Here Where We Live: Mexico and NAFTA

Series produced by Round Earth Media

Caption: PRX default Series image
PRX default Series image 

A week-long series of 7- to 8-minute features exploring the environmental implications of NAFTA in Mexico.

In a series of five sound-rich stories, independent producers Mary Stucky and Mary Losure explore how the free trade agreement Mexico signed with its rich northern neighbors has reverberated across rural Mexico. Listeners hear from the troubled state of Chiapas where, in a clash of cultures, local opposition has put a stop to international “bioprospecting” for cures based on medicinal plants; from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where free-trade backers are working to build roads that will open southern Mexico to the rest of the world, against the opposition of some Mexican peasants; and from Oaxaca, where farmers have appealed to an international commission created by NAFTA for help in the fight against cheap US corn imports, one of the driving forces behind the migration of Mexicans to the United States. Listeners hear a profile of a forest cooperative near Durango selling sustainably-grown wood on the international market, and they’ll hear how environmental groups are fighting to save mangrove swamps from development aimed at US tourists. Hide full description

In a series of five sound-rich stories, independent producers Mary Stucky and Mary Losure explore how the free trade agreement Mexico signed with its rich northern neighbors has reverberated across rural Mexico. Listeners hear from the troubled state of Chiapas where, in a clash of cultures, local opposition has put a stop to international “bioprospecting” for cures based on medicinal plants; from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where free-trade backers are working to build roads that will open southern Mexico to the rest of the world, against the opposition of some Mexican peasants; and from Oaxaca, where farmers have appealed to an international commission created by NAFTA for help in the fight against cheap US corn imports, one of the driving forces behind the migration of Mexicans to... Show full description


5 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Mexico is trying to balance its lucrative tourism industry with the need to protect fragile coastal ecosystems.

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis, KUNM, Here and Now, and WYSO


  • Added: Apr 20, 2005
  • Length: 07:24
  • Purchases: 4
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Community-owned forests in Mexico are tapping into the demand for eco-friendly wood -- at least for now.

Bought by KUNM, Here and Now, and WAER Syracuse, NY


  • Added: Apr 20, 2005
  • Length: 07:03
  • Purchases: 3
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US corn imports in Mexico are making it hard for traditional farmers to maintain precious biodiversity.

Bought by KSUT, KFAI Minneapolis, KUNM, and Here and Now


  • Added: Apr 20, 2005
  • Length: 07:44
  • Purchases: 4
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Improved roads were supposed to be a side-benefit of NAFTA, but some poor Mexicans are convinced that highways won't improve their lives.

Bought by KUNM and Here and Now


  • Added: Apr 20, 2005
  • Length: 07:39
  • Purchases: 2
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Traditional Mexican healers have stopped "bioprospecting projects of foreign pharmaceutical companies.

Bought by KSUT, KFAI Minneapolis, KUNM, WAER Syracuse, NY, Here and Now and more


  • Added: Apr 20, 2005
  • Length: 07:56
  • Purchases: 6