For a better visceral understanding of the peculiarities of feudalism in former Spanish colonies than anything I could convey, I recommend the classic Gabriel Garcia Marquez story Big Mama's Funeral. A really great piece of writing, and one to open the eyes.
Following the above... the book shown below, will give the reader a better understanding of the going-ons in Mexico, (and by reference, Latin America), from a more recent sets of events.
Something that I found interesting is that the Author, Andres Oppenheimer is Argentinean born, (residing in Miami working for the Miami Herald), yet, his understanding of Mexican politics is very good:
"Bordering on Chaos: Mexico's Roller Coaster Journey to Prosperity"
twbookmark.com
For those interested, here is chapter one:
twbookmark.com
The book starts with the UNEXPECTED Peso devaluation of 1994 that triggered the "Tequila effect" throughout LATAM. It also deals with the uprising of the "Zapatistas" in Chiapas, (Comandante Marcos, --no relation to "SI marcos" *g*). It covers the arrest of Raul Salinas (the president's brother), which, as it is claimed in the book, the order came directly from current president Zedillo himself. This, almost caused a small war between the secret agents loyal to Raul, and the federales who were going to arrest him.
Most importantly, it shows the "behind the curtains" dealings of a few families who control the economy, (and unofficially), they fund the PRI election show. Truly an interesting book for those who have the interest in attempting to understand the neighbor to the south, and how the interaction of the US and Mexico affect us all who live in both countries.
An excerpt of chapter one:
".... But at about 9:30 A.M. that morning, the world collapsed on Wall Street. Purcell had just concluded his speech and returned to his desk when there was a sudden commotion outside his office: A news bulletin flashing across the computer screens said that the Mexican government had just announced a devaluation of the currency. Everybody was stunned. Few on Wall Street had expected such a bombshell - at least not that soon. Just a few weeks earlier, in a November 22 report on Mexico, Salomon Brothers had told its clients that "although we believe that an eventual more rapid depreciation of the peso may become necessary, the probability of a one-off devaluation is virtually nil." Not only had Purcell received assurances from top Mexican officials during a recent visit to Mexico City that there would be no devaluation, but his economic projections - based on Mexican government figures monitored by international institutions - showed that the country's foreign reserves were high enough to withstand pressures for a devaluation in the near future. All of a sudden, the "virtually nil" possibility had become a dreadful reality.
Within hours, U.S. investors who had bought peso-denominated Mexican stocks had lost $10 billion, a figure that would climb to more than $32 billion in coming weeks. Americans who had put their money into mutual funds run by firms such as Fidelity Investments; Alliance Capital; Scudder, Stevens & Clark; Goldman Sachs; and Salomon Brothers were now facing huge losses. This time, unlike in the 1982 Latin American debt crisis that had also been ignited by Mexico, the big losers were not a few giant U.S. banks, but hundreds of thousands of small American investors - retirees, nurses, and office employees throughout the country - whose pension and retirement plans had placed part of their savings in the Mexican stock market. In Mexico, the impact was even worse: an estimated $70 billion loss in the stock-market value of Mexican corporations, an avalanche of bankruptcies, and nearly a million layoffs over the next twelve months...."
¸ 1999 by Andres Oppenheimer
About Andres Oppenheimer:
twbookmark.com
Andres Oppenheimer is a Latin American correspondent for the Miami Herald and the author of the widely praised book Castro's Final Hour. In 1987 he was co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Iran-Contra scandal. He lives in Mexico City and Miami.
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