|
12/08/00
Indecisive Florida court overturns overturned
decision
11/08/00
Fuzzy math recount to decide close Presidential
election
10/25/00
Gore's Groin Grabs Bush Camp by Surprise
09/19/00
Soylent Gringo...It's Tacos!
09/09/00
Amtrak announces Fiestas Repatrias travel
program
08/27/00
Defective tires cause huarache havoc in
Mexico
08/04/00
Bush tells mesmerized crowd: "Ich
bin ein Beaner"
07/18/00
Proposition 21 Backfires
07/03/00
Fox wins, Mexican voters give PRI "el dedazo"
06/23/00
Mexican candidates woo mojado vote
06/19/00
Pat Buchanan plays hardball with little league
team
06/12/00
Rival Vigilante Groups Duke it out in Arizona
Turf War
03/12/00
Juvenile Injustice Initiative Passes
02/26/00
Rise in Police-Related Shootings Triggers PIG Response
Back to Top
Home |
08/27/00
Defective tires cause huarache havoc
in Mexico
Fox furious over footwear fiasco
by Victor Payan
Tireless Pocho Consumer Affairs Reporter
Large quantities of the defective Firestone tires recalled in connection
with numerous automobile accidents involving Ford vehicles have created
a crisis south of the border as the tires are finding their way into huarache
factories across Mexico.
"This is a problem of epic proportions," said Mexican President-elect
Vicente Fox, "All over Mexico we are starting to hear reports of people
falling over like Charlie Chaplin as the soles of their huaraches shear
off. This is no laughing matter."
The defective huaraches started turning up in border towns like Tijuana,
Juarez and Montebello this past weekend. Officials from the National Huarache
Regulatory Commission are already investigating how the tires ended up in
the country. Many suspect unscrupulous US suppliers of illegally dumping
the defective tires on unsuspecting huarache manufacturers.
Juan Hernandez, owner of Juan's House of Huaraches in Juarez, agrees.
"They came in with the regular shipment," says Hernandez. "We
pride ourselves in manufacturing high quality footwear with a long tread-life.
Our whitewall line is in constant demand. But this is ridiculous. It is
causing us to rethink our 15,000 mile warranty."
Hernandez says if the problem is not resolved by Labor Day weekend, it could
cause the bottom to fall out of the huarache market. "Next time,"
says Hernandez, "I'm sticking with Toyo."
It is unknown how many defective huaraches are already on the road, and
huarache-watchers fear the problem could affect millions.
"You have to look at the big picture," says Shawn Clota, a Mexican
shoe industry spokesperson. "From migrants crossing through the desert
to the average tourist, we have to think of product safety. Otherwise, consumers
will vote with their feet and buy their huaraches from other major producers
like Korea and Guatemala."
Advisors to out-going Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo are warning the
President to take the problem seriously, especially in light of the fact
that a similar crisis in the American shoe industry in the mid-Seventies
caused then-President Gerald Ford to fall from the steps of Air Force One.
It was a fall from which Ford never recovered.
President-elect Fox says the North American Free Trade Agreement is to blame
for allowing such inferior products to flow into the country almost unchecked.
"This is another example of how free trade has failed," said Fox.
"NAFTA has left us soleless and easy prey to well-heeled corporations
like Firestone. The time has come time to put our foot down."
Some feel that President-elect Fox has taken a personal interest in this
crisis, because he was the former governor of Guanajuato, the huarache capital
of Mexico. In that state, huaraches play a major role in the state's economy.
"In Guanajuato, huaraches are second only to guacamole," says
Fox.
© 2000 Victor Payan
|
