México

Mexican Tortilla Crisis

Verónica Benaim

15/01/2011

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Since 2007 the price of tortillas, Mexico’s main staple, has been skyrocketing. Many politicians focused on the issue during election campaigns, but food prices continue to rise.

In 2007, Felipe Calderón’s government authorised an increase in the price of tortillas per kilogram, dealing society a hard blow and bringing the country to the brink of a major economic and food crisis.

Since then, the price of tortillas has risen by 15 percent and many Mexican analysts have compared this situation to what happened late 1994, when Ernesto Zedillo’s government floated the peso in order to devalue it.

The tortilleros - tortilla producers, believe that this surge in prices is due to rise in the cost of corn, the grain used for making tortillas. The price of corn has been rising because of the increasing demand from the United States, where it is used to make ethanol.

At the same time, and despite the fact that Mexico is considered by many to be the mecca of maize, every year the country imports millions of tons from the US, its main trading partner, fuelling the price increase.

On the other hand, it appears that the real reason behind the explosive food situation is the North American Free Trade Agreement. This agreement was drawn up with the aim of opening Mexico up to globalisation and to the policies of plunder and speculation, the only real benefit being the repayment of international debt.

More than ten years after NAFTA was signed, the devastating effects can be seen in agriculture as well as in local industry. Despite supposedly benefitting from protection, the production per capita of basic cereals like rice, wheat and corn, amongst others, has plummeted.

Speaking with APM, Manuel Díaz de la Vega, director of the Veracruz State government’s tortilla programme, explained that there is still no official price for tortillas, since the consumer protection agency (PROFECO) only ensures that scales are calibrated according to current regulations and because of this some tortilla producers raise their price by 15 percent.

This means that tortilla prices are freely set between 10 to 15 pesos per kilogram (almost a dollar) although street vendors’ prices range from 9 to 13 pesos depending on the quality of the tortilla.

It is important to emphasize that tortillas are the main food of the Mexican people. Rodrigo Barranco Déctor, a journalist in Veracruz, explains that the tortilla is a supplement made from corn and is used in the same way as bread, except that bread is more expensive and the tortilla is more accessible to the masses. Tortillas help fill hungry stomachs and are eaten by the country’s low-wage earners. He also added that the increase creates a terrible situation for the majority of Mexicans, who are poor and earn a minimum wage of 50 pesos a day, and that the upper classes hardly eat tortillas since they eat more bread.

Mexican tortillas, which look like a sort of flattened bread, are found in countless recipes such as tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas. Moreover, they have been a part of the Mexican diet since olden times, eaten by the Mayas and the Aztecs.

Nowadays, many politicians are using the subject of tortillas for their electoral campaigns, capitalising on this basic need of the people. Barrano Déctor commented that the federal deputy for the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), made an agreement with tortilla producers and PRI affiliates during his last campaign to sell tortillas at 10 pesos a kilogram. The tortilla was sold in a red wrapper and bore the name of the electoral candidate. This offer was only available during Manssur’s campaign; once the candidate won the elections, the price started to rise again.

Last September the Calderón government decided to end federal subsidies for local flour manufacturers and liberated the prices of flour by-products. This led to an increase in fees due to the lack of aid from the government.

Mexico continues to renounce its food sovereignty and security, adopting the criteria imposed upon the country by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mexico has become a distinct food importer and has handed control of its food industry over to large cereal companies such as Cargill-Monsanto, Archer Daniela, Midland Dreyfus, Novartis and Maseca.

On a global scale, many major corporations dominate and control the food industry in the same way, forcing countries and their farmers to produce below the real cost level, while enforcing monopolistic prices to the detriment of millions of people suffering from poorer and poorer diet.

(Translated from the Spanish by Janelle Alexander).

Original article published 13-09-2009:

Source: Agencia de Prensa Mercosur http://www.prensamercosur.com.ar/

https://www.alainet.org/en/active/46481