Globalization

Re “Don’t ‘Save’ the Poor From Globalization,” by Ernesto Zedillo, Commentary, March 7: It is no surprise that the leading politician in Mexico, like the leading politicians in the U.S., trumpets the supposed benefits of globalization. Business elites in both countries have profited enormously from NAFTA and free trade, and politicians everywhere are intimately connected to business elites.

I put more credence in the voices of rank-and-file Mexican trade unionists, college students, indigenous people and immigrants, who have told me the common people of Mexico have been devastated by these policies. In Mexico and the U.S., the gap between the haves and have-nots grows and grows, right along with free trade.

LEONE HANKEY

Los Angeles