while you were shopping....

As a product of capitalist greed, leading to globalization, Latin and Central American countries have been kept underdeveloped to benefit American companies.  Latin America is full of natural resources like oil, coffee, and sugar cane and could be much more economically and politically stable if they were able to keep the profits of their production instead of having the US take it through their multinational corporations that have set up sweatshops in the countries. With NAFTA and CAFTA, USA companies can move to Mexico and pay the workers lower wages without having to worry about unions (they just make them “disappear”) or other laws as they do in America. The wages are low for Mexican workers often they have to look in landfills for food for their children. Another negative effect that NAFTA has had on Mexico is that the farmers cannot compete with subsidized American farmers so they have to look for work in the sweatshops.  NAFTA is a policy that further forces the dependency of Mexico on the United States for economic growth.  Though, it must be said that the United States has become dependent on the cheap products that are made in Mexico.  The US supporting leaders like Diaz and removing leaders like Arevalo and Arbenz, does nothing but detract from the development of Latin America, as Bureaucratic-Authoritarian/Military governments tend not to give up power easily or fairly, keeping Latin America in a constant state of coups and violence.