<<The price increases have riled the public to such an extent that it has created a political storm that threatens to swamp Calderon's fresh presidency.>>
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jan/19/cost-corn-soars-forcing-limits-mexico/ Cost of corn soars, forcing limits in Mexico Wire reports Friday, January 19, 2007 MEXICO CITY - Facing public outrage over the soaring price of tortillas, President Felipe Calderon abandoned his free-trade principles and forced producers to sign an agreement fixing prices for corn products. Skyrocketing prices for corn on the world market have pushed up the price of the humble tortilla, a mainstay of the Mexican diet, by nearly a third in the past three weeks, to 35 cents a pound in Mexico City and even higher in other parts of the country. Half of the country's 107 million people live on $4 a day or less, and many of them survive largely on tortillas and beans. The price increases have riled the public to such an extent that it has created a political storm that threatens to swamp Calderon's fresh presidency. This morning, Calderon, a fierce advocate of free trade in last year's campaign, announced he had reached an agreement with the major businesses involved in corn products to stabilize the price of tortillas at a maximum of about 35 cents per pound. He also fixed the price of corn meal sold to mom-and-pop tortilla shops at 14 cents per pound and announced that government-owned shops in rural areas would sell tortillas at the same price, far below the market rate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
