From the debt crisis to the USA's largest partner in goods: the GATT, NAFTA and 1994, a change of party in 2000, the security years, USMCA and today. This room gathers what our 32 state histories hold for the era, 63 dated events and 17 places.
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In August 1982 Mexico told its creditors it could not pay. The closed economy financed by oil ended that year, and everything on this site follows from the opening that came after: the GATT, NAFTA, an autonomous central bank, the peso crisis, USMCA. Some series start later because the agencies started later; each chart says where its numbers begin.
Sep 1982A month after the moratorium, the government nationalizes the private banks. 2
24 Aug 1986Mexico joins the GATT, the trade club that became the WTO. 5
15 Dec 1987Government, business and unions sign the Economic Solidarity Pact against inflation. 6
Dec 1991Article 27 is amended: ejido land can now be sold, and the land reform the Revolution began comes to an end. 1
1 Jan 1994NAFTA enters into force. The same day the Zapatistas rise in Chiapas: some 3,000 insurgents take six towns and cities; a ceasefire follows on 12 January. 117
Mar 1994Luis Donaldo Colosio, the PRI's presidential candidate, is murdered while campaigning in Tijuana. 8
20 Dec 1994The peso is devalued by 13% to 15% and left to float two days later; a USA-led rescue of 50 billion dollars follows in January, and the economy shrinks about 6% in 1995. 8
2 Jul 2000Vicente Fox of the PAN wins with 43.43% of the vote; when he is sworn in on 1 December, 71 years of PRI rule end. 9
11 Dec 2006President Felipe Calderón sends troops into Michoacán: the start of the war on the cartels. By the end of his term the official toll is at least 60,000 dead. 10
1 Jul 2018Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Morena wins the presidency with 54.71% of the valid vote, almost 32 points ahead of Ricardo Anaya: the third party to win the presidency in the era. 13
30 Nov 2018The leaders of the three countries sign the USMCA, which replaces NAFTA; it enters into force on 1 July 2020. 11
2023Mexico becomes the USA's largest trading partner in goods, ahead of Canada and China: 797.9 billion dollars of goods between the two. 12
1 Oct 2024Claudia Sheinbaum, elected with 59.76% of the vote, is sworn in as Mexico's first woman president. 14
2026At the agreement's first joint review the USA declines to renew it; the three countries move to yearly reviews, and the USMCA would expire on 1 July 2036, or earlier if a party withdraws on six months' notice. 11
The story
What happened, and what is still argued
81billion dollars between the two, 1993
→
872billion dollars, 2025
more than ten timesin 32 years
What crosses the border: goods trade with the USA, 1993 to 2025
Mexico's sales to the USAUSA sales to Mexicobillion dollars
The road from Mexicali to Tijuana through the Sierra de Juárez Mexicali and Tijuana are border cities whose factories grew with the opening and ship north every day. Photo: Christopher Javier Cuenca García, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
From the moratorium to NAFTA
The banks were nationalized in September 1982 and the walls came down over the next decade: the GATT in 1986, a pact against inflation in 1987, and in 1991 an amended Article 27 that let ejido land be sold and closed the land reform the Revolution had opened.
NAFTA took effect on 1 January 1994 and tied Mexico's factories to the USA's market. The chart shows what followed.
The day NAFTA began, the Zapatistas rose in Chiapas. In March the PRI's candidate, Colosio, was murdered in Tijuana. In December the peso fell, and only a USA-led rescue of 50 billion dollars stopped the run; the economy shrank 6.2% in 1995.
On 2 July 2000 Vicente Fox of the PAN won the presidency, and the PRI's 71 years ended in December. In December 2006 President Calderón sent troops into Michoacán against the cartels; the official count passed 60,000 dead by the end of his term in 2012, and estimates put it above 120,000 by 2013, with 27,000 missing. In 2018 Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Morena won with 54.71% of the valid vote; in 2024 Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman president.
USMCA replaced NAFTA on 1 July 2020. In 2023 Mexico passed Canada and China as the USA's largest trading partner, with 797.9 billion dollars of goods between the two. At the agreement's first joint review, in 2026, the USA declined to renew it, and the three countries moved to yearly reviews; the agreement expires on 1 July 2036 unless renewed, or earlier if a party gives six months' notice.
All 63 dated events of the era in our 32 state histories
Where and when did it happen?One dot per dated event, one row per state, coloured by corridor; hover a dot to read it
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The Texas-Facing NorthThe Pacific BorderThe Bajío and Center-NorthThe CenterThe WestThe Gulf and the IsthmusThe PeninsulaThe Deep South: Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas
The full list, oldest first. Each state name opens its history, where the event carries its source.
See all 63 events
1982AguascalientesNissan opens its first plant in Aguascalientes.
1980sColimaThe Plan Colima builds highways, including the Manzanillo-Guadalajara road.
1984OaxacaFONATUR begins the Bahías de Huatulco resort.
1985AguascalientesINEGI, created in 1983, moves its headquarters to the city of Aguascalientes.
1985Mexico CityAn earthquake on 19 Sep devastates the centre of the city.
1986Nuevo LeónThe Fundidora goes bankrupt in May; its land later becomes a park.
1986SonoraFord and Mazda open the Hermosillo assembly plant.
1987OaxacaUNESCO lists Monte Albán and the historic centre of Oaxaca as World Heritage.
1987PueblaThe historic centre of Puebla becomes a World Heritage Site.
1988GuanajuatoThe historic town of Guanajuato and its mines become a World Heritage Site.
