Here Where We Live: Mexico and NAFTA

In a series of five sound-rich stories, independent producers Mary Stucky and Mary Losure explore how the free trade agreement Mexico signed with its rich northern neighbors has reverberated across rural Mexico. Listeners hear from the troubled state of Chiapas where, in a clash of cultures, local opposition has put a stop to international “bioprospecting” for cures based on medicinal plants; from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where free-trade backers are working to build roads that will open southern Mexico to the rest of the world, against the opposition of some Mexican peasants; and from Oaxaca, where farmers have appealed to an international commission created by NAFTA for help in the fight against cheap US corn imports, one of the driving forces behind the migration of Mexicans to the United States. Listeners hear a profile of a forest cooperative near Durango selling sustainably-grown wood on the international market, and they’ll hear how environmental groups are fighting to save mangrove swamps from development aimed at US tourists. Hide full description

In a series of five sound-rich stories, independent producers Mary Stucky and Mary Losure explore how the free trade agreement Mexico signed with its rich northern neighbors has reverberated across rural Mexico. Listeners hear from the troubled state of Chiapas where, in a clash of cultures, local opposition has put a stop to international “bioprospecting” for cures based on medicinal plants; from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where free-trade backers are working to build roads that will open southern Mexico to the rest of the world, against the opposition of some Mexican peasants; and from Oaxaca, where farmers have appealed to an international commission created by NAFTA for help in the fight against cheap US corn imports, one of the driving forces behind the migration of Mexicans to... Show full description