The level of inequality in Mexico is so extreme that its four wealthiest inhabitants have amassed fortunes equivalent to nine percent of the nation’s GDP, while 53.3 million people (45.5 percent of the population) live in poverty.
The extent of Mexico’s rampant and rapidly worsening wealth disparity was laid bare in a study released by international charity organization Oxfam on Wednesday.
The report, entitled “Extreme Inequality in Mexico: Concentration of Economic and Political Power,” reveals that while GDP per capita increased by less than one percent per year, the fortune of the 16 richest Mexicans quintupled between 1996 and 2014.
Mexico’s economy has stagnated in this period, and the number of people living in poverty has grown considerably, while the nation’s wealthiest man, telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim, has built up a fortune that equates to almost six percent of Mexico’s GDP…
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Real estate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump provoked a fierce backlash in Mexico this week after making crude, xenophobic comments while announcing that he intends to run for president of the U.S. next year.
“When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending the best,” Trump said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”
“I will build a great, great wall on our southern border,” the aspiring Republican Party candidate added, “and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Predictably, the racist outburst caused a furor on both sides of the border. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans immediately slammed Trump’s offensive comments, while the international press exposed the deep flaws in his argument…
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The Tequila Files 