ABSTRACT
The maquiladora sector in Latin America and the Caribbean dates back as far as Puerto Rico’s 1947 Operation Bootstrap initiative, taking root 20 years later in the form of Mexico’s 1965 Border Industrialization Program. Maquiladoras (or “maquilas” colloquially) are assembly factories that produce light manufactured goods designated for export to foreign markets. Maquilas are emblematic of export-led development strategies which gathered steam in the Caribbean and Mexico in the 1980s, galvanized by special US tariff programs that promoted the relocation of labor-intensive phases of manufacturing abroad by providing duty-free access to US markets (Safa, 1994). The International Monetary Foundation (IMF) and the World Bank further reinforced this development strategy in Latin America by touting it as a means to attract foreign investment and alleviate the debt crisis.
