Students Visit Puebla

By: Stephanie Jackson

Tlachihualtepetl (bottom) and Santuario de la Virgen de los Remedios (top)

CGE students in front of the site

This past weekend, our students had the opportunity to accompany a local art professor on a day-long excursion to Cholula and Puebla, one of the very first Spanish settlements during the colonial period and currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The visit consisted mostly of viewing different cathedrals in the area, the state of Puebla being famous for its abundance of churches!

During their first stop in Cholula, an important pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city, students visited a very unique archaeological site. They first explored the tunnels of Tlachihualtepetl, also known as the Great Pyramid of Cholula and said to be the largest monument of its kind in the world (based on volume). Now, the pyramid is located under a large land mass and a Spanish church, Santuario de la Virgen de los Remedios. It was an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new Mexico—and yet another example of pre-Hispanic civilizations being appropriated by the Spanish during colonization and altered to serve their own purposes.

Once in the city of Puebla itself, the students’ first stop was the Puebla Cathedral, located right in the historical city center near the zocalo (city square). The students learned the history and significance of this cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church built in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were also able to view the Poblano mosaic tiles so typical of Puebla. At the Iglesia de Santo Domingo as well, Poblano art and architecture was studied, and the Arabic influences from the Spanish colonists were discussed as well.

All in all, the Puebla excursion was a great look into Mexican art and architecture for the CGE students. Does anyone else have any experiences they want to share about this amazing place?

Neo-Liberalism and the Altering of Women’s Roles

By: Kyle Soderberg

Irene Ortiz discusses neo-liberalism and Mexican women

The IB (International Business) program in Cuernavaca has been focusing on globalization recently. We have been discussing the pros and cons that have been gained through globalization. Although we take examples from all over the world, we try to focus on Latin America. Also, the IB program has not dissected the social responsibility that does or should accompany the implementation of globalization; however, the Crossing Borders program here in Cuernavaca tends to focus more on social issues. Naturally, they have been discussing the social impact of globalization and neo-liberalism here in Mexico and Latin America.

Last Friday, Fred Rosen—an independent journalist and economist—came and gave a speech to both programs on “What is Neo-Liberalism”. Neo-liberalism is very tied to globalization in many Latin American countries but it is more of a social moral philosophy. This week both groups were visited by Irene Ortiz. Irene has been a feminist organizer in Mexico for over 20 years. She discussed how neo-liberalism has been affecting and altering the traditional roles of women in Mexico. Also, she described the challenges women are facing because of these alterations as well as describing the benefits. Women in Mexico and Latin America are now objects of the market. They are workers and they are consumers. She also stated that there has been an increase in the informal sector of the market such as street vendors, and women have to be more creative, such as having their children sell things at night on the street.

Beneficial for both student programs, her examples included economic and social matters. Although it is not the focus of the IB program, it is routinely important to contemplate socials issues so that we may be able to keep the economic issues in perspective.

Maquiladora Visit

By: Grady Christopherson

This week we visited a maquiladora, which was quite interesting; it was a manufacturing plant for Burlington Co., a U.S. textile company. When you think of a maquiladora in Mexico, this was not what came into my mind. The plant itself was more or less clean, and relationships between subordinates and managers seemed respectful, in some cases warm and friendly. The manager giving us the tour for example greeted several workers warmly in our presence and you could also clearly see other friendly interactions between workers and their bosses.

Women working in a maquiladora (http://elproyectomatriz.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/maquiladora.jpg)

The factory was quite loud, and as such we all got a complimentary pair of earplugs, which at the same time complicated things a little bit because it also made it quite difficult to hear his explanations for things. We also went with a woman who was a manager there in past years, and told us that they had a union, and respected their workers.

The only negative aspects of this maquiladora in my eyes were the repetitive motions/loud noise inside the factory and workers’ roles that were clearly attached to gender. All the managers that I saw were men, but beyond that it seemed like men did one job and women another—closely related to traditional roles of a man and woman in traditional, conservative Mexican culture. For example, there was 50 workers, all of them female, working on what were more or less sewing machines. I witnessed men doing most of the heavy lifting, jobs that are culturally acceptable for men.

All in all it was an enlightening experience for all of us to see a U.S. company’s manufacturing in Mexico. NAFTA had many negative aspects of NAFTA in Mexico. NAFTA itself was not bad for Mexico but rather the time at which it was signed, Mexico was predisposed for failure because of its inferior technology, education, infrastructure, regulation (environmental and legal) and economy. In other words NAFTA itself is not to blame for the fact that Mexico does not enjoy anywhere close to the benefits that its neighbors to the North do. All in all it was a great week, learning about the U.S.’ involvement in Mexico through globalization first hand.

Globalization in Mexico

By: Hannah Carlson

This week in International Business we had a visit from two brothers named Andrés and Francisco Santos who talked to us about globalization and how it has affected them.

Andrés and Francisco Santos presented on globalization and how it is not a new concept, but that it can be seen in many places throughout history. First Francisco Santos talked about how at the beginning there were empires that held all the wealth. After there was nationalism, which took a step away from globalization, then there was regionalism. Regionalism promoted alliances between countries in the same region. Finally, today there is a move towards a world without borders, which is being promoted through globalization. Francisco’s main point was that globalization means evolution. I can agree that nationalism was a step away from globalization because at the time of the nation states, countries’ main concerns were of nationality and state sovereignty; building within the borders was more important than creating relations with other states. I also agree that globalization equates to evolution but trade between different societies has been happening for thousands of years, today it just happens at a faster rate because of the new developments in technology and the way it is transferred. After Francisco introduced globalization his brother, Andrés Santos talked about their father’s company, Industrias Romansa.

Fransisco and Andrés Santos present to the CGE students

Industrias Romansa was a company that started in the 1970’s and by the 90’s, through the agreements in NAFTA, the company was able to work with companies in the United States, manufacturing jeans at a low cost. Unfortunately the companies Industrias Romansa were working with found areas in different parts of the world that provided the same services for less money and they stopped working with Industrias Romansa. There was no warning that the companies were going to default on their contracts, which lead to the bankruptcy of the company and the unemployment of its workers. After the tale of the company Andrés stressed the importance of the role of ethics in globalization because what the companies did to Industrias Romansa was not ethical.


The most important part of this presentation was the question of ethics. The students, including me, are part of the future of international business and international relations and it is important for us to remember that unethical decisions in the business arena will affect the company and the community it operates in.