Tobacco or Health in the Third World: A Political Economy Perspective with Emphasis on Mexico

Abstract

In response to declining cigarette sales in the United States and Europe, transnational tobacco conglomerates have turned to the underdeveloped world to promote their unhealthy products for consumers who are at best only vaguely aware of the health risks associated with cigarette smoking. While cigarette sales in the Third World are growing “healthily,” the consumers of these cigarettes generally are not. Along with the already difficult problems of malnutrition and communicable diseases, underdeveloped countries are facing the probability of a smoking epidemic, which is directly related to the penetration of capitalist tobacco interests into new markets. While the tobacco companies are quick to suggest that these people who can least afford cigarettes (both financially and in terms of health risks) are exercising their “free choice” as consumers in an “open marketplace,” the author suggests that political and economic factors are central. Aided by two months of fieldwork in Mexico in 1986, the author examines smoking behavior and perceptions of associated health consequences. In addition, the influence of the tobacco companies and the Mexican government on tobacco production and consumption is analyzed.