Abstract
There are about 3320 kilometres of frontiers between Mexico and the United States of America: more than three times the length of France. All along the border were built, since the years 1960s, more than 3000 export assembly plants, primarily dedicated to the production of electronic equipment, clothing, plastics, furniture, appliances, or auto parts. These factories, also named maquiladoras or sweatshops, are employing over one million Mexicans. The typical maquiladora employee is a young single underpaid woman working up to ten hours a day, six days a week, in poor conditions and for about 50 cents an hour. The creation of these factories is obviously an idea of the United States of America, which own the majority of them and are the first beneficiaries of the goods produced in maquiladoras.
