Maddie Laird

Mr. Sebestyen

Honors World Geography

April 4, 2017

Over the centuries of Mexicos history, the Mexican economy and government have

experienced many beneficial opportunities and challenging obstacles. A lot of those highlights

and drawbacks have shaped Mexico into the country it is today. However, during Mexicos

history, Mexicos leaders have lost sight of what is important, which is restoring Mexico to a

country of stability and development, both economically and politically. Based off of my future

for Mexico, plans to restore and improve Mexico include renegotiating NAFTA, implementing

economic sovereignty, enforcing land reform, and creating new schools.

In 1982, the country of Mexico experienced an economic crash and caused Mexico to

obtain $80 million dollars in international debt. The economic crash also caused important

sources of income, which were resources such as oil, minerals, and agriculture exports to be sold

on the international market at a drastically reduced rate. Lastly, the crash in the economy

increased the unemployment rate as well as decreased the wages for workers in the workforce.

With plans to renegotiate NAFTA, which stands for North American Free Trade Agreement,

Mexico plans to make certain that an economic crash does not happen again. Originally,

NAFTAs goal was to lower barriers to trade with countries in North America but government

leaders in Mexico can continue to do so along with renegotiate NAFTA into expressing

economic sovereignty. Mexico is the 12th largest exporter in the world and has exported 80% of

Mexicos resources to the United States. These statistics are helpful to the economy but Mexico
should learn to express economic sovereignty little by little. In order to implement economic

sovereignty, Mexico needs to stop relying fully and completing on international trade and focus

more on improving the economy by restoring the local industries and infrastructure. Mexicos

GDP growth rate was 2.3% in 2015 and have steadily increased since 2014 and 2013. Based off

of the facts, Mexicos economy is improving for years to come.

Mexicos government leaders plan to calmly express to their allies, the United States and

Canada, that Mexico is its own country that deserves more money in order to become a better

country and business partner. However, if the United States and Canada view Mexicos

renegotiation as nonbeneficial towards themselves, then Mexico might have to resort to raising

taxes just until an efficient amount of money is collected in order to improve Mexico. In the end,

raised taxes for the time being will ultimately improve Mexico in the long run and prove to

Mexicos allies that the country is a force to be reckon with and has unlimited potential to

become a better country and a better business partner.

By providing Mexico with fair land reform and more education and job opportunities,

Mexico will be able to make monumental strides towards stability and development. By

enforcing land reform, this will help the middle class and lower class prosper by obtaining a fair

way to earn income through the practice of agriculture. Enforcing land reform creates many job

opportunities and sources of income for the indigenous communities in Mexico.

Nelson Mandela once stated Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use

to change the world. That being said, the true defense against crime, corruption, and poverty is

education. Creating schools will not only help reduce the poverty and crime rate but it will also

create job opportunities. Along with the plan to create more educational opportunities,

government leaders should apply harsher punishment to those involved in drug cartels. This
would ensure peace and safety to those who have been subjected to the violence and corruption

provided by the drug cartels.

In conclusion, restoring Mexico to a country full of prosperity, stability, and development

is obtainable through plans that include renegotiating NAFTA, implementing economic

sovereignty, enforcing land reform, and creating new schools. Yes, this new future for Mexico

will take time, but all rewarding things do. Based off of Mexicos history, government leaders

should learn from the mistakes made and strive to restore Mexico to the country it has the

potential to become.