside a truck in San Antonio, Texas; transporting them from the border, highlights the two evils that torment Mexico—migration and safety. Mexicans can accept being poor; but the disintegration of families, and the loss of quality and enjoyment of life, is what becomes unbearable.
According to data published by Europapress, undocumented migration from Latin America to the United States, has already claimed almost 500 lives this year. This new data, provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), includes the 53 dead migrants trapped in a truck in San Antonio, Texas. Unfortunately, as Jorge Durand de la Jornada, pointed out, «In migrant smuggling, unlike commercial smuggling, there is a total carelessness with the merchandise. If something happens they don’t lose the money already collected and if they die, as in the case of San Antonio there are no claims.»
The migration and drug trafficking problems, can only be solved if the three trading partners—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—work together. Otherwise it is all a sham. Currently thousands of Canadians and North Americans are moving to Mexico; and we will speak about precise numbers and reasons in a future installment. However, what becomes evident is that it is not sufficient being the most dynamic economy on the planet. One has to create a place that shares the same principles under which these three nations were founded: democracy, peace, freedom, equality, and happiness.
