Word: mexicanization
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...during the new era ushered in by the three-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which freed up not just commerce but also the flow of ideas across the border with the U.S. Empowered by its huge size, the NAFTA generation promises to have an impact on Mexican politics, economics and culture as profound as the clout wielded by the older baby-boom generation in the U.S. Some 65% of Mexico's 95 million people are under age 30, and more than a third of the registered voters in last week's election were ages...
These young people support the opening of the Mexican economy in principle--they certainly scoop up American products like Gap jeans and McDonald's burgers. But they want NAFTA-generated wealth to be more widely distributed through the population, and they blame the government for a growing gap between the rich and poor. The opposition parties they supported have campaigned for modifications in NAFTA that would protect particularly vulnerable sectors of the economy, like agriculture and small manufacturing...
...rate among young adults is twice as high as that of older people--a situation that sends more and more youth over the U.S. border each year in search of work. And a higher proportion (more than 40%) of people under 30 live in poverty than of any other Mexican generation. In an alcove beside one of Mexico City's busiest subway stops, a growing community of homeless and jobless young men live on old mattresses and sofas. "So many guys our age, and there's no work," says Luis...
...more poised to break with entrenched economic and cultural traditions. Young people want realism instead of nationalist ideology in their movies and music, and surveys show they prize honesty, competence and practicality over old-fashioned lockstep thinking and knee-jerk anti-Americanism. With AIDS the third leading killer of Mexicans under age 35, they are demanding a more candid discussion in the traditionally prim media of issues like sexuality. The demands have helped spawn a renaissance in Mexican television, cinema and journalism...
Among the most visible role models for the NAFTA generation is movie actress Salma Hayek. Most Americans know her as a rising Hollywood siren (Desperado, Fools Rush In). What they don't know is that behind her almond-eyed beauty lies an outspoken Mexican rebel. Six years ago, as a soap-opera star at Televisa, the broadcast giant that has strong ties to the P.R.I., she stunned her bosses and fans by bolting to Los Angeles. Today Hayek, 28, still delights in snubbing her country's Establishment in ways few celebrities have dared--whether by endorsing new competition against Mexico...