Noted journalist Laura Carlsen argues that if Trump follows through on his promise of massive deportations, this would generate an instant unemployment crisis. If he can stem the flow of remittances to families in Mexico, it will have a devastating impact on millions of the country’s poorest families. Then if the US were to pull out of NAFTA, the whole structure of Mexico’s export-oriented economy could collapse. The Peña Nieto government, already highly unpopular, doesn’t appear to be up to the task of building the domestic economy or reorienting the country toward the South. And all of this is just starters.
On the up side, Carlsen reports that “Mexican civil society is stepping into the void, rapidly getting together to develop proposals to affirm respect for their rights and dignity, reject policies of hate and restore national sovereignty. A broad resistance network is in the works to confront the nightmare-turned-reality of the presidency of Donald J. Trump.” This may yet turn out to be the greatest test of the creativity and organizational ability of the Mexican people.
Based in Mexico City, Laura Carlsen's Americas Program is a major source of news and commentary on Mexico and Latin America for English readers (www.cipamericas.org). Her reportage is also often carried by the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, BBC and CNN. She is also a favorite speaker here in San Migue