Manuel Pérez-Rocha is an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington and an Associate of the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam. He is a Mexican national who has led efforts to promote just and sustainable alternative approaches to trade and investment agreements for two decades. Prior to working for IPS’ Global Economy Program, he worked with the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC) and continues to be a member of that coalition’s executive committee. He also worked for the Make Trade Fair campaign of Oxfam International.

Manuel studied International Relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), has a diploma on European Studies from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and holds a M.A. on Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands. Some of his last publications include op-eds in The Nation and The New York Times.

Latest

Latin America: C-

The Obama administration has made a few steps in the right direction. But U.S.-Latin American relations are far from mended, and skepticism is growing.

The Struggle of Electricians in Mexico Goes On

“It’s either them or us. The time has come for the people, for the excluded, exploited and discriminated people, the ones who are always pushed back.”

The Struggle of Electrical Workers in Mexico Goes On

Dismantling the nation’s energy industry in the name of “structural reform” does little to help growing poverty and joblessness.

More Than Backpedaling on NAFTA

Despite promising to renegotiate the trade pact during his presidential bid, Obama is continuing Bush’s efforts to boost corporate integration.

Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA as You Promised

Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. leaders should scrap their failed “Security and Prosperity Partnership” and begin overhauling the North American Free Trade agreement at an upcoming Guadalajara meeting.

Obama: Renegotiate NAFTA as You Promised

Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. leaders should scrap their failed “Security and Prosperity Partnership” and begin overhauling the North American Free Trade agreement at an upcoming Guadalajara meeting.

Misdirected U.S. Aid in Mexico

President Obama should renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, with an eye toward reducing poverty and joblessness that lead Mexicans to the black market or over the border.

Advice for Obama from the Hemisphere

Latin American leaders weigh in on how the United States can mend relations with its neighbors.

Empire and Latin America in the Obama Era

The new administration needs to move beyond the nation’s imperial tradition in this hemisphere.

The Failed War on Drugs in Mexico

U.S. aid to its southern neighbor should focus more on the root of the problem and less on military hardware that helps exacerbate it.

Mexico: Neither a Failed State Nor a Model

As the Obama administration develops its policy towards Mexico, it should dismiss both unfounded alarmism and unbridled optimism.

Obamas Agenda for Change and the 2009 Summit of the Americas

Barack Obama’s electoral victory represents hope for a change in direction for U.S. relations with Latin America.

A Violent Mexican ‘Independence’ Day

For most Mexicans, celebrating the country’s independence has become a sad contradiction with reality.

Mexico’s Oil Referendum

Opposition parties organized a non-binding referendum to fight government efforts to gut a constitutional ban on private investment in the oil industry.

The Future of Mexico’s Oil: Social Action to Stop the Energy Grab

Mexico is in the middle of one the most intense processes of public debate in its modern history.

We Need a New NAFTA

The political debate over the trade deal is long overdue.

Three Amigos Summit

The NAFTA-expanding Security and Prosperity Partnership is too cozy with big business.

Busting Paranoid Right-Wing Fantasies of Dissolving the Mexico-U.S.-Canada Borders

Expanding NAFTA is wrong, but not because of a mythical North American Union.