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Mexico
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FactsBackground: The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused another massive economic downturn the following year. As the economy recovers, ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON. National elections, including the presidential election, are scheduled for July 2012. note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $1.004 trillion (2010 est.); GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2010 est.); -6.5% (2009 est.); 1.5% (2008 est.); GDP - per capita (PPP): $13,800 (2010 est.); $13,400 (2009 est.); $14,400 (2008 est.); note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.2%; industry: 33.3%; services: 62.5% (2010 est.); Population below poverty line: 18.2% using food-based definition of poverty; asset based poverty amounted to more than 47% (2008); Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.7%; highest 10%: 36.3% (2008); Labor force: 46.99 million (2010 est.); Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 13.7%; industry: 23.4%; services: 62.9% (2005); Unemployment rate: 5.6% (2010 est.); 5.5% (2009 est.); note: underemployment may be as high as 25% Budget: revenues: $237 billion; expenditures: $267 billion (2010 est.); Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism; Industrial production growth rate: 6% (2010 est.); Electricity - production: 245 billion kWh (2008 est.); Electricity - consumption: 181.5 billion kWh (2009 est.); Electricity - exports: 1.288 billion kWh (2008 est.); Electricity - imports: 584 million kWh (2008 est.); Statistics: CIA World Factbook. Press 1 2 Displaying 1 to 7 of 11 items. El Economista(Conservative business), Mexico City El Financiero(Independent, business-oriented), Mexico City El Imparcial(Independent), Hermosillo El Manana de Nuevo Laredo(Independent), Nuevo Laredo El Norte(Independent), Monterrey El Sur(Regional Information), Guzmán La Jornada(Independent Daily Newspaper), Mexico City Mexico in the NewsDisplaying 33 to 36 of 81 items. The Summit of the AmericasThe two-day Summit of the Americas in Argentina, attended by President Bush earlier this month, ended without a clear agreement on when and how to resume talks on a free trade agreement between the countries of North, Central, and South America. The 2005 World Press Freedom Index: Colombia, Mexico and Cuba Are Holding Back the Continent“In terms of press freedom, the small Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago (12th) is still the region’s top-ranked country. El Salvador (28th) — a still-fragile democracy after years of civil war — came in second, followed, as it was last year, by Costa Rica (41st), Bolivia (45th), Uruguay (46th) and Chile (50th).” The Mercosur MeetingChilean President Ricardo Lagos noted that countries in the region have yet to advance fully on integrating economic policies, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used the occasion to urge members to pull back from United States-style free market policies. Failing Democratic Transition in Mexico:
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