As the Mexican government succeeded in improving economy, living conditions and education, it began to feel the unanticipated effects of its own success. People with a little property tend to become more conservative. They want clear-cut and stable legal rights, not the personal discretion of some cacique. For reasons that I think were mostly beyond the control of the Mexican government, real wages have fallen drastically since 1982. Yet more people than ever earning and spending money.
People are better fed and better clothed and, most important, better educated.
They are demanding new standards of conduct from their government. And their government is adjusting to those demands. That's why there's so much conflict. It's a time of frighteningly rapid transition. Of course there will be all kinds of rough weather.