The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the IMF [Paperback]

John Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

history, "vivid and powerful" (Howard Zinn)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vivid and powerful." -- Howard Zinn

John Ross is "the new John Reed covering a new Mexican revolution." -- Blanche Petrich of La Jornada

About the Author

John Ross has been reporting on popular struggle in Mexico and Latin America for the better part of two decades. He lives in Mexico City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Common Courage Press (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567511309
• ISBN-13: 978-1567511307
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,310,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and Witty, August 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the IMF (Paperback)

John Ross has a witty style of writing which made what could have been a dry history book into an easy-to-read, fun trip through the ages of Mexican history. He takes us from the days of the Aztecs through all the various interventions by foreign governments and private enterprises (as well as the shenanigans of indigenous power-mongers) up to the current days of NAFTA and banking scandals. For anyone interested in our neighbor to the south (and a lot more Americans ought to be a lot more interested than they seem to be) this book should be on the "must read" list.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good history of Mexico, September 12, 2002

By 

Chris (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the IMF (Paperback)

The author discusses the dictatorship in Mexico of Porifiro Diaz (1876-1910). Dissidents were thrown in gulags. The author writes that in the slums of Mexico city, 43 out of every 1000 adults died a year compared to 6 out of a 1,000 in not very healthy London and half the babies did not survive their first year. In the rural areas, wages in 1910 where 35 centavos a day, exactly what they were in 1810. But American business elites were very happy with General Diaz. They could pludner Mexico all they wanted. Andrew Carnegie called him "the Moses and Joshua of his people."

The author goes through the period after the 1910 revolution which saw the U.S. engage in assasination, aggression and ideological warfare to keep the revolutionares from threatening the interests of the American businesses which had made so much loot under Diaz. 1929 saw the creation of what would later become the PRI, a political party to legitimize the dictatorship of the 1910 revolutionaries. That revolution was by that time quite deradicalized and co-opted by the U.S. The most radical revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata, was murdered under president Carranza's orders in 1919, a year before the latter met the same fate. After the presidency of populist Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940)Mexico's government settled into a state capitalist one-party dictatorship, which controlled some sectors of the economy bbut always allowed foreign participation in those sectors. U.S. investment in the country continually rose as did military aid. The PRI tolerated dissent but always was willing to arrest and "dissapear" such persons if they got too uppity and always could commit fraud if they were about to lose an election. On October 2nd 1968, the Army massacred 337 people as they were about to disperse from a non-violent protest at the Plaza of Three Cultures at the Tlateloclo housing complex.

In the early 80's Mexico, burdened with a huge debt and low world oil prices, went into serious economic decline. Wages went down too and the one bright spot was Mexico's trade surplus with the U.S. as the lowest wages in the hemisphere were paid to the maquiladora workers of the exporting multinational corporations.

Carlos Salinas won the presidential election in 1988 through outright fraud and violence. Salinas engaged in massive privitization policies, earning him much praise from U.S. politicians and business leaders. He crushed strikes at businesses about to be privitized. The creation of NAFTA created unregulated movement of capital. Massive capital flight took place as stronger U.S. multinationals overtook local competitors in the Mexican market and sent their money back to the U.S. In December 1994, Mexico was in serious crises as it had to default on short term bond payments. Mexico was in its most serious crises since the Great Depression and its people suffered more terribly than usual.

He tells stories of what ordinary people throughout Mexico are dealing with and the hell their country has been put through. He looks at people attempting to block Jack Nicklaus's "Golden Bear" company from building a golf course and resort complex in their community and stealing all of their water supply, at people fighting the thuggery of the state oil company, at people fighting the looting of their forests and the destruction of the environment of their communities. He looks at people whose land was expropriated to build tourist hotels, who have launched armed rebellions such as in Gurererro and Chiapas. All of these people have encountered U.S. backed terror and torture in response.

The prose style in this book is somewhat plodding.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Ross' Vision of Mexico, June 11, 2001

By 

O. M. Suarez "aerobol" (Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the IMF (Paperback)

History sometimes can be really boring even if you sympathize with the political mindframe of a given author. Ross is not that case. Mexico's history is extremely complex, particularly since it is so much tied to US history ("nice neigbors" the US were not EVER). Yet Ross is so skillful that he will take you through the maze so that you start to understand Mexico. Being a gringo many times disqualifies a historian since these academicians disect Mexican History disregarding the ommipresent neighbor and its expansionism and hegemony policies. Ross knows best. Get ready for a very enjoyable ride on Ross' burro traveling through history. And don't get turned off by the word "Annexation," you will see that is very well chosen for a title.