Adam Mexico
007-07 Davidson- 33.3% -Geography -Economy -Drug Trafficking William Ruch-33.3% -Politics/ Government -Major Ethnic Groups -Human Trafficking Stephanie Pittman-33.3% -Society/ Culture -Development -Illegal Immigration
Introduction- Ruch: Mexico is a densely populated, Spanish speaking, North American country. Its incumbent President is Felipe Cauldron. The inhabitants enjoy a rich, traditional culture, but the nation is also plagued with various social/economic problems such as extreme poverty and human/drug trafficking. Geography- Davidson: Mexico is located in Middle America. Mexico's borders stretch from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, to the North Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and the United States. Mexico has a very diverse climate, ranging from tropical to desert conditions. The terrain of Mexico is very diverse as well, including high rugged mountains, low coastal plains, high plateaus, and of course desert. Mexico is roughly three times the size of Texas. The most well known natural resources found on this land are petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, and timber. Some hazards of living in Mexico include tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and earthquakes in the center and south of Mexico, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Coasts. Mexico also has many major environmental issues, such as natural fresh water pollution in the north, raw sewage polluting rivers in urban areas, deforestation, widespread erosion, desertification, and serious air/water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along the US border. Economy- Davidson: Mexico has a free market economy that recently has entered the trilliondollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and obsolete industry and agriculture. Some major products of agriculture include corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, tomatoes, beef, poultry, and wood products. Some of the major industries in Mexico are food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, petroleum, mining, clothing, motor vehicles, and tourism. The average per capita income is about one-fourth of the US, and income distribution is extremely unequal. Mexico's labor force is made up of approximately 44.5 million people, although the unemployment rate is about 3.2%. The underemployment rate is somewhere around 25%. 40%
of the population of Mexico is under the poverty line, which is shocking to say the least. According to the Lorenz Curve, the gini index of Mexico is about 54.6.
Politics and Government- Ruch: With the constitution of 1917, Mexico's political system was established and proved to be very similar to the United States and Canada with three branches (executive, legislative, and judiciary) and levels (federal, state, and municipal) of government. The executive is headed by the president, who is the head of state and government, as well as the commander in chief of the Mexican military forces. The President also appoints, with Senate approval, the Cabinet and other officers. The President is responsible of executing and enforcing the law, and has the authority of vetoing bills. The legislature is the Congress of the Union which is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, which makes federal law, declares war, imposes taxes, approves the national budget and international treaties, and ratifies diplomatic appointments. The Supreme Court of Justice heads the judiciary which contains 11 judges that interpret the constitution. Besides the judiciary (whom is appointed) all other branches are selected by the people through the plurality system, meaning the country/ each state is broken up into several electoral districts and the voters can choose from a vast number of parties. The three main parties are the right leaning National Action Party, the centralist Institutional Revolutionary Party, and the left leaning Party of the Democratic revolution. For 70 years the IRP held the majority until the election of 2000 when Vicente Fox from the NAP took control and passed power on to fellow NAP member Filipe Cauldron in 2006. Major Ethnic Groups- Ruch- Since it's founding, Mexico has proved to be a very diverse nation with three major ethnic groups leading the way. The largest of the three are the Mestizos whom compromise 60-75% of the population and are of European decent; most of which have roots in Spain. The second largest group is the Amerindians (12-30%) who are indigenous to the region; many speak their own tribal languages. Finally, Caucasians of non Hispanic origin make up the final 9-15%.
Society/ Culture- Pittman- Mexico's societal makeup consists of a population of 108,700,891 (July 2007 est.) people. During the 20th century, Mexico has expanded rapidly with growing business. The largest cities are very similar to those that might be seen here in the United States. Some of these include Mexico City, Guadalajara, Baja California, and Monterrey. Within the society there is a greater female to male ratio, with females having a higher life expectancy than males. The average life expectancy at birth is about 75.63 years for the general population. The women typically have about 2.39 children, with an infant mortality rate of 19.63 deaths/1,000 live births. The culture of Mexico is the combination of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican civilizations and that of Spain. Culture encompasses nationality, religion, ethnicity, language, customs, and any other identifying information that makes a group what it is. The people of Mexico take extreme pride in their country, culture, ethnicity and lifestyles. Mexican culture is rooted in strong familial ties, respect, hard work, and close-knit social groups within communities. Those who live in Mexico are called Mexicans. Religiously speaking, with the arrival of the Spanish and colonization, the Roman Catholic religion was brought to Mexico. This is currently the main religion, with 76.5% of the people belonging to the Catholic faith. Mexico is the second largest Catholic nation in the world, after Brazil. Other religions include Evangelical, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses. In the southern areas of Mexico, where the indigenous populations are prevalent, traditional Amerindian religions are practiced with some influence of the Spanish Catholic faith. The languages spoken in Mexico include Spanish, Mayan, Nahuatl and other regional indigenous languages. Mexico is well known for their cuisine also. Some of their main dishes include tortillas, tacos, enchiladas, tamales and frijoles. Many people in America also enjoy these delicious dishes. Another key aspect of Mexican culture is the national traditional sports like Bullfighting, Cockfighting and Boxing. These games are played from generation to generation.
