Special Report

As China’s wages climb, Mexico stands to win new manufacturing business

Not long ago, Mexican factories couldn’t compete with the “China price,” the ridiculously low cost of production in the Asian nation. » read more

Entrenched interests enslave Mexicans in cycle of hopelessness

Twelve years ago, Mexicans thought their country had been given a fresh start when, for the first time in seven decades, the political party that had been identified with a do-nothing bureaucracy, crony capitalism and a corrupt government lost its hold on the presidency. When Mexican voters go to the polls July 1, however, that same party is all but certain to win, a restoration to power that signals how intractable Mexico's many problems have been. » read more

Mexico's subpar schools put shackles on its future

When experts talk about Mexico's future, they bemoan the condition of its schools. It's here, they say, that Mexico's possibilities of one day rivaling Europe as an economic power, something that would be an enormous benefit not just to this country but to the United States as well, founder. » read more

Union boss Elba Esther Gordillo keeps a stranglehold on Mexico's schools

Experts looking for someone to blame for the poor state of Mexico's education system often latch on Elba Esther Gordillo, the 67-year-old president for life of Mexico's teachers union. Routinely ranked as the least popular of the nation's most prominent figures, she's amassed a huge personal fortune and so much political influence that she is said to walk through the gates of the presidential residence any time she wants. » read more

Mexico's 'maquiladora' labor system keeps workers in poverty

Some four decades after welcoming foreign assembly plants and factories, known as maquiladoras, Mexico has seen only a trickle of its industrial and factory workers join the ranks of those who even slightly resemble a middle class. Instead, poverty still clutches them. » read more