The Impact of the Social Investment of Collective Remittances on the Relationship Between Public and Private: The Case of the "Tres Por Uno Para Migrantes"

Mexican migration to the U.S. has a history of more than 100 years. This flow is characterized by the age of its members, its massiveness and the neighborhood relationship: It is the longest migratory cycle in the history of the United States and its origin can be traced back to 1848; in 2000 there were 20.6 million people of Mexican origin in the U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau 2001) and 10.8 million of them were Mexican-born (Consejo Nacional de Poblacion 2000). Even though this flow has prevailed, in the last years its characteristics have changed as a consequence of the transformations in the economic model and migratory policies applied by Mexico and the United States. As a result of the persisting and increasingly large migration flows, the role that migrants and remittances play in the Mexican economy is fundamental to the way that Mexico is shaping its policies and is affecting agency, poverty and community development in the localities of origin.For the purposes of this paper I will concentrate on Zacatecas. It is one of the states with the longest migratory tradition in Mexico, and is inscribed in what Durand calls the "traditional region of Mexican migration to the United States" along with Aguascalientes, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan and San Luis Potosi (Durand 1998, 104). More than half of the flow of Mexican migrants to the U.S. belongs to this region. This long history of Zacatecan emigration and the interaction of the federal, state and municipal governments with the communities of origin and the Hometown Associations (HTAs) has led to new forms of organization and the implementation of community development projects such as the "Tres por uno para migrantes" (3x1, Three for One Migrant Program), which was created by Zacatecan migrants in the 1990s.The World Bank and other international development agencies have identified remittances as a potential source of income that can be used to alleviate poverty in the countries that receive them. Mexico's efforts with respect to migrants is reflected in the creation of the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (Institute for Mexicans Abroad, IME) in 2003; different policies, such as the new initiative that allowed Mexican citizens that reside abroad to vote in the federal election in 2006; and government programs, such as the 3x1, instituted at the national level in 2002, that uses remittances for developmental purposes. However, this paper argues that the power relations that come into play and the definition of remittances can affect the use that they are given as well as the final outcome. This is why it is important to analyze how migrants, the federal, state and municipal governments and the community are coming together around remittances.The 3x1 is a community-driven development program that offers a three-to-one matching for collective remittances sent by Mexican migrant clubs in the United States for investment in social infrastructure and development projects in their localities of origin. It is an innovative exercise of international management of remittances and public policies oriented towards development that has attracted the attention and collaboration of international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). It was the first program of its kind in the world and has served as a model for other experiences such as that of "Unidos por la Solidaridad" from El Salvador. It is an example of Mexico's growing interest in harnessing remittances for development. The goals of the program are to target poverty and promote local development, as well as establishing a more solid relationship between the migrants and their communities of origin.In Mexico, the total amount of remittances received in 2005 was $20.35 billion according to the central bank (Banco de Mexico 2006), and in 2006, the total amount was $23.054 billion (Banco de Mexico 2007). Remittances have become the second largest source of foreign exchange after oil, surpassing foreign aid, tourism and foreign investment. …