Hailed for its gripping narrative, its insightful analysis, and its informed historical perspective, this book offers a "revealing look at the secret and powerful political society of Mexico, its breakup, and the fallout that we are witnessing today" ("Wall Street Journal"). of photos.
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From Amazon
This is an attempt to understand Mexico's steep descent into turmoil, which happened rapidly after the uprising in Chiapas on New Year's Day 1994. Following the assassinations of a presidential candidate and then the congressional leader, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari had barely left office when the peso collapsed. Pursued by allegations of corruption, Salinas then fled the country. Oppenheimer, a reporter for The Miami Herald, argues that the crisis is the result of nothing grander than a turf war within a decrepit ruling party and that the Chiapas uprising is not something new, just another eruption of the Marxist intellectualism that has long flourished in Latin America.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Miami Herald Latin American correspondent Oppenheimer traveled all over Mexico between 1992 and 1995, and this crisply written, eye-opening report depicts a country in the throes of political turmoil, corruption, peasant rebellions and massive layoffs. The authors, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 as part of a team that uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal, scaled guerrilla-held mountains to interview self-styled Subcommander Marcos, the white, middle-class Marxist revolutionary who in 1994 led a Maya armed uprising in the southern state of Chiapas. Oppenheimer views this revolt as symptomatic of a country marked by vastly unequal distribution of wealth and wasteful public works projects that fail to address the real needs of the people. He offers disturbing, fresh slants on the ruling party's control of TV news, the booming cocaine trade of Mexico's drug mafias, the rise of government-backed monopolies in key industries and the recent political assassinations that have weakened the ruling elite's credibility. Despite this bleak picture, Oppenheimer suggests that Mexico is stumbling toward a modern democracy under its new, technocratic administrator president, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
In Bordering on Chaos, Oppenheimer does a very good job of depicting the events and digging up the dirty that led to many of the most important events in mid-1990s Mexico, including the murder of the leading presidential candidate, the rise of the Zapatistas and the choice of Zedillo for president.
However, instead of pure history, we are presented with deep character development for the two main actors in this process, Zedillo himself (the president to be) and Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista movement. In this process, we learn of the political ploys adopted by the PRI, the almost monarchic party that led the country for most of the century. These include forays into education, health, and the most important social services. Another important area is the corruption going on at the top levels of the PRI, requiring, for example, that business people contribute a minimum of [several] million to participate in the government, or else be excluded, with all that it entailed. There is less than I would like to know on Carlos Salinas, the now disgraced but formerly darling leader.
Overall, a good history and a well written book. If you have an interest in Mexico, or in the crisis period of the mid-1990s, this may offer some of the pieces that build up a puzzle of it.
By Lisa Pozzi
Format:Paperback
This is a great read for anyone wanting to know about Mexico during the 1990s. It's very indepth, at times it feels like maybe Oppenheimer doesn't have all the information to tell the story, but he sure tells a lot of it. It's also not overly biased, like many books about recent Mexican history. Oppenheimer does a great job of setting the scene, explaining who is who, and helping the reader get their arms around all the different factions that make for a volatile social environment in Mexico. I also read "Castro's Final Hour" which was informative, but not as good (especially since the "final hour" was somewhere in the early nineties, and now it's 2001). I'd love to read more of Oppenheimer.
Format:Paperback
Excellent book on recent Mexican history.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent. Give Us More.
The dearth of good books on Mexico makes this one very welcome. It's architecture rests largely on two character portraits: one of Ernesto Zedillo, and the other of the man who... Read more
Published on Dec 6 2000 by Timothy Ritter
4.0 out of 5 stars
Investigative Reporting Is Just What Mexico Needs
Andres Oppenheimer shared a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Iran-Contra. Normally, I find investigative reporting in the U.S. Read more
Published on Feb 21 2000 by Steve Sailer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book on the modern political state of Mexico
I read this book as a person who has visited Mexico on a number of occasions for both business and pleasure. I found it to be highly informative and also entertaining. Read more
Published on July 20 1999 by Thomas Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
essential reading on our most complex border nation
Mr. Oppenheimer has talked to those outside and inside the government of Mexico to describe in careful detail the myopia and success of the PRI which has kept Mexico... Read more
Published on May 29 1998
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