1992JaliscoSewer explosions in Guadalajara kill 206 people on 22 Apr.
1993Baja California SurUNESCO inscribes the rock paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco as World Heritage.
1993NayaritThe Aguamilpa dam on the Río Grande de Santiago is inaugurated on 21 Jul.
1993ZacatecasUNESCO lists the historic centre of the capital as World Heritage.
1994ChiapasOn 1 Jan 1994 the EZLN occupies San Cristóbal and other towns.
1994Nuevo LeónNAFTA takes effect and reinforces the state's export manufacturing.
1994PueblaAfter NAFTA, jeans maquilas spread through Tehuacán.
1996QuerétaroThe historic centre of the capital becomes a World Heritage Site.
1997Mexico CityResidents elect their own head of government for the first time.
1999CampecheThe walled city of Campeche becomes a World Heritage Site.
2000Baja CaliforniaThe census counts 2,487,367 people, against 226,965 in 1950.
2000San Luis PotosíUNESCO recognises Cerro Quemado, the Wixárika ceremonial site near Real de Catorce, as a protected area.
2000TamaulipasThe World Trade International Bridge opens between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas, on 15 Apr.
2001Baja CaliforniaTijuana's maquiladoras reach their peak, roughly 820 plants.
2002ZacatecasThe Tres por Uno programme, born in Zacatecas in 1992 to match migrants' remittances for public works, becomes federal.
2003MichoacánA container terminal reopens at Lázaro Cárdenas under a new concession, with Hutchison Ports as majority partner.
2004CampecheThe Cantarell field reaches its peak; its output falls from 2005.
2005QuerétaroA Bombardier plant opens and anchors the state's aerospace industry.
2006JaliscoUNESCO inscribes the agave landscape and old distilleries of Tequila as a World Heritage Site.
2006SonoraThe rebuilt Ford plant in Hermosillo begins building the Fusion sedan.
2007ChihuahuaCiudad Juárez absorbs more new industrial space than any other North American city.
2003-07NayaritThe El Cajón dam is built on the Río Grande de Santiago, upstream of Aguamilpa.
2007TabascoThe Grijalva breaks its dikes in Villahermosa on 2 Nov, and most of the state floods.
2008-10ZacatecasThe Peñasquito open-pit mine begins production in the north-east of the state.
2009TlaxcalaThe first phase of the Arco Norte toll road, which crosses the state, opens in Jul 2009.
2010GuanajuatoVolkswagen announces an engine plant at Silao, which opens on 16 Jan 2013.
2012ColimaA liquefied natural gas terminal begins operating at Manzanillo, supplying the federal power company.
2012DurangoThe Baluarte Bridge, on the Sinaloa line, is inaugurated on 5 Jan as what is then the world's highest cable-stayed bridge.
2013AguascalientesNissan opens its second complex in the state, Aguascalientes A2, in Nov.
2013DurangoThe Durango-Mazatlán highway opens to traffic, cutting the trip to the coast to about 2.5 hours.
2013SinaloaThe Durango-Mazatlán highway, with the Baluarte Bridge of 2012, opens to traffic.
2014Baja California SurHurricane Odile comes ashore near Cabo San Lucas in Sep, stranding about 26,000 foreign visitors.
2015AguascalientesDaimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance break ground on the COMPAS plant on 3 Sep.
2015Baja CaliforniaThe Cross Border Xpress opens on 9 Dec, linking San Diego with Tijuana's airport.
2016Mexico CityThe Federal District becomes Ciudad de México on 29 Jan 2016.
2016PueblaAudi opens its plant at San José Chiapa on 30 Sep 2016.
2017HidalgoUNESCO recognises the Comarca Minera Geopark on 5 May 2017.
2017Mexico CityA magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 19 Sep 2017 brings down at least 44 buildings in the city.
2017MorelosA magnitude 7.1 earthquake centred near Axochiapan strikes on 19 Sep 2017; Jojutla is among the hardest-hit towns.
2017PueblaA magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes the south of the state on 19 Sep 2017.
2019San Luis PotosíBMW opens a car plant in Jun in the capital's industrial zone.
2020SonoraThe Hermosillo plant ends sedan production and switches to the Bronco Sport.
2022State of MexicoThe Felipe Ángeles International Airport opens at Zumpango on 21 Mar 2022.
2023CampecheThe Tren Maya opens on 15 Dec, with stops at Campeche, Edzná, Escárcega and Xpujil.
2023ChiapasThe Tren Maya opens its Palenque station on 31 Dec.
2023CoahuilaIn Apr a court declares Altos Hornos de México bankrupt and its longtime head leaves the presidency, with the Monclova steelworks idle.
2023GuerreroHurricane Otis strikes Acapulco at Category 5 on 25 Oct 2023.
2023Nuevo LeónTesla announces a gigafactory near Monterrey in Mar; construction is put on hold in Jul 2024.
2023OaxacaThe Interoceanic Corridor opens passenger service across the Isthmus on 22 Dec 2023.
2023-24Quintana RooTulum's airport and the Tren Maya open in Dec 2023; the line reaches Chetumal on 15 Dec 2024.
2023State of MexicoThe El Insurgente interurban train opens its first section, Zinacantepec-Lerma, on 15 Sep 2023.
2023VeracruzPassenger service opens on 22 Dec on the rebuilt railway from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz.
2023YucatánThe first stretch of the Tren Maya opens on 15 Dec, linking Mérida with Campeche and Cancún.
Down to the states
The eight states with the most dated events in this era
