Transisthmic Corridor Construction Blocked

Highway access to the north zone of the Tehuantepec Isthmus was blocked yesterday by local landowners protesting against the Transishtmic Corridor project. The protesters were vocal in their rejection of what they called “transnational companies” affecting community land through rail rehabilitation operations without their permission. El Universal reports that these protesters were met by representatives of companies currently executing these operations, which included La Peninsular and Ferrocarril del Istmo, along with government officials from the state of Oaxaca.   

There have been several protests and demonstrations of this kind in recent days. Last week, communities from five Isthmus municipalities delivered a letter to President López Obrador where they made it clear that they would not allow rehabilitation work to continue due to the way in which it involved illegal incursion into their property.  

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Infrastructure!

Landowners in Santa Lucía Demand Payment

Communities from San Miguel Xaltocan, a municipality that neighbors the Santa Lucia Airport construction site, have expressed their disagreement due to the lack of payment that they have yet to receive from the federal government for land expropriated as part of the airport project. A total of 128ha of land currently being integrated into the project site were ceded by these landowners who are claiming they were never paid for them.      

El Universal reports that these landowners occupied a segment of the construction site in protest, which in turn led to them agreeing to a meeting with SEDATU to settle the matter in their favor.  

Manzanillo Port Offering COVID-19 Discounts

API Manzanillo announced this week that it has evaluated the ongoing economic impact of COVID-19 and decided to offer economic support to its users. This includes discounts of up to 5 percent and payment waivers for up to three months. A T21 report on the matter highlighted that these measures will apply retroactively for all operations that took place as far back as May 11 and will continue until August 11, as long as customers in question are in good financial standing with the port.  

Rail Crime Decreases

1Q20 numbers reveal that crimes such as theft and armed robberies in the Mexican railway system have decreased 29.7 percent when compared to 1Q19, from 1,095 reported incidents to 769. T21 also reports that the three states in which these incidents were most common were Jalisco, Sonora and Guanajuato. The frequency of these incidents is expected to increase, however, as COVID-19 job losses impact criminal incidence. 

Mayan Train Organizes Workshop on Infrastructure and Gender

In an effort to make sure the Mayan Train is a project that promotes equality and equity, FONATUR and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have organized a first introductory course titled “Infrastructure, Gender & Human Rights.” The objective of the course is to implement gender perspective and social integration into the project’s development.