Continuing its global path of destruction, the economic crisis has sent remittances to Mexico down as much as 21.1 percent in some states.
Remittances—the sums of money sent by immigrant workers back to their home countries—are the second biggest source of income in Mexico. As U.S. capitalists driven by profit expanded exports, many Mexicans were compelled into the U.S. workforce.
The resulting infusion of dollars into Mexican communities had, in some places, inflated the cost of living to the point where people could not live solely on pesos. Many localities are now dependent on dollars, needed to feed families, build homes and fund municipal and community programs.
Thanks to the capitalist crisis, those communities are in jeopardy. Laid off immigrant workers can no longer send money to their families. Stores and towns that depend on remittances are floundering, and people are struggling to make ends meet.
Much of Central America, like Mexico, relies on remittances as an important source of income.
