Importing corn, exporting labor: The neoliberal corn regime, GMOs, and the erosion of Mexican biodiversity

When genetically modified (GM) imported corn was found growing in Oaxaca and the Tehuacan Valley of Puebla, Mexico (2000-2002), it intensified the debate between activists, academics, and government officials about the effects of trade liberalization on Mexican corn farmers and maize biodiversity. In order to understand the challenges faced by corn farmers and in situ diversity, it is important to contextualize GM corn within the recent neoliberal corn regime and its regional manifestations. This essay offers a case study of how indigenous corn farmers from the southern Tehuacan Valley have adapted to such neoliberal reforms and economic crisis by combining local corn production with US-bound labor migration.