Whatever our views on immigration policy and US-Mexico border controls, income inequality in Mexico persists and drives impoverished Mexicans across the border. Today, the BBC reported that Carlos Slim, a Mexican multibillionaire closely linked to two Mexican Presidents, is the richest man on Earth. A 27% increase in the value of his telecom monopolies has propelled his net worth over US$70 billion. Meanwhile 53% of Mexicans live in poverty.
BBC link
More below the fold.
His family was well off, with a knack for buying properties cheap in times of turmoil and selling them dear. His father, for example, acquired property from Mexicans fleeing the chaos that accompanied the Mexican civil wars/revolutions early in the last century. Carlos managed to do the same during the 1980s Mexican crisis brought on by falling oil prices and a plummeting peso.
Slim served as "prestanombres" (person authorized to carry out transactions) for Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas, Presidents of Mexico from 1982 to 1994. La Opinión, (Los Angeles CA), October 23, 2006 (in Spanish) reports. This connection served him very well.
From the Wikipedia (Spanish-language):
Carlos Slim Helú compró Telmex durante las privatizaciones del entonces presidente Carlos Salinas de Gortari. La venta fue hecha a través de una supuesta subasta "pública" el 9 de diciembre de 1990. A pesar de que varios grupos extranjeros ofrecieron cantidades mayores para la compra de Telmex, uno de los requerimientos determinantes era que la propiedad mayoritaria quedara en manos mexicanas ,es por eso que de los grupos con control accionario mexicano, la mayor fue la que encabezaba el Grupo Carso, cuyo socio mayoritario es Carlos Slim, por lo que a partir de entonces controla el monopolio de las telecomunicaciones, lanzando constantes campañas de competencia desleal para evitar perder su poder en la industria.
Carlos Slim Helu bought Telmex (the Mexican telephone monopoly during the privatizations of then-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The sale took place at a "public" auction on December 9, 1990. Even though other foreign groups offered more money to buy out Telmex, one of the conditions of sale was that most of Telmex would remain in Mexican hands. Given that, among the groups with majority Mexican ownership, the best offer came from Group Carso, whose majority owner was Carlos Slim. Since then, he has had a monopoly on the Mexican telecommunications industry, constantly resorting to unfair competition to avoid losing his power in the industry.
The Wiki does not mention, though the La Opinión article does, that Slim's offer was for payment in installments. Three of the installments should have been paid by 10/23/2006; only one such payment could be shown.
Salinas later gained infamy in Mexico for manipulating the value of the peso in such a manner that his successor, Ernesto Zedillo, had to take out a $20 billion loan from Uncle Sam to keep the Mexican economy from collapsing. The joke goes: "Why is Popo (a volcano near Puebla) smoking? Because Salinas is inside burning records."
Un-Fun Fact: if Slim's wealth were split between every Mexican, every Mexican would have $700. A year's minimum wage in Mexico is about twice that, and domestic workers can receive $700/year for a 54-hour workweek if their employer counts food provided at work as half that, as allowed by Mexican labor law.
Folks, this is the kind of government that we are heading for if Bushco's enablers get another four years in power. If the Republicans win in 2008, then Canada might be well-advised to start planning its own wall.