From military invasions, occupations, and annexations of Mexican territories in the 19th century to the post-NAFTA capture of Mexican industries, resources, and labor markets by American companies and investors, US-Mexico relations have always been defined by American imperial domination. “Mexico's economy has been economically dominated and incorporated as a kind of subsidiary or an extension of the US economy,” labor activist and scholar Justin Akers Chacón says, and that relationship of domination “determines the politics of Mexico” to this day. In this episode of Solidarity Without Exception, co-host Blanca Missé speaks with Chacón about the colonial roots of US–Mexico relations, how that relationship has evolved over the past two centuries, and how it continues to shape the politics, economics, and immigration policies of each country today.
Guest:

• Justin Akers Chacón is an activist, labor unionist, and Professor of Chicana/o History at San Diego City College who lives in the San Diego-Tijuana border region. He is the author of The Border Crossed Us: The Case for Opening the US-Mexico Border and Radicals in the Barrio: Magonistas, Socialists, Wobblies, and Communists in the Mexican-American Working Class; he is also the co-author, with Mike Davis, of No One is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Credits:

• Pre-Production: Blanca Missé
• Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

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