What challenges has Mexico faced in recent years?

In recent years, news about Mexico has been frequently searched, and Mexico’s development has become worse and worse. So what challenges has Mexico faced in these years? The author expresses some of his own opinions.

Some of them will be:

Competitiveness: Even though Mexico has solved its competitiveness issues by improving labor and fiscal laws, it has struggled with the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) We still face huge challenges when competing for economic opportunities and markets. For example, in terms of competitiveness (2013), Mexico ranks 53rd out of 144 countries. For comparison purposes, it ranks better than India and Russia (ranked 59th and 67th respectively), but worse than China and Brazil (ranked 29th and 48th respectively).

Security: Ongoing violent clashes between drug cartels and police forces as part of the "Mexico War on Drugs" (2006-present). The conflict has put a severe strain on Mexico's resources as the need for security must be weighed against other priorities such as poverty or education. To date, more than 120,000 people have died since the conflict began.

Education: Most people lack education, as only one in 10 Mexicans has completed a college education. It is well known in Mexico that the Minister of Education is not working on improving education for Mexican children, but on dealing with the day-to-day problems of the teachers union, one of the most corrupt unions in the country.

Economy: The world economic depression has heightened reliance on the United States as a recipient of Mexican exports. Although Mexico's economy has achieved considerable growth in recent years (3.9% in 2012), any downturn in the U.S. economy would severely impact Mexico's potential growth. Mexico is only expected to grow by 1.5-2.0% in 2014: Mexico is a country of stark contrasts, where you can find neighborhoods with a quality of life comparable to those in Western Europe, side by side with decaying slums. Mexico's standard of living is comparable to that of Lebanon or Iran ($19,500 per capita), but the wealthiest neighborhoods, such as the borough of Benito Juarez in Mexico City, have health, income and education levels comparable to Same in Germany ($40,000 per capita, or $160,000 per household). On the other hand, the poorest areas of southern Mexico have the same quality of life as Yemen or Afghanistan ($2,000 or less).

Poverty: Although Mexico leads the world in reducing hunger, 5% of children under 5 are still malnourished. According to the United Nations Development Program, 17.6% of Mexicans (19.7 million in 2009) are below the poverty line. Using the asset-based definition of poverty, the number is much higher, with 47-52% of the population falling below the poverty line.

Oil: Mexico’s oil reserves are currently decreasing and may disappear completely in 7 years. Energy reforms were recently implemented (in 2013) to allow foreign investment into the gas and oil industry, including drilling in deepwater areas along the Gulf Coast, but the results of this reform (lower prices, increased competitiveness and increased production) will not be seen .

Corruption: Corruption by public officials. And, as a result of the war on drugs, there are high levels of corruption among the police and armed forces, especially when it comes to fighting drug cartels. The process is called "platinum or lead" (meaning silver or lead), which means drug cartels threaten security officials to accept bribes or be killed by the cartel's agents.

Environment: Climate change and environmental degradation are global issues, but Mexico has been hit hard, with more than 300 threatened species and several already extinct, largely due to habitat loss. Deforestation, erosion and desertification are also current dangers. Finally, contamination of soil and water sources is considered "closed" but remains an ongoing problem.

I hope I can show you the real Mexico.