Development- Pittman- Development in Mexico is that of a developing nation, and their economy, education levels and standard of living are consistent with such findings. In determining the well-being of a country, the Human Development Index looks at 3 different
aspects : life expectancy, education and standard of living. This index provides a comparison to the relationship between well-being and income. Indicators like gender, or income inequality are not reflected in the index. The HDI for Mexico is 0.829, ranking it 52 nd out of 177 countries. The literacy rate for adults ages 15 and older 91.6%. is With a slightly higher percentage of males than females being literate. People enrolled at school from primary thru secondary and tertiary levels are about 75.6%. A big problem in developing nations is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. In Mexico, the prevalence is about 160,000 people (2003 est.). This is due to inadequate sexual education, and lack of access to medical resources. Prcis 1 Drug Trafficking- Davidson: Bush Seeking Aid for Mexico in Drug Fight The article, entitled Bush Seeking Aid For Mexico In Drug Fight, was published in The Washington Post on October 23, 2007. The main idea of the article is that the Bush Administration has initiated an aid package for Mexico, for the largest anti-drug effort in nearly a decade. The plan called for $500 million to help Mexico fight the drug cartels who have been in a fierce war for the past two years, competing over productive trade routes, many of which are located on Mexico's northern borders. The package will pay for helicopters, canine units, communications gear, and inspection equipment. Also, the program would include training and technical advice on selecting new police officers, and software to track investigations of kingpins, who have infiltrated many state and local governments. President Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon dubbed the package the "Merida Initiative", during a summit in the Yucatan city in March. On the other hand, news media of Mexico has dubbed the project "Plan Mexico", which eludes to "Plan Columbia", which is an ongoing, multibillion-dollar program launched seven years ago that sent U.S. troops to Colombia to control coco production and battle Marxist rebels; high ranked officials obviously aren't too happy about that. The aid packages are part of what the Bush administration hopes will be a multiyear, $1.4 billion initiative. The drug traffickers have many reasons for doing what they're doing. The poverty rate in Mexico is extremely high. When there aren't enough jobs, some people may become desperate enough to get into the drug business. They know that drug trafficking brings in a lot
of profit, and they must do what is necessary to survive. I don't like that the dealers have to compete for complete control within a business that is already established as a last resort. It might be a better idea to work on economic issues, rather than drug issues.
Precis 2- Human Trafficking- Ruch: Mexico is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. Many victims pour in from around the world (Caribbean, Asia, Europe, etc.) but most are poor Mexican women, girls, and boys that are lured away from their homes by false promises of employment elsewhere whom are then threatened/ beat into a life of prostitution. Many are sent abroad to be used as sex slaves in other countries, the ones that remain are taken to various vacation hot spots and border towns for the growing industry of "sex tourism" in which visitors (usually from the United States and Europe) partake in sexual acts with the victims for a price. Recently, organized criminals have established importation systems in which children from the United States are brought to Mexico for sexual exploitation. While no federal law prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons, various laws forbid certain aspects of trafficking. In November Baja California Norte became the first state to approve a comprehensive law to combat trafficking in persons and at the federal level child prostitution and pornography are felonies as well. Although authorities have disrupted smuggling operations, which often were directly involved in trafficking, and arrested a number of suspected traffickers, the government has faced structural inefficiencies in collecting data and fostering investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking cases. Still, convictions remain elusive, and differentiating trafficking cases from other types of cases, such as alien smuggling, remains a challenge for the government. Pushed by several independent organizations such as the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) and various foreign nations, more and more programs to combat trafficking, increase protection for victims, and promote awareness are popping up as the government is going to new lengths to investigate and eliminate this issue.
Prcis 3- Illegal Immigration- Pittman: Mexico currently has many problems it's facing, of great significance is Illegal Immigration. This is more than just a problem for Mexico, but for neighboring countries of Mexico like the United States. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Services since January 2000, there have been about 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States. This number is growing by 500,000 every year. The two main reasons people are immigrating illegally, are for jobs and family connections. These jobs include agriculture, construction, hospitality and service work. Mexicans earn about 1/10 of what American workers earn in their home country. They are looking to improve their earnings and work conditions. This is enticing because many American businesses want cheap, compliant labor. Family connections are the other draw for these people, they want to rejoin their families, and live out the "American Dream" that everyone boasts about. Solving this problem includes increased border and worksite enforcement, and investing money into Mexico's economy and infrastructure. By doing so, money and jobs would be brought to the workers who want them, instead of the workers coming to where the jobs are. In relating to the coursework, the problem is not illegal immigration but the underlying factors. The reasons people are resorting to crossing the border, is because they are impoverished, they want a better life and they will risk their lives to do so. They resort to various means; sometimes even illegal ones just to survive. After immigrants get into the U.S. they send part of their earnings back home, and then make way to bring more family members here. This ultimately affects the economy here in the U.S. as well as the distribution of race, ethnicity, poverty and gender according to Anderson & Collins in chapter II.
Bibliography Geography, Economy, Drug Trafficking CIA World Fact Book. www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx [access:12/03/07] The Washington Post, October 23, 2007 Tuesday, A-SECTION; Pg. A01, Manuel Roig-Franzia; Washington Post Foreign Service Politics and Government, Ethnic Groups, Human Trafficking Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.com [access:12/03/07] http://www.gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Mexico.htm [access:12/03/07] http://www.endhumantrafficking.org [access:12/03/07] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/62736.htm [access:12/03/07] -Ruch-Davidson-
Society, Culture, Development, Illegal Immigration Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.com CIA Fact Book.
-Pittman-
www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx. [access:12/03/07] Human Development Report. hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_MEX.html [access:12/03/07] Center For Immigration Studies. http://www.cis.org/topics/illegalimmigration.html [access:12/03/07] United States Immigration Support. http://ww.immigrationsupport.org/illegal_immigration_mexico.html[access:12/03/07]