[mgj-discuss] Update on Plan Puebla Panama in Chiapas

[Ethan X]

 *Update on the Plan Puebla-Panama In Chiapas - June 2006*
By: Mary Ann Tenuto-Sanchez


Much to my surprise, the last two trips I have taken to Chiapas, Mexico have
coincided with the completion of two more of the transportation
infrastructure projects associated with the Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP). Port
Chiapas was completed shortly before the Chiapas Support Committee's March
2006 Delegation (March 1-14). The San Cristobal Bridge was completed just
prior to my arrival in Chiapas on May 24, 2006.
 *Puerto Chiapas (Port Chiapas)*


I had read about the inauguration of Puerto Chiapas in *La Jornada* (
www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/02/10/015npol.php) several weeks before leaving for
our March 2006 Women's Day Delegation. The fact that Mexican president
Vicente Fox and Chiapas governor Pablo Salazar spoke at the inauguration of
the newly modernized port was no surprise. What did surprise me, however,
was being handed a postcard of Puerto Chiapas along with my boarding pass
for a Click flight from Tuxtla Gutierrez, the Chiapas capital, to Mexico
City. Click is Mexicana Airlines' local carrier. I think what surprised me
most was that the postcard depicted a passenger cruise ship docked in the
port.  I knew they  dredged the old port in order to convert it into a deep
water port which would accommodate large commercial vessels, but I had never
made the connection between tourism and Puerto Chiapas.
I last visited the spot now christened Puerto Chiapas six years ago when it
was a small natural sheltered port on the state's Pacific Coast with a large
beach for swimming. It was then called Puerto Madero (it still is on maps).
It catered mostly to commercial fishing boats. It also provided recreation
for local families. I remember an old wooden building that served as a beach
front bar and restaurant and a place to change clothes.  I also remember
musicians roaming the sandy beach singing for tips. The heat in this region
is intense, so a local beach is a necessity.  I remember enjoying my swim at
Puerto Madero, a large bay protected from the ocean's surf.  I enjoy sandy
beaches and funky places where local families go with their kids. It was the
kind of place where dad could get a beer, mom could watch the kids play in
the sand or swim in the little bay.
The postcard shows some large modernistic palapa-style buildings and a big
dock where the sandy beach used to be. I decided to check it out on the
Internet and, to my dismay, discovered that the beach is gone!  The only
area I could find that looked like a beach seemed to be directly on the
ocean, rather than the sheltered bay. I wondered what happened to the people
who ran the restaurant that used to be there... and the musicians.
The Puerto Chiapas web page (www.puertochiapas.com.mx) indicates two sets of
facilities, one for passenger cruise ships and another for cargo ships. As
those of us below and to the Left would say, the facilities for cargo ships
are for looting Chiapas of its natural resources.  The passenger dock gives
access to a sports club, a little lagoon, restaurant, etc. It even has an
industrial park! One wonders whether local crafts are available to tourists
in any of the palapas.  The web page also indicates that connecting land
trips to archaeological sites, waterfalls and other jungle tourist
attractions are available. The web site (you can choose between Spanish and
a bad English translation) uses the word "exotic" in connection with the
state's tourist attractions.  One would think the planners could have
thought up a more exotic name for the port than Port Chiapas!  It is billed
as the entrance to *Mundo Maya* (the Mayan World). Maya beware! might be a
more accurate billing.  Your land is about to be invaded by "ecotourists,"
"adventure tourists" and corporations.
I don't suppose the tourists will ever see the devastation wreaked by
Hurricane Stan throughout the part of Chiapas where Puerto Chiapas is
located.  Nor will they participate in the protest marches by local citizens
who think that the money for reconstruction was diverted to local
politicians. Undocumented immigration, largely of Central Americans, is
rampant and deadly here, along with drug smuggling, criminal gangs,
prostitution of minors and who knows what else.  Puerto Chiapas and
Tapachula are near the international border with Guatemala and the region
exhibits all the characteristics of a "border state." (Question: So, why are
all the federal troops camped on the opposite side of the state? Answer:
Because the EZLN communities are there!)
At Port Chiapas' inauguration, there was no mention, of course, that Puerto
Chiapas was part of the Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) before the PPP got a bad
reputation and individual projects proceeded under their own name.  The PPP
is never mentioned anymore, but it continues to advance.


