Matamoros: The Human Face of Globalization 2001
Distributed by The Video Project, 375 Alabama, Suite 490, San Francisco, CA 94110; 800-4-PLANET
Produced by Sierra Club
Directed by Amanda Boxall
VHS, color, 11 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Environmental Studies, Human Rights, Latin American Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las VegasThis video shows the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the Mexican town of Matamoros. Situated just over the Rio Grande River, across from Brownsville, Texas, this Mexican town has become the poster child of environmental and bioethical abuses of free trade agreements. Many United States companies relocated to Matamoros after NAFTA was established, in order to take advantage of low taxes, low wages, and a cheap work force. The town has reaped little benefits from these factories. There is no sanitation, no running water, and no police force. The factories do not give back anything to the community. Residents of Matamoros live in cardboard houses, scrapped from waste dumps. Factories and companies that take advantage of NAFTA do not have to follow pollution standards, labor standards, or pay taxes that support social and environmental needs. As a result, the people attracted by the jobs live in substandard human conditions.
This short film, narrated by Edward James Olmos, sends a strong message regarding the toll that free trade agreements and political lobbying can have on the human condition.