Mexicans Pessimistic That Reforms Will Lift Economy Catholic News Service
go to original December 29, 2013

MEXICO CITY - Shopkeeper Rodolfo Villanueva keeps a close eye on sales at his mom-and-pop store, especially in the fall months, which he has found signal what to expect in the upcoming year.

"Right now, it doesn't look good," he said of sales, which were off by 30 percent from the previous year and tend toward soft drinks and cigarettes at his shop near the president's residence.

"November is usually a reflection of what the next year will be," he said.

Villanueva is among the many Mexicans expressing pessimism with the country's economy, which private economists expect to expand by barely 1 percent in 2013 - far from the 3.5 percent projected by the federal government.

The pessimism comes as some economists and foreign investors project a rosier picture for the future of Mexico as manufacturing moves back from China and the country implements recently approved structural reforms in areas such as education, energy and taxation.

While the achievement of reforms excites investors, some priests say the government discourse - which no longer touches on topics such as violence - seems distant from people trying to make ends meet and who are not inclined to make long-term plans.

"There's a large gap between the government discourse and people's reality," said Father Jesus Mendoza, pastor of the St. Nicholas of Bari Parish in Acapulco, where some parishioners make their living through organized crime because better-paying options are scant.

Father Raul Martinez, director of social ministries in the Diocese of Valle de Chalco, a scruffy suburb on the southeastern outskirts of Mexico City, said his parishioners do not care about reforms.

"What they care about being able to eat today," he said.

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