TRADE AND DEBT

Witness:  Alberto Arrojo
ALIANZA SOCIAL CONTINENTAL  (Mexico)

Points culled from rough translation: 

Another kind of debt is generated by free trade agreements. There is a direct relationship between free trade and what happened to Mexico, a "tequila effect" that impacted the whole society. This crisis meant poverty for more people and left people poor up to the present. The North American Free Trade Agreement  (FTAA) rules provoked crisis. There was an increase in commercial debt. Mexico has been buying more goods than it has been selling in the last five years. It has accumulated a trade deficit of US$55 billion.