North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It came into force on 1 January 1994, when Bill Clinton was president and with his support, but the origins were much earlier, such as when president Ronald Reagan supported the general idea as part of his 1980 presidential campaign.
Criticisms
"The North American Free Trade Agreement (NATFA) was the door through which American workers were shoved into the neoliberal global labor market. By establishing the principle that U.S. corporations could relocate production elsewhere and sell back into the United States, NAFTA undercut the bargaining power of American workers, which had driven the expansion of the middle class since the end of World War II. The result has been 20 years of stagnant wages and the upward redistribution of income, wealth and political power."[1]
"the destructive effect of NAFTA on the Mexican agricultural and small business sectors dislocated several million Mexican workers and their families, and was a major cause in the dramatic increase in undocumented workers flowing into the U.S. labor market. This put further downward pressure on U.S. wages, especially in the already lower paying market for less skilled labor."[1]
"The inevitable result was to undercut workers’ living standards all across North America. Wages and benefits have fallen behind worker productivity in all three countries."[1]
There are various other criticisms of politically correct claims regarding benefits for Mexican workers.[2]
NAFTA has been argued to have contributed to the increasing drug abuse and associated crimes, in part by making drug smuggling easier, in part by impoverishing Mexican peasants who turned to various drug related and other crimes in Mexico (including growing plants used for drug production), in part by increasing the (illegal) mass migration to the United States and associated crimes by immigrants there.[3][4][5]
"“We were prohibited from discussing the effects of NAFTA as it related to narcotics trafficking, yes.” Phil Jordan, who had been one of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s leading authorities on Mexican drug organizations, told ABC News reporter Brian Ross four years after the deal had gone through. “For the godfathers of the drug trade in Colombia and Mexico, this was a deal made in narco heaven.”"[5]
The situation in Mexico has deteriorated to such a degree that even politically correct sources have started discussing Mexico as a "failed state", but avoid discussing less politically correct aspects.
NAFTA has also been argued to have importantly influenced various other neoliberal and harmful agreements and practices, in North America and elsewhere.[1]
Increasing ethnic heterogeneity and narcoculture "Robin Hoods"
The increasing contacts caused by NAFTA may have increased perceived ethnic heterogeneity in Mexico, which is associated with increased crime, possibly in part because of committing crimes against outgroup members may be seen as less serious. In Mexico, an influential "narcoculture" has appeared, which may depict drug traffickers as "Robin Hoods" supporting their local communities, implying that crimes and other actions causing negative effects for outgroup members, such as Whites in the United States, are seen as less serious.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 NAFTA’s Impact on U.S. Workers https://www.epi.org/blog/naftas-impact-workers/
- ↑ NAFTA and the FTAA: Impact on Mexico’s Agriculture Sector https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/NAFTA_and_the_FTAA_Impact_on_Mexicos_Agricultu.pdf
- ↑ NAFTA and Drug Trafficking: Perpetuating Violence and the Illicit Supply Chain http://www.coha.org/nafta-and-drug-trafficking-perpetuating-violence-and-the-illicit-supply-chain/
- ↑ A drug war made in Mexico? https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/05/drug-war-mexico-150527045210132.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NAFTA And The Drug Cartels: “A Deal Made In Narco Heaven” — Exclusive Excerpt and Live Chat at 3pm EST https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nafta-and-the-drug-cartel_b_223705