Written By: Boban Hrvac
Many analysts no longer see the U.S. as the world's first, largest economy, citing data that China has overtaken hegemony in many areas, and is rapidly closing in on what remains, primarily the military-industrial complex and the equipping of naval and air forces. In recent decades, China has profiled itself as a factory for the whole world, and some countries have become very dependent on its economy. The dollar, as the world's reserve currency, is still strong and slowing China's penetration, but its strength is gradually weakening as it has been used as a mechanism of subjugation and "rule-based order" that is set and changed in accordance with current U.S. interests. Many countries are now turning to trade in their own currencies, and this trend will strengthen as the BRICS, which is also the main promoter of such a balance of power based on equality, equality and mutual respect of all countries regardless of their size and economic strength. Many countries from Latin America and the Global South have expressed a desire to join the BRICS, and we will see how many requests will be accepted at the Kazan Summit in Russia in October. These are mainly countries that are developing rapidly.
One such country is Mexico, a country that is rapidly turning into a new factory for the whole world. Mexico has not yet expressed a desire to join the BRICS, and it is unlikely to do so given its delicate geostrategic position (bordering the United States).This country was only in the focus of interest when it came to the fight against drug cartels, or their clashes with each other.
Everything began to change six years ago when Andrés Manuel López Obrador, AMLO as Mexicans call him, was elected president. He designed and put into practice a new policy he called the "fourth transformation" that Reborn Mexico beyond recognition. His term ends next month, and he is replaced, for the first time in the country's history, by a woman, Claudia Scheinbaum. She was born in 1962.she was educated in energy and physics in Mexico and received her Ph. D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Berkeley in California. He has received many awards in the field of science. As of 2014. he is politically active in the party of Moreno Lopez Obrador. She has performed many important duties, and she comes to the position of President of Mexico from the position of the prime minister of the city of Mexico, which has more than 22 million inhabitants. She will, as she promised her constituents, continue to develop and "build the second floor of the fourth transformation". What has been done in Mexico in just six years as part of the "fourth transformation" under the baton of AMLO?There is little room to mention all the successes, so we will list only the most large-scale implemented projects.
The biggest attention within the "Fourth Transformation" in the past six years has been paid to traffic corridors. Thousands of kilometers of road network have been built and modernized, both regional and local. There are also highways that connect the end points of this great country, and especially favor the development of tourism in seaside resorts, already popular in the world for a long time. In these places, but also in the interior, airports have been modernized, so this will contribute to the increase of the number of tourists.
Another important segment of transport is Railways. Many of the tracks were abandoned, some were put out of use, and a smaller number were used only for freight transport. Now all these railways have been reconstructed, electrified and equipped not only for the transport of freight, but also for passengers, which greatly contributes to the development and growth of population standards.
The most significant undertaking in this area is the Tren may Project. This railway is 1554 kilometers long, and trains will run at speeds of up to 16º km/hour. It is envisaged that this route will transport about three million passengers a year, from the famous resort Cancun to archaeological sites that testify to the ancient civilizations, primarily the Maya, after which it got its name. It is envisaged that this route will transport millions of tons of cargo, and that is why production and logistics facilities were built along the railway, which led to the creation of thousands of new jobs. There are ,of course, Services.
A 2oo km long railway corridor on the teuantepec isthmus connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans was also opened. Along this corridor, a waterway will be built. This corridor will transport about 4oo thousand containers per year, and to increase this number, ships will be introduced to load trains loaded with containers in order to avoid wasting time on loading and unloading. This three-lane corridor will also be used for passenger transport. Both around it, as well as around the Tren Maj corridor, large industrial and logistics facilities have been built and are being built, which brings many new jobs.
Photo By Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Of great success, it is worth mentioning that in the field of oil industry. Large refineries were on the verge of collapse thanks to the corruption of earlier authorities who stole up to sixty percent of the production. With sharp cuts made by the AMLO team, corruption was cut at the root, and the money saved served to put the refineries on their feet, to make a profit, and even managed to buy the Deere Park refinery in Texas. Mexico now has seven refineries that process about two million barrels a day and get 780 thousand barrels of gasoline and 560 thousand barrels of diesel a day. This helps to meet all domestic needs. So, they got rid of imports, and if you add to that the fact that they got rid of external debts, it is clear how much this contributes to the independence and sovereignty of this country.
In Mexico, the phenomenon is also known by the English word nearshoring. It is about large companies moving part of their production capacities to other countries, closer to the end user of their products, in order to reduce costs and better position themselves in tough competition. Thus, Foreign, but also domestic, investments in new production facilities are constantly increasing. Let's just mention some .Tesla is investing between 4 4.5 billion and п 5 billion to build a megafabric car. Lennox builds a third refrigeration plant and invests долара 33 million. Heineken has been present for 15o years in Mexico and has seven factories, plans to invest долара 5oo million in a new factory in Yucatan. The largest foreign investor in Mexico is the United States with 4 478.1 billion, followed by Germany with.58.7 billion and the United Kingdom with. 54.4 billion. In this year,the Secretariat of economy recorded 378 requests for foreign investments worth 11o, 744 billion dollars.
Such growth and living conditions that are much more favorable than in the U.S. have contributed to Mexico becoming attractive to many Americans who have already moved and are doing business for U.S. companies online. Suffice it to say that the rental of residential or commercial space is several times lower than that in the United States. Americans ' incomes are still high, so they have no problem renting or buying housing or office space at higher prices, which creates problems for the native population, since they have to move. So there are in some cities already entire neighborhoods occupied by the incoming Americans.
The problem of immigration between Mexico and the United States is still pronounced, but it is mostly immigrants from other Latin American countries who flock to a "better world" in large groups and under the watch of NGOs.
Drug trafficking, especially fentanyl in recent times, is also one of the problems facing this country. It is interesting that there are few users of this drug in Mexico. The U.S. has repeatedly threatened Mexico to send military forces there to allegedly fight drug cartels, to which AMLO has responded that they should deal with the causes, not the consequences, to solve the problem of neglect and insufficient care for young people, and that the Mexican people will defend their sovereignty by all means.
It is clear to Mexico that the Monroe Doctrine is not entirely dead and that it is possible to preserve sovereignty against the abusers, only by force. That's why they're strengthening their armed forces. So they bought from Russia 3º aircraft Sukhoi Superjet 100.
We should not forget the numerous school, health and cultural institutions that have been built and rebuilt, as well as the fact that every family has some form of assistance, because the national wealth is now being distributed "from the bottom up" as AMLO says, not "from the top down, then down it never gets".
Before leaving office, AMLO and his team managed to win another great victory, to ensure the reform of the judiciary, and judges will be elected by the people in the future. In this branch of government there is a huge corruption, and the state (National) money spent on such a luxury that is not even recorded in Hollywood films. Against this,of course, were their tycoons and certainly the United States, without whose peace such a table could not have been prepared to which only the chosen ones on both sides of the border had access.
Source: Center for Geostrategic Studies
13. September 2024.