Guards at Mexican prisons receive very poor pay and/or protections outside of their jobs. It has been suggested that guards and/or officials in the prison were either bribed, threatened, or both to help Guzman escape.As I read this story, I’m reminded of a promise made by President Reagan when he introduced NAFTA, the first of our trade agreements with other nations. In his speech, he stated that factories built in Mexico and Canada would only sell their products in their own countries. He said the workers would be paid like American workers and would be instrumental in raising the quality of life and services in Mexico.Five years after NAFTA passed, Mexican workers were making substantially less than Americans doing the same jobs, and even though many had satellite dishes on their homes, their homes faced streets filled with sewage as infrastructure promised by officials and companies was never installed. Additionally, our two party oligarchy, bowing to the wishes of lobbyists from industries moving factories to Mexico, passed laws allowing cars built in Mexico and Canada to be sold in the USA, thus starting the migration of manufacturers our of Detroit, Burlington, and other cities.Despite the number of factories in Mexico, their oil reserves and other natural resources, poverty in the country is rampant and the corruption in their politics makes dealing with cartels and lobbyists, Mexican and those of the USA, very hard to address.Hopefully, Guzman will be arrested soon, and if the Mexican people are lucky, he will die while resisting arrest.A special thanks goes out to Rad-ish for his information on how our gov’t under Bush and Obama has enabled this man’s organization. Another example of our ends justifies means attitude that results in unforeseen, and negative, consequences.Respectfully,C.
Guards at Mexican prisons receive very poor pay and/or protections outside of their jobs. It has been suggested that guards and/or officials in the prison were either bribed, threatened, or both to help Guzman escape.As I read this story, I’m reminded of a promise made by President Reagan when he introduced NAFTA, the first of our trade agreements with other nations. In his speech, he stated that factories built in Mexico and Canada would only sell their products in their own countries. He said the workers would be paid like American workers and would be instrumental in raising the quality of life and services in Mexico.Five years after NAFTA passed, Mexican workers were making substantially less than Americans doing the same jobs, and even though many had satellite dishes on their homes, their homes faced streets filled with sewage as infrastructure promised by officials and companies was never installed. Additionally, our two party oligarchy, bowing to the wishes of lobbyists from industries moving factories to Mexico, passed laws allowing cars built in Mexico and Canada to be sold in the USA, thus starting the migration of manufacturers our of Detroit, Burlington, and other cities.Despite the number of factories in Mexico, their oil reserves and other natural resources, poverty in the country is rampant and the corruption in their politics makes dealing with cartels and lobbyists, Mexican and those of the USA, very hard to address.Hopefully, Guzman will be arrested soon, and if the Mexican people are lucky, he will die while resisting arrest.A special thanks goes out to Rad-ish for his information on how our gov’t under Bush and Obama has enabled this man’s organization. Another example of our ends justifies means attitude that results in unforeseen, and negative, consequences.Respectfully,C.