Wait, I thought you said that this abuse already happens?
Yes, I was saying where will the outrage be when the new investors show up and start playing the same game other corporations are playing?
Besides, if US companies were getting busy in Mexico making investments, I'd imagine that they would want to be safe from said cartels. Like it or not, that may be an avenue for the US government to assist Mexico in its local cartel war.
My solution would be taking a similar approach the IMF took with Chile in the 80s. As much as I despise Milton Friedman his plan actually had the unintended effect of cleaning up a lot of the corruption in Chile. My changes to the plan would be to have Mexico sign several binding political/economical agreements. The first would be one where:
1) the Mexican political system is slimmed down. You ever seen the Mexican house chamber? There are ~400 people in it. ~150 of whom are not elected. They are picked (think of the US delegate system, only these guys get paid outrageous sums of money and are picked as favors to corporations). Also, I would add that the Mexican political system would have to slim down all of their
institutes. There are literally dozens of institutes for every and anything you can think of. They should be combined or completely done away with.
2) Any money received through taxes/levy should not be directed towards state coffers (at least for the first 3 years) but programs independently set up by companies in conjunction with the government. During that 3 year transition period, companies can enforce Western work ethics as well as establish protocols for how money should be handled by the state. (Like a will almost)
3) Create strong corruption watchdogs within the state governments observed
by outside entities (the IMF and WBO seem like the right people for the job). They would be in charge of ensuring workers are paid, human rights abuses are not overlooked and HR departments are strongly represented. If any abuses are reported/overlooked Mexico would have their loan interests raised.
This seems radical, however after 1.5 years living here, I've come to think of Mexico as a country with great potential but a terrible economic culture. The culture here doesn't foster reliance on the government, however it does foster a distrust of companies and the government working together. So it is my opinion that an outside agency is necessary. One which not only has the power to punish government corruption but also corporate abuses.