2008 Woodie Awards
Students learn about negative effects of NAFTA on their trip to Oaxaca, Mexico
Deena Zaru
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Features
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As part of Shopping for Change week, sophomores Katrina Siladi, Eric Ginsburg, Aaron Woerner, Andy Young and Jini Kades '07 gave a presentation in Bryan Jr. auditorium on Monday, Nov. 26 about their experiences this past summer in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The students were in Oaxaca from June 2-12 and also got to visit neighboring villages and stayed in the "campo," where they were able to learn first-hand about the negative effects of fair trade and free trade policies on the farmers and their communities.
The students went with Witness for Peace, an organization that believes that by acting in solidarity and community with Latin American and Caribbean people, while respecting their lives, their culture, and their decisions, international presence can be beneficial to solving the problems.
"Your role as an international watchdog can help determine how situations are dealt with," Siladi said, "and after going abroad, you are able to come back to the U.S. and educate people here about the situation, which is what we are doing now."
All students highlighted the importance of first-hand experience in understanding the situation.
"The trip also gave me a better understanding of everything that I had been reading about for years," Woerner said. "First hand experience does wonders on the path to truly understanding a situation."
According to the students, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect on Jan. 1, 1994 under Bill Clinton's administration, caused many of the problems and unfair practices in places like Oaxaca.
The students said that the stated purposes of NAFTA were to reduce the prices of Mexican goods in the United States, increase job availability in Mexico, and balance out the uneven economic exchange.
However, according to the students, the only goal that was actually accomplished by NAFTA was price reduction of Mexican goods in the United States.
"I heard from one man that since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, the economic state of Oaxaca is as if it has been in a 10 year war, and is now entering a reconstruction period," Siladi said.
The students were in Oaxaca from June 2-12 and also got to visit neighboring villages and stayed in the "campo," where they were able to learn first-hand about the negative effects of fair trade and free trade policies on the farmers and their communities.
The students went with Witness for Peace, an organization that believes that by acting in solidarity and community with Latin American and Caribbean people, while respecting their lives, their culture, and their decisions, international presence can be beneficial to solving the problems.
"Your role as an international watchdog can help determine how situations are dealt with," Siladi said, "and after going abroad, you are able to come back to the U.S. and educate people here about the situation, which is what we are doing now."
All students highlighted the importance of first-hand experience in understanding the situation.
"The trip also gave me a better understanding of everything that I had been reading about for years," Woerner said. "First hand experience does wonders on the path to truly understanding a situation."
According to the students, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect on Jan. 1, 1994 under Bill Clinton's administration, caused many of the problems and unfair practices in places like Oaxaca.
The students said that the stated purposes of NAFTA were to reduce the prices of Mexican goods in the United States, increase job availability in Mexico, and balance out the uneven economic exchange.
However, according to the students, the only goal that was actually accomplished by NAFTA was price reduction of Mexican goods in the United States.
"I heard from one man that since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, the economic state of Oaxaca is as if it has been in a 10 year war, and is now entering a reconstruction period," Siladi said.
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