The Neo-Liberal State: A Path to Democracy? PDF

Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted. CH PT 37...

Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted. CH PT 37 THE NEC-LIBERAL STATE: A PATH T,Q,.D EMOCRACY? I GUEL DE LA -ADR IID: FROM CR'IS I $ T O CRIS _, 1982- 98 in uh - ti th. nrury p i e I elim ·- nate o en cm1c in office. ptlon during ress most o -ran ngg fl i t I $43 million.. Dfaz Serrano, crim o uraz.o, Mm o Chy' hi o police and a friend of L6 ildhood. " Durazo. d with fi t murd - , traffi king 1 ' p ponio lu. url u residenc in the roastaJ rem "The Panlu~non, to wh ch il bo m ' mblan 11 mpl l wilh i ·n a d~ 5 ate in po.lice hclt , tri.ng o rn1on lno, mnmas.iun ,.tnd II I wi opined, could ha e acru tbi ld SU Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  S28 Ill I A D CIIA. CE. I -~ I [RA O'f LOB LIZ TIO:-. o. g ~.nme.m ~ I, 65 pt!.' w Bm Dur.iz escaped p ing mh country prior to his arrest; after leg a.d !Ill ml h i tori in the t. knew Lhatlhebaltleagainslgo emment.a.lmalf. eel , omptr II f\ n al ya c:tl \ lJ 11k garb. it llad n equally perusle.lll d counnys d epenin. n t slip ag um th nd th n beg n v market. lany tood in eied from 150 Lo g th 1.1. bottom had ustc nd I] 1h y Jr 1 'P Le was an incredible 2 300 to L eb.tio u1 o killer in l 7 Lhat same amount. M r · ·btu gr·wing m'tri·p1 ugh Lb"" p eded in a:rrangm rescbeduJi~ o paymen n on him , Poli p ·no grou · I uh. Vi bim l I pu 10 dedare a unilareral mor,uor.. t. De la Mad t rat.es being I Jid oil. but , 'Ii.zed 1h m Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  IM N'oo-1.ibmJj St,atr. A Pa th ra De:t1i oci. S 2. 9 degree ofconfidaice in ili.e world's banking community and fimmda1 markets. He opted for economic_ austerity. not repudiation. Responding to prefflll from th Inmnational Mo ·w y· Fund, la Madrid not nly rnrtaikd many new projects but also announced siiveeping cuts in social spending, i::educ- tions in federal su idi for foodstuffs and rents. th sale of in ffid nl and unprofita l sta1:£-m1, ned enterprises, and a freeze on fed rai emp]oymcnt. Usmg the nsiderah}e influ- ence of the presidential office, be did his best to limit the s:ize of wage increases in the labor force and h limi:oated thousands of federal jo.. The economic ri>ti"lm,c gan a pro th.at wouJd subsequently bmgeon under the rubric of nrolibcralism. the economic and po- H ·cal. philosophy messing i.n!.de liberaliz.:alion, privatization of ta -owned enterprises,~ d _ction& in socials rvice spending, and economic deregulation. Un er de la Mad, d, Mexico joined lhe General A,greemeot on Turiffs and Trade and sold off so e Sew'.O hundred com- panies, o d r partlaU own d by th o mment. As the counny strugglm economically, suddenly tra edy s.t:ruc:k during the moming rush hour on Sept.embu 19, 19851 as Mexico City paid the prlce of itting a:t the jnru:ture of th e o th ,earth's te nk pla , An nh uak, regi g in ss of on m Richw- Scale devastated the capital, leaving as many as 1m.ousand dead. many more injm:ed, and dama ·mated ·t $4 biJlion. al hundred buildings collapsed and thousan were damaged, leaving multitudes of peop11=' homeless, without food or water. Whim the de la Madrid administration responded at a ,· 's pac:e, Mexican cilizcn:s mganiz d grassroots organizations to dig th _ t of e dis Mr, lm m tionat relie arrw , ni am hesitancy on the pan of e government to r«cive it. onethcless. many- anafys:ts believe d:t t th - euthquakc rvccl a lyst for the em.erg nee of an embryonic dvil odety in Mexico. A pleth of groups egan to advo a:ie for democratic funns to the bankrupt [n lat 1987 when it ,ook eie\'1!'D thousand five hundred twenty cemavo pLll«'.i to buy ooe US doUar, Mexica.m imply rcfu:sed fO !he h r coin.. rl ~in 'l'! n of h.ardw:1R «1rc11 l n, nora _ - d l!I i In solution. Not concerned abom defacing narlonal amency, they druled holes in the middle of the ml.ns and liiund bri busineilll in th~ good-qua]il), w~herL Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  530 CRISIS A. ID CII,>. CE IN ,; ll R A OF CLOIIA U ZATlO ,' D m111gc Mexico City ~ ac mi~ nd I.M dean-up lask mo1twnental, mir the eaJt.h qum of S p1ffllb J9. 19 Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  ThcNoo-libmJI St,atr.APathraDemoa:. 531 political system, omen's an.d indigenous righISr afformble housing, and envi:mn.menml protections. Althou8l;i most of tbese organizations and alliances did not sustain thems.elves vigorou~l ov r tim , dvi-l so t.y continu to o:rpniz a subs.eq11mt mom n o , Ht The last years of the de la Madrid admin.istration saw Mexico slip deeper and deepn into th economic morass. In addition th coll ps of the p o, infladon soared to tm~ pw:edenwl hf!"igt.u.s. Official inflation rates, re:leased by exico' Centtal Bank, report 63.7 percent in 1985, 105.7 pe:rcrnt in 1986, and 159 percrnt in l987. The person on the meet s tha:c m acwa_J 6 ~ w even nigher. Inaea s in o gasolil , com. wheat, and clectridty led the assaui.t on the consumer price i but no product or ser- vice emergro unscathed The ocl ming mat martehed the rapid tis m priw. was the rapid (ll'Owth of the foreign debt. Wh n de la Madrid left offic in D ber il.988, the Mexican gove.mmrnt owed foreigncrs a whopping J,05 billion in outstaml:mg debts. UNITED STATES-MEXICO RELATIONS Two major prob! ms d fyin,g easy solution dom 'nated United States-Mexico.relations in the 1970,s and 1980 Both of them roncemoo mowm across the common border, and both o 1.h m h d n tional signiti.can at ttan cended th int.em -uonal line that dM the two counmes.. ince the 195 -. the Unit d taks- , border region has witness~ on - of the mo profound demographic , ift! in dd histocry not conditioned by either war or ,eJ)id m ·c disease. The result of a ·gh birthrate and massive nonhem migration in, E'Xico a:nd the equally telUng un It ph. m n in lb United tat th populati soared on both sides of the border.. ln 19 0, on :y about 16 million persons. ocrupied the four US and six Mexican states tha sh intemation.al lin~ Aube begmnmij of 990, th~ estimated pop- ulation of the: a.in n tares h d ris n to over 50 million.. dfflm.atic J has not only domina-n!d day-to-day human re.la:rions of the region but alS. CE IN ,; llRA O F CLOIIA U ZATlO ,' United mies began calling for tigh.W" c:om:rols, ~ bile an equally broad spectrum of emplay- in both.rural and urban are.as. favored the maintenance of the status quo. ei:s, A solution o oru w.u r adl in 1986 wh th U Congre:.ss p ~ th hnmigm- tion Reform and Control Ao: (the Simpson-Rodino Att). 'Ihe main feanrres of die legisla- tion p rided for a tighw ,enfota?ment of immigtation pot cy, sanaions against tbos who knowing) employed oodorumentecl workers, and an amnesty for those rke:rs. ho c:oul establish. continued residence in the U:oired States since 1982. But Si.mpson-Rodi:no did not so.I~ th undocum n d ~or · r problem bcaw, it a d11 ed onlJ th. ors that pulled the: Mexican workec; toward the United States, 1g11orlng D5e th.at p hed them out of eitico. The undocumented cominu d LO oom as th - was no shortage of U employers ·mng to offer wo,r despite threatened s.inctions, The fundamm problems remained. In 1989, Jo~ Bustamante. exko's leading bordenpe:cialist, n:poned that ramings sa1t back to ·oo by undocumen ed work n total d $1.25 nu nan uany, makin this ur; o income the cour1try's third largest source of foreign ach;m. The emnd pR>blem that pfagued th gmcrally good n:hitions brnvem Washington, DC and Mdico Ci , and that contri ured lo a p I tkaUy chargl!d aunosphe.r th unr aut- ting flow of drugs a:cross the United States-Mexico or:dcr; The smuggling of rnnttaband betw en th tWO countri erwnfy was notrun new. Arms and ammunition. ut mo- biles, trucks, agriru:ltur.aJ equipment, household items, and srnres of other pmdurn bad long evadm the eyes, regu?ation and tIXing authority of me customs 11;g~ts. at made th p blem ·o vol til ini th l l 80, s tbt es:p dally insidious n WJi of th illegal cargo. The international drug trafli both sides agreed, not only left its legacy of abuse and d p nde:ntt bu:t al o fo an entire host of parns.jti aim , p in the bord - region. Authori ' from. e two countries, however, agreed on tht1 clse. The public was soon treated to e most izarre misapplication of the 1heories lhe Scottish emnomist Adam milh: U o 'al found th pr blem to imply p y, whil theif exican cmmterpans more accw:atcly retorted that it was simply one0f demand. followin e murder of US Dru Enforcement dm ttativ agent EruiqUJ Camarena daJaj in 19 6 and 1987 the U Con~ held formal heari.n~ on tcrmri m and hearings prompted the most intemperate statements 011 Mexico's alleg,ed lack ooc)oer.auon n th drug i su despite ID i m t th contrary &om th US amb ador in MaJco City. By 1988,, exko-bashingh Become a favorite pastime ofchose ho could k of no other reason- fut th · U fail to win iu much publiciz~d war on drugs. ln that yeair, the U mate failed u, c: rtify ·co for conomic assistana? b cause it w _ not doing enough to inten:q>t the flDW of bdore they crossed tht" bordu.s M o was. bout o m r th lat d d ofth nti th Wl.tuty, as:~ adH increas- ing number of its citizens had become disillrniioned with pernisive corruption. and with pol- hiai as usual ongovemmcntal organizations th.a wale.seed afte1 the disastf'ous earthquake had intro u -d new actors into the pol" I stage JU~ for lectoral and sod al reforms. At the same time, the shift to neoliberalism in the: age of globalization had not. reduced pov 0 eny and octal inequltJ. Some PIU ctivi began to call for ma: or chang ev n they w muure where the path might leacl Togmi.er with fellow e:xican.s of the opposition parties they would have am answenmooer than anticipated. Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.  The N L'r! 1.i.bt'f.il !