ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies certain overall economic tendencies permitting prediction of a likely regional scenario at short term. It discusses the possibility of whether the private sectors and certain groups of the "political class" support and favor the present economic policy, with its orientation toward the substitution of imports. Until 1981, Mexico had reported an unprecedented economic growth. The border "maquila" sector has also benefited from the crisis. The wages paid to employees and laborers was reduced for those companies in proportion to the devaluation of the peso. The August crisis practically paralyzed international transactions along the northern border. This forced the federal government to announce an urgent salvation plan for the border areas. In some regions in the extreme northern part of Mexico, relationships with the central authorities are even more complicated, although a certain symbiosis has evolved there between the "political class" and the local business sector.
