Readers respond to Mexico corn protests

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Our recent story on Mexican farmers’ protests over the end to protective trade tariffs for imported U.S. corn and other products received much e-mail. (The North American Free Trade Agreement came into full effect on Jan. 1, eliminating the final barriers to U.S. corn, beans and milk entering Mexico.) Many agreed with those who argue that free trade feeds immigration to the United States.

‘Bankrupt Mexican farmers unemployed and desperate to get work ... come to the country that put them out of business: the USA,’ one reader wrote to me. ‘But when they get here they are assailed as ‘illegal.’ Why is it perfectly legal for subsidized U.S. corn to go south and bankrupt Mexican farmers, but illegal for Mexican farmers to come north to find work? Where is the justice there? How many will die at our border fence while the country that invented corn can no longer afford to grow it?’

Facing much criticism at home, Mexican President Felipe Calderon defended NAFTA on Monday, saying it has helped create new markets for Mexican products.

— Héctor Tobar in Mexico City