CUAUHTEMOC CARDENAS

Mexico’s relationship with the United States has opened up important economic, political and social opportunities for Mexico, but it has also generated some significant problems. For example, the Mexican negotiators who signed the North American Free Trade Agreement six years ago authorized an accord that has led to the disappearance of thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses and a dramatic drop in production in different areas of our agriculture. NAFTA does not include any clauses to protect domestic production, especially agricultural production. Nor does it help to consider any special aid to underdeveloped regions or regions hard hit by the lifting of trade restrictions. As a result, a handful of Mexican agricultural exporters and the gigantic U.S. agricultural corporations have been the biggest beneficiaries of NAFTA.

Although NAFTA guaranteed the free flow of capital, services and trade, it failed to include provisions for the free flow of labor across the border. It also left out the protection of civil and labor rights of migrants in the United States. This omission is particularly serious considering the magnitude of the Mexican labor force now working in the U.S.

Without domestic and international regulations, the free flow of speculative capital--which is favored by investors over direct investment--not only does not benefit Mexico, but it constantly threatens to generate crises within the country, such as the one in 1994-95, or to expose Mexico to the financial crises of other countries.

In addition, the NAFTA accord regarding corn production has had disastrous effects, including the long-term destruction of small producers who were forced to abandon maize growth. And the NAFTA-mandated disappearance of state-owned Conasupo, which marketed basic agricultural commodities, has put our national agricultural market at the mercy of huge transnational corporations that control the international grains market.

If elected, I will actively seek to establish international rules of trade that guarantee equitable treatment for Mexico and all nations.

A huge number of Mexicans have emigrated to foreign countries over the past decades, especially to the U.S. Most of these people were forced to leave their own country because of the severe unemployment and poverty that plague Mexico. In the act of crossing the border into our northern neighbor, and during their stays in the U.S., undocumented workers have been victims of repression, exploitation and racial exclusion. Even Mexican citizens who are legal residents in the U.S. suffer from these problems.

Mexican citizens supply labor and creativity to the U.S. They contribute to the progress of the country through their work and the taxes they pay, but they lack the essential individual rights that U.S. citizens enjoy. Although they send a large part of their earnings to their families in Mexico, they do not receive protection or adequate support from the Mexican government.

Recently, the law changed to allow Mexican citizens to keep their legal Mexican nationality status even if they adopt the nationality of the country they live in, but they still do not have the right to participate in Mexico’s federal electoral processes. We must protect the individual rights of Mexicans abroad, especially those in the U.S., and provide them with all the assistance we can. We also must support their efforts to keep alive their cultural identity and native languages.