El Tratado de Libre Comercio México-Estados Unidos y los problemas sociopolíticos actuales

Abstract

This study underscores the most pressing political problems which Mexico's government had to confront so that the North American Free Trade Agreement would come into effect at the beginning of 1994 signaling Mexico's entry into the First World through its integration into the American economy. A brief assessment reveals a negative balance for Mexico in the economic sphere and serious problems in the sociopolitical area. By insisting that the solution lies within economic transformations, an urgent democratic reform through which every political national force would participate is delayed. If changes in the severe adjustments brought about by neoliberal policies from which only large financial, commercial, and industrial conglomerates have profited are not undertaken, it will be extremely difficult to improve the welfare of vast segments of Mexico's population. This, in turn, will bring about a worsening of the dire conditions of the political system and can foreshadow a breaking down of the political structures leading the country to a context rife with conflicts and chaos.