| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, February 03 2004 |
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| Monterrey, Mexico -- Of the thousands of Mexicans who come through this northern city on their way to the border with the intention of crossing into the United States, many of them change their minds and stay. That's because Monterrey is Mexico's land of opportunity. The richest, most industrial city in the country offers what most other Mexican cities lack: jobs and half-decent salaries.
In size, it is the third-largest, after Mexico City and Guadalajara, but in opportunities, it is second to none. "We cannot get enough workers," said Hector Aguirre, a Mexican developer whom I met while covering the Summit of the Americas. "Sometimes we have to go to other states to recruit workers to fill the need for laborers, particularly in the construction industry."
There's a good explanation for Monterrey's bonanza. Many of Mexico's big conglomerates, which produce everything from iron to steel to paper to beer to processed foods, are based here. It is the world's third-largest producer of glass and is home to one of the largest cement companies on the planet. Although the state of Nuevo Leon's (where Monterrey is located) population is less than 4 percent of Mexico's, it generates more than 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product and almost 10 percent of Mexico's manufactured goods.
Francisco Sanchez, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, also credits Monterrey's visionary businessmen who took advantage of the opportunities presented by the North American Free Trade Agreement. While millions of jobs have been lost in Mexico due to the trade agreement -- mostly in agricultural states -- investments have poured into Nuevo Leon.
It also doesn't hurt that Monterrey is about a two-hour drive from the U.S. state of Texas, opening the door to a booming business trade. As a matter of fact, Monterrey is sometimes called the most Texan city south of the Rio Grande. Fortune magazine calls it the best place to do business in Latin America.
While driving through "El Paseo Santa Lucia," you would think you are in the city of San Antonio. But go a few miles out of the center of the city and you realize you are still in the Third World. Close to a million people in the Monterrey metropolitan area live in poverty. That's approximately 1/3 of the population. But in spite of their misfortune, it's still better than the 60 percent poverty level nationally.
Many of the immigrants who go to the United States do so from states like Chiapas, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Michoacan and Puebla, which have some of the highest poverty and unemployment levels in the country. But Nuevo Leon is thriving.
"Monterrey is a city that attracts immigrants, not exports them," said Professor Sanchez, who believes that if Mexicans find opportunities in their own country, they don't leave. People I spoke to on the street confirm this notion. Some said they have no interest in going to the United States because they've found good-paying jobs here in construction and manufacturing. Besides, with nine universities, 231 technical and prep schools, and private bilingual schools teaching English, German or French, you can come here, get an education and make a decent living.
While the daily minimum wage in Mexico is the equivalent of around $4, there are millions who work for $1 a day. But in the Monterrey area, the average salary can be as much as $18 a day.
As long as Mexico remains home to millions of people living in poverty, many of them will risk the dangerous journey to the United States and, in many cases, face rejection and humiliation north of the border. But if more cities were like Monterrey, millions more Mexicans would stay in their own country -- where they would rather be in the first place. |
