Mexicans go to the polls on Sunday - high stakes for two countries

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using 20/20 hindsight, i now see that at least one of the major reasons for the u.s. having pushed so hard for nafta was to make sure mexico stayed firmly within the economic stranglehold of the u.s... it should have been perfectly obvious to me at the time (1992-94), but i was a lot more naive then and still believed in my country's basic goodness... i've since had that crap kicked right out of me...

[W]hoever gains the upper hand in voting on 2 July, Mexico is now so economically intertwined with the US that its scope for unilateral action is severely limited.

During the 12 years since Mexico joined the US and Canada in founding the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), Mexico's trade with its northern neighbours has shown a threefold increase.

Nearly 85% of Mexican exports now go to the US.

Mexico also thrives on remittances from workers who have left the country to find jobs in the US. Last year, Mexican migrants sent home a record $20bn, according to the central bank, giving the nation its biggest source of foreign income after oil exports.

and that's precisely the way we like it... now, if only amlo doesn't get elected and try to screw the whole thing up by doing really stupid things like trying to raise ordinary mexicans out of poverty...

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