Editing Neoliberalism (section)

==== Mexico ====
Along with many other Latin American countries in the early 1980s, [[Mexico]] experienced a [[Latin American debt crisis|debt crisis]]. In 1983 the Mexican government ruled by the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party#:~:text=The Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish,, PNR), then as the|PRI]], the Institutional Revolutionary Party, [[Mexico and the International Monetary Fund|accepted loans from the IMF]].&nbsp;Among the conditions set by the IMF were requirements for Mexico to privatize state-run industries, [[Devaluation|devalue their currency]], decrease [[trade barrier]]s, and restrict governmental spending.<ref name="Musacchio-2012">{{Cite journal |last=Musacchio |first=Aldo |date=May 8, 2012 |title=Mexico's Financial Crisis of 1994–1995 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:9056792 |journal=[[Harvard Business School|Harvard Business School Working Paper]] |issue=12–101 |via=Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard}}</ref> These policies were aimed at stabilizing Mexico's economy in the short run. Later, Mexico tried to expand these policies to encourage growth and [[foreign direct investment]] (FDI).

The decision to accept the IMF's neoliberal reforms split the PRI between those on the right who wanted to implement neoliberal policies and those the left who did not.<ref name="Laurell-2015">{{Cite journal |last=Laurell |first=Asa Cristina |date=2015 |title=Three Decades of Neoliberalism in Mexico: The Destruction of Society |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020731414568507 |journal=[[International Journal of Health Services]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=246–264 |doi=10.1177/0020731414568507 |pmid=25813500 |s2cid=35915954 |via=SAGE}}</ref> [[Carlos Salinas de Gortari]], who took power in 1988, doubled down on neoliberal reforms. His policies opened up the financial sector by deregulating the banking system and privatizing commercial banks.<ref name="Musacchio-2012" /><ref name="Laurell-2015" /> Though these policies did encourage a small amount of growth and FDI, the growth rate was below what it had been under previous governments in Mexico, and the increase in foreign investment was largely from existing investors.<ref name="Laurell-2015" /> 
[[File:President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas participate in the... - NARA - 186460.jpg|thumb|U.S. President Bush, Canadian PM Mulroney, and Mexican President Salinas participate in the ceremonies to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).]]
On 1 January 1994 the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation|Zapatista Army]] of National Liberation, named for [[Emiliano Zapata]], a leader in the Mexican revolution, launched an armed rebellion against the Mexican government in the Chiapas region.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Godelmann |first=Iker Reyes |date=July 30, 2014 |title=The Zapatista Movement: The Fight for Indigenous Rights in Mexico |work=Australian Institute for International Affairs |url=http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/the-zapatista-movement-the-fight-for-indigenous-rights-in-mexico/}}</ref> Among their demands were rights for indigenous Mexicans as well as opposition to the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA), which solidified a strategic alliance between state and business.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bensabat Kleinberg |first1=Remonda |year=1999 |title=Strategic Alliances: State-Business Relations in Mexico Under Neo-Liberalism and Crisis |journal=[[Bulletin of Latin American Research]] |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=71–87 |doi=10.1111/j.1470-9856.1999.tb00188.x}}</ref>&nbsp; NAFTA, a trade agreement between the [[United States]], [[Canada]], and Mexico, significantly aided in Mexico's efforts to liberalize trade.

In 1994, the same year of the Zapatista rebellion and the enactment of NAFTA, Mexico faced a [[Mexican peso crisis|financial crisis]]. The crisis, also known as the [[Mexican peso crisis|"Tequila Crisis"]] began in December 1994 with the devaluation of the peso.<ref name="Laurell-2015" /><ref name="Sachs-1996">{{Cite journal |last=Sachs |first=Jeffrey |date=November 1996 |title=The Mexican peso crisis: Sudden death or death foretold? |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w5563.pdf |journal=[[Journal of International Economics]] |volume=41 |issue=3–4 |pages=265–283 |doi=10.1016/S0022-1996(96)01437-7 |s2cid=154060545 |via=[[Science Direct]]}}</ref> When investors' doubts led to negative speculation they fled with their capital.&nbsp;The central bank was forced to raise [[interest rate]]s which in turn collapsed the banking system as borrowers could no longer pay back their loans.<ref name="Sachs-1996" />

After Salinas, [[Ernesto Zedillo]] (1995–2000) maintained similar economic policies to his predecessor. Despite the crisis, Zedillo continued to enact neoliberal policies and signed new agreements with the [[World Bank]] and the IMF.<ref name="Laurell-2015" /> As a result of these policies and the 1994 recession, Mexico's economy did gain stability. Neither the 2001 or [[Great Recession|2008]] recessions were caused by internal economic forces in Mexico. Trade increased dramatically, as well as FDI; however, as Mexico's [[business cycle]] synced with that of the United States, it was much more vulnerable to external economic pressures.<ref name="Musacchio-2012" /> FDI benefited the Northern and Central regions of Mexico while the Southern region was largely excluded from the influx of investment. The crisis also left the banks mainly in the hands of foreigners.

The PRI's 71-year rule ended when [[Vicente Fox]] of the PAN, the [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]], won the election in 2000. Fox and his successor, [[Felipe Calderón]], did not significantly diverge from the economic policies of the PRI governments. They continued to privatize the financial system and encourage foreign investment.<ref name="Laurell-2015" /> Despite significant opposition, [[Enrique Peña Nieto]], president from 2012 to 2018, pushed through legislation that would privatize the [[Petroleum industry in Mexico|oil]] and [[Electricity sector in Mexico|electricity industries]]. These reforms marked the conclusion to the neoliberal goals that had been envisioned in Mexico in the 1980s.<ref name="Laurell-2015" />