The 1% Connection: Mexico and the United States, Crony Capitalism and the Exploitation of Labor Through NAFTA

This is the ninth article in the Truthout on the Mexican Border series looking at US immigration and Mexican border policies through a social justice lens. Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout, visited the border region recently to file these reports. You can find links to the previous coverage at the end of this article.

The Richest Person in the World, Carlos Slim, Lives in Mexico

According to Forbes Magazine, Carlos Slim, 72, is the wealthiest person in the world, accumulating $69 billion in net worth as of March 2012.

Born and raised in Mexico City (of Lebanese Christian descent), Slim was well on his way to becoming a very rich man when he struck pay dirt. Under the Mexican presidency of Carlos Salinas, who served from 1988 to 1994, Slim jumped on the Milton Friedman-inspired south-of-the-border rush to privatization and led a buyout of the state run Telmex phone company.