Trade drives rise of middle class in Central Mexico | Querétaro: Promise of prosperity for Mexico

Trade drives rise of middle class in Central Mexico

By Lillian Donahue / Cronkite Borderlands Project

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017

Most of the Industrial Park Queretaro’s labor force lives in the next-door neighborhood called la Estacada, less than a mile away. Workers can walk from their homes to their jobs. (Photo by Andrea Jaramillo)

Mixed feelings on NAFTA in Mexico

Mexican critics of NAFTA think their government should take a hard look at its shortcomings, particularly in the area of poverty.

Despite a lack of support from the government, local activists in Budapest are fighting the spread of drug use and disease. (Photo by Courtney Pedroza)

In Mexico, loving the mountains to death

Competing visions collide as Mexico seeks to balance conservation with tourism and economic development in a national land preserve.

Taxes on remittances would devastate poor in Mexico

President Trump has threatened to block or tax remittances from Mexico, which could negatively affect millions in Mexico.

Aurelio Martínez Moran, a mid-level farmer in Queretaro, Mexico, stands on the land he’s farmed for most of his life on March 4, 2017. (Photo by Johanna Huckeba)

Mexicans work to reclaim corn as their own

Mexico considers boycotting U.S. corn to battle NAFTA threats and boost the country’s own farmers of the crop, who have been overwhelmed by U.S. imports.

Workers mill around the Agropark facility on March 8, 2017 in Colón, Querétaro. They pick tomatoes that will eventually be exported to the United States and various other countries. (Photo by Megan Janetsky)

Mexico seeks edge with high tech 'Agroparks'

A network of strategically placed agro-industrial parks could be the key to Mexico’s future economy.

Saving the mountains while helping the poor in Mexico

Local villagers and ecologists team up to protect, conserve and re-forest one of Mexico’s most biologically important areas - the Sierra Gorda mountains.

Most of the Industrial Park Queretaro’s labor force lives in the next-door neighborhood called la Estacada, less than a mile away. Workers can walk from their homes to their jobs. (Photo by Andrea Jaramillo)

NAFTA changes would affect both sides of border

NAFTA has linked U.S. and Mexican manufacturing to such a degree that changes could have substantial effects on both sides of the border.

Sofia Aristeo Serdan looks through Prospera Program paperwork that sits on her dining room table. (Photo by Danielle Quijada)

Mexican anti-poverty program is model for the world

A government program tries to tackle poverty in a country where more than half of its 130 million residents are poor.

Mexican families rely on money from providers in U.S.

Remittances from immigrant workers in the United States are a mainstay for Mexican families - and the nation’s economy.

Mobile medical units bring care to the impoverished in Mexico’s remote central highlands in Queretaro state, providing services previously unavailable.

Taking health care to people who need it most

Mobile medical units bring care to the impoverished in Mexico’s remote central highlands in Queretaro state, providing services previously unavailable.

Kirsten West, an American expatriate living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, talks about her adopted home town and how recent politics have affected relations between the United States and Mexico.

Deported welcomed by locals and Americans in Mexico

American expats join forces with locals to help immigrants who have been deported from the United States.

Trade drives rise of middle class in Central Mexico

Manufacturing and tech jobs in industrial hubs such as Queretaro have created a new Mexican middle class, lifting thousands out of poverty.

A Donald Trump piñata keeps curious company in Globo Kimba, Javier Velazquez’s piñata shop.

Mexicans and Americans – a complicated relationship

A U.S. journalist goes on a listening tour to explore the current, complicated feelings of Mexicans toward the United States.

More than 500 people, both Mexican citizens and U.S. expatriates, took to the streets of San Miguel de Allende in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato on Feb. 12 to express their pride in Mexico and protest Trump’s words.

Trump’s rhetoric awakens new spirit in Mexico

President Donald Trump’s words have changed the relationship between the United States and Mexico, igniting anger and a drive for independence within Mexico.

Women left behind as men leave Mexico for work

As generations of Mexican men have gone north for work, mothers left behind anchor their families and face the heartache of loss.

Modern Mexicans turn to old ways of childbirth

Mexican families who can afford it are turning to more traditional, natural methods of childbirth, including the use of midwives.

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The Cronkite School has been covering immigration and border issues since 2006 with the generous support of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Buffett student projects include: Hungary: Europe's Borderland | Nicaragua: Channeling the Future | Chiapas: State of Revolution | Two Borders | Puerto Rico: Unsettled Territory | Stateless in the Dominican Republic | South Africa: At the Crossroads of Hate and Hope | South Africa Documentary | Borderlands Photo Essays | Divided Families (PDF) | Divided Families Documentary | Children of the Borderlands | South Africa Project

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