Group 1 Presentation

Our topic was the rise and fall of industry: a failure to diversify. The Yucatan's failure to diversify has caused severe swings in its economy. Henequen production, which started in the 1900s, was owned by seven wealthy families until it was privatized by the Mexican government. Henequen plants were used to make rope. We saw first hand a henequen hacienda a few days before the presentation. However, the demand for henequen became less and less. Today, Mexico has tons of henequen plants growing, but no demand for the rope. Could re-creating a demand help?

So, the Mexican government created maquilas. In 1994, Nafta was drafted between the United States, Canada, and Mexico which stated that there would be no tax on material imported into Mexico. A maquiladora is a concept often referred to an operation that involves manufacturing in a country that is not the client's and as such has an interesting duty or tariff treatment. It normally requires a factory, that may import materials and equipment on a duty free and tariff-free basis for assembly or manufacturing and then "re-exports" the assembled or manufactured product, sometimes back to the originating country. The Yucatan thought that their land would be a great place to build maquiladoras because they have new roads, a newly renovated Port of Progresso, and lots of land.

The articles we used: http://www.mexicomike.com/stories/henequen.htm
Jstor articles:The Insertion of Rural Areas into Global Markets: A Comparison of Garment Production in Yucatán and La Laguna, Mexico

Population, Development, and Environment in the Yucatan Peninsula (Attached)-Chapter 5, Begins on Page 118

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