October 9, 2008 (LPAC)--The disintegration of the international financial system is now "consuming" the Mexican peso, which has devalued by 24% against the itself-collapsing U.S. dollar since August 4. That has devastating consequences for a nation which imports a quarter of its basic grains. The rate of the peso collapse accelerated in the first two days of the week (with record drops each day), and then went into virtual free fall Wednesday, devaluing 15.5% by mid-morning, until the Central Bank announced an emergency injection of $2.5 billion dollars into the currency market midday, which halted the free-fall--momentarily.

The devaluation comes on top of a drop in remittances by as much as 30% in some regions, more than double official figures, according to the National Peasant Federation (CNC). Remittances had been the country's second-largest source of foreign exchange.

The Calderon government had touted several giant, export-oriented PPP infrastructure projects as its jobs and growth program, which could stave off social chaos. But on Monday, the Transportation Ministry announced it was postponing bidding on two of those projects, because the private investors it had been counting on to put up the cash --such as AIG!-- are disintegrating along with the global financial system.

Under the leadership of the LaRouche movement, institutions in the state of Sonora are stepping up the fight for a change from national policies which have failed, to those reiterated by Lyndon LaRouche in his April 2008 visit to Monterrey, Mexico. The latest salvo came from Sonoran Governor Eduardo Bours, who warned yesterday that it would be the "gravest error" for the Mexican government to respond to the crisis by cutting its investment in infrastructure. The federal government should be going instead to the states, asking them about the projects they have to build, and help get those underway as soon as possible, he said. He named the Northwest Hydraulic Plan (PLHINO) as one such project, whose construction would help in this situation, generating almost a million jobs and opening up hundreds of thousands of hectares of irrigated land for farming.