Mexicans cope with rising prices for tortillas, the most basic of foods

[Judi Lynn]

Jan. 13, 2007, 12:31AM
Mexicans cope with rising prices for tortillas, the most basic of foods

By PETER ORSI
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Soaring international demand for corn has caused a spike in prices for Mexico's humble tortilla, hitting the poor and forcing President Felipe Calderon's business-friendly government into an uncomfortable confrontation with powerful monopolies.
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The battle over the tortilla, the most basic staple of the Mexican diet especially among the poor, demonstrates how increasing economic integration is felt on the street level.

"This is direct evidence of the way globalization is affecting all walks of life in Mexico and all over the world," said David Barkin, an economics professor at the Xochimilco campus of the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City.
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Sojo said the quotas include 450,000 metric tons of white corn from the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and 200,000 metric tons of white or yellow corn from anywhere else in the world.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4468230.html

[Porcupine]

1. Conversly the price of Mexicans.....

desperate to keep their families from starving will drop. Which means even more illegal aliens that will be willing to put up with far more abuse by US employers. What this means for young women working the sex trade in border towns is unthinkable. Starving families take deperate measures the world over.

The people of the US just don't seem to realize that the fate of these people is intricately tied to the fate of themselves or their neighbors.