*The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP)*
The Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) is a plan to develop infrastructure needed for
the dramatic expansion of trade via NAFTA, CAFTA and eventually the FTAA,
all North American plans for the corporate looting of southern Mexico,
Central America and even South America. The Plan encompasses the southern
(and heavily indigenous) Mexican states of Puebla, Veracruz, Tabasco,
Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas, Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo.  It also
encompasses the seven Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama. Colombia also adhered to
the Plan belatedly, but its precise role is not as clear as the other states
and countries.
The eight initiatives of the Plan are: 1) sustainable development; 2) human
development; 3) prevention and mitigation of natural disasters; 4) promotion
of tourism; 5) facilitation of trade; 6) highway integration; 7) energy
interconnection; and 8) integration of telecommunications services. The
construction of transportation infrastructure has been given the highest
priority in Chiapas.


*Puente San Cristobal (San Cristobal Bridge)*
The old (and only) road between Tuxtla Gutierrez and San Cristobal, the
state's tourist mecca, was a winding, two-lane mountain road which ascends
rapidly from hot, sultry valley to fog-shrouded mountain peaks; a climb of
somewhere around 4,000 feet.  The steep drop from the side of the road
terrifies some tourists while the series of "S" curves makes others
carsick.  Its many accidents have failed to endear it to bus drivers and
truckers. And, if you are a Chiapaneco rushing to work or business in one
city or the other and happen to get caught behind a slow-moving truck, there
are no polite words to describe the frustration, let alone the pollution
from exhaust fumes.  This road has been part of the the Pan-American
Highway!
Not surprisingly, then, another key piece of PPP highway infrastructure has
been the construction of a superhighway/toll road (nothing is free in the
neoliberal era) cutting through the mountains between the state capital and
its quaint colonial tourist mecca.  About one-third of the highway has been
completed for several years and cuts the trip by about 30 minutes.  After
that stretch, however, it was back on the same old mountain road. The
remaining part of this toll road has depended on the completion of a bridge
spanning two mountains.  For years this proved beyond the ability of the
construction company, its architects and engineers.  The bridge span is
named Puente (bridge) San Cristobal after the city to which it improves
access.
Structural problems plagued the bridge from its inception, allegedly due to
the hard mountain rock (as in geological formation, not music) its supports
must penetrate.  However, no one was prepared for the bridge's complete
collapse on October 24, 2004.  Local theories abound as to why the span
collapsed: seismic activity; sabotage; faulty design; shoddy building
materials.   No work could take place until the cause of the collapse was
investigated. Eventually, it was determined that there was a problem with
the structural design and with the materials used.  One of my most fun
moments used to be asking the taxi driver who takes us from the Tuxtla
Airport to San Cristobal when the bridge will be finished and why it is
taking so long. You can almost tell their politics by their answer.  In
March, our *taxista* said it would be ready in October 2006 and that the
collapse was due to faulty construction materials. He was one-half right and
one-half wrong.
I read about President Fox's May 15 inauguration of Puente San Cristobal
just a few days before making an unexpected trip to Chiapas (May 24-31). My
reaction was mixed: I would no longer have to take dramamine for the curves,
but what if the bridge collapsed again while I was on it?  When I actually
crossed it, I was surprised at how short the span is.  The gorge it crosses
is deep, but not as wide as I had expected. The trip between the Tuxtla
Gutierrez airport and San Cristobal de las Casas now takes just one hour,
even less with a fast driver.
The new highway avoids indigenous villages where local artisans sell their
wares at roadside stands. I wondered what would happen to those artisans now
that much of the tourist trade will bypass them.  I remembered the flower
vendors of Texcoco, kicked out of a WalMart-to-be shopping mall and thought
about how "progress" or "development" affects different peoples.  As for
most tourists, they will miss seeing beautiful scenery and mountain
villages. The more adventurous can still take the old road and learn a
little about the harsh life of indigenous people in the central highlands of
Chiapas.


*A New International Airport for Chiapas*
The toll road will connect with another PPP mega-project, an international
airport serving Tuxtla Gutierrez.  The new airport is under construction in
the municipality of Chiapa de Corzo, adjacent to the state capital, and is
supposed to be the size of Mexico City's International Airport when
completed. (See,
www.sedecochiapas.gob.mx/investmentboard/infrestructure.php#aeropuerto)  The
objective is to whisk tourists into the new Tuxtla airport, then onto the
toll road and into San Cristobal without suffering the intense heat and
traffic congestion in downtown Tuