This book was born out of the hope that Jesuits around the world
could build a network based on shared experience of the plight of poor
people caught in the throes of economic globalization. It is addressed to
all those who work in any way to help achieve sustainable development
and confront the challenges of deep-seated poverty. The book, which features
eleven people whose lives were altered by globalization, is the result
of the work done in the Global Economy and Cultures (GEC) project at
the Woodstock Theological Center (WTC) at Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Jesuit social centers from around
the world.This chapter: Jorge Enrique’s life changed dramatically when the tire factory
where he worked, Euzkadi, shut down. Located in El Salto, Mexico,
the factory was owned by a multinational company and in the
past had had a strong labor union. It was a very good job for Jorge
Enrique, with better wages and benefits than many other places in
Mexico. But in 2001, the owners said that Mexico’s new lower import
duties allowed cheaper foreign tires to enter the country and
they couldn’t compete without concessions from labor. Now in his
thirties, Jorge Enrique is involved with his union’s efforts to force
the factory’s reopening. He wonders if he should go back to work
in the United States, which he did when he was younger. It would
be easy for him, because he has a “green card” − a legal entry visa.
The old Mexican economic system crashed in 1982 under the
weight of mounting international debt and fiscal deficits. It was a
closed economy; domestic production was protected by high import
tariffs and major industries were often in government hands.
The immediate response to the crisis included severe economic austerity
measures backed by loans from the IMF. This was followed
by economic restructuring, particularly after 1988, marked by privatizations
and liberalization of international trade and investment.
Over the next decade, these measures were supported by Mexico’s
implementing the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations and, in
1996, signing the North American Free Trade Area Agreement
(NAFTA) with the U.S. and Canada. Mexico’s economic restructuring affected El Salto. Foreign
companies made new investments − Continental Tire of Germany
bought Euzkadi − and old plants, like the textile factory where
Jorge Enrique’s father worked, had to close. In the country as a
whole, the already ongoing migration to the U.S. accelerated as agriculture’s
contribution to the economy fell by nearly two-thirds,
down to 4 percent of GDP by 2000.ITESO, A.C
