BY K.Z.
While watching the Sixth Section, the focus of the documentary seemed to me to be
about the accomplishments of immigrants attempting improve their
hometowns. Remittance payments are
payments made by immigrants that are sent to their hometowns in order to
support their families and help develop the town economically. Although Grupo Unión raised enough to build
a baseball stadium, they lacked the players to occupy it (Decana 136). This made me question the effects of
remittance money on a town. In this blog
post I will argue that although remittance payments may have positive effects,
it also comes with negatives and it is not a sustainable means to improve an
economy as seen in the connection between Los Angeles and El Salvador.The Los Angeles area has the largest number of Salvadoran born immigrants with approximately 275,000 people. The total foreign born individuals from El Salvador residing in the United States in 2008 was 1.1 million people, and to put that into perspective, the population of El Salvador in 2007 was 5.7 million (Terrazas). The connection between these Los Angeles and El Salvador is so prominent that political candidates will travel to the US to campaign and as of 2014, El Salvadorian citizens living abroad can vote in the presidential election (Beth). This large migration of people from El Salvador has affected the country by causing a shortage of labor. Furthermore, Italo Escrich, a supervisor for a sugar refinery, states that, “The problem is that remittances have made Salvadorans comfortable and they don’t want to work cutting cane.” The majority of his workforce is comprised of immigrants from nearby countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua (Tobar).
Another issue to be wary of is the emergence of an instance of “Dutch disease,” or the influx of foreign currency causing currency appreciation and harming competitiveness of exports. This is more of an issue to worry about in countries such as El Salvador where remittance is large portion of the economy (Sharma 5). This isn’t to say that these funds can’t be useful. When individuals in a community such as Grupo Unión worked together they raised upwards of $50,000 dollars for the betterment of their hometown, which to me is an accomplishment in itself (Decena 135). So although remittance money has its benefits on a countries struggling economy, I believe it’s important to see various perspectives on its effects in order to get a better understanding of it.
Works Cited
Cristales, Beth. "Salvadoran Migration to Southern
California: Redefining El Hermano Lejano."
Decena, Carlos, and Margaret Gray. "Putting
Transnationalism to Work." Social Text 24 (2006).
Sharma, Krishnan. "The Impact of Remittances on Economic
Insecurity." (2009).
Terazzas, Aaron. "Salvadoran Immigrants in the United
States."
Tobar,
Hector. "Finding American Dream, in El Salvador." Los Angeles
Times. Los Angeles Times, 09 Feb. 2006
I'm glad you mentioned the "Dutch Disease" part of the equation, as I don't think that was ever mentioned in class, and the significance of the labor shortage in El Salvador.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy that you were able to debate the usefulness of the remittances in an economy, where many see them as beneficial you point to good point to combat that. Do you believe there is a better way for the money that is being sent as remittances to be used? What do you think the possible consequences of an economy as one such as Mexico to be based primarily on remittances?
ReplyDeleteI like that you offered a different perspective to remittances than what we had previously discussed in class. My question would be, do you think that organizations such as the Grupo Unión are fully aware of the possible negative effects of remittances? And if they are/were made aware, what might they do to stop these negative repercussions?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I never really thought about the effects of remittance payments on the towns in Mexico (specifically after we watched the film about Grupo Union). It is extremely troubling that El Salvadorian citizens do not feel the need to work because of remittance payments. They need to work on top of what they are receiving to make their lives better and their towns better overall. With your mentioning of the "Dutch Disease," do you propose that remittance should progressively decrease in the future to help countries stand on their own?
Remittances can be a difficult topic to deal with, and bringing this type of economic perspective to the discussion can be very valuable. What do you think of the disconnect between economic incentives for families of other nations and the possible detriment remittances might have to their domestic wealth? How should we look at the investments of Grupo Union in this context?
ReplyDeleteGreat job citing the effect that the heavy flow of immigration has on El Salvador. Also great job incorporating the in class material, both the "Sixth Section" and remittances. What do you think on the ability for citizens of El Salvador living in the united states voting in the elections for their birth country? Do you think they should be allowed to have the same say in who gets elected even though they dont live there? This was an interesting piece because it showed how immigration leads to further immigration i.e. the lack of sugar cane workers so workers from Honduras had to come to go to El Salvador. great post!
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