Summary
US companies exported 1.4 million tons of hazardous waste in 2022, nearly half of which went to Monterrey, Mexico.
Toxic substances from Zinc Nacional, a local recycling plant processing US steel dust, have polluted nearby homes, schools, and soil with lead, arsenic, and cadmium, exceeding US health thresholds by hundreds of times.
Experts call the waste trade “toxic colonialism,” citing Mexico’s weaker regulations and enforcement.
Residents report health issues, while the company claims compliance. Mexican authorities are investigating amid calls for stricter oversight and accountability.
Guns brought in through the border, toxic waste infecting the population, and now Trump wants to start a trade war with Mexico and other countries…
Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if the US was responsible for like half of Mexico’s problems.
To be fair, it seems like Mexico should have never allowed this toxic dust to be brought into their country in the first place. It sounds like there is no safe way to extract zinc from this dust?
But if that’s the case, the US shouldn’t be allowed to sell it to other countries either.
System working as intended. It’s not intentionally being done to destabilize Mexico so that the US can have cheap labor and a depressed secondary market. But for some reason we’re not in the business of “nation building” in Mexico, like we were in say Iraq or Afghanistan. Even though the way narco cultura operate is very similar to ISIL/ISIS/ISI.
I dunno something to do with the petro dollar and needing a secondary manufacturing market where corporations can buy Chinese parts and assemble them to bypass tariffs and trade agreements.
Not to say that any nation building efforts would help the Mexican people, just that it’s convenient to have a cheap source of labor on our southern border. Especially one where through NAFTA corporations aren’t beholden to US Law.
See CocaCola for a prime example.
deleted by creator
Yeah no. The Mexican government has more than enough to be blamed for but saying that it’s 100% their fault is either hellish naive or just disingenuous.
The US drug policies have wrecked havoc on just about every Latin American country, but Colombia and Mexico have been hit the worst. The US arms policies makes it relatively easy to move heavy weaponry to Mexico from the US, that is if the US government isn’t sending these weapons themselves.
These policies still stand and with Trump coming in, I imagine they will just get worse.
deleted by creator
You are extremely oversimplifying a very complex situation.
The Mexican government consists of self serving corrupt assholes but also loads of people who genuinely try to make the country better. Mexico was a third world nation which has grown up tremendously in the past decades, but it still has ways to go.
Could they have done more / better? Sure, of course.
Is the US government complicit in the shit show going on now in Mexico, with their policies and actions? Absofuckinglutely, and a big part too.
Just because the Mexican government could have done better doesn’t mean the US government is off the hook
deleted by creator
I’m confused about this comment. I think what would help me get a handle on your viewpoint is if you could give me your opinion on Vicente Fox. Also what you think the impact a border wall would have on mixed communities like Brownsville and Matamoros.
Suggested reading for others if they’re interested.
https://www.academia.edu/124548850/The_War_on_Drugs_in_Mexico_Narco_Culture_and_Conflict
deleted by creator
Thank you for responding. I gave a couple links that you could give context to so other people can get a better understanding of your point. I lived in Ciudad before all the anglos and “digital nomads” started all the gentrification there.
US corporations and the War on Drugs have fucked over Mexico in such a way I don’t think will ever get fixed in my lifetime.
deleted by creator
I’m not trying to compete with you. Why are you so defensive?
deleted by creator
That guy should sue them for infringing on his trademark Stew.
We’re not sending out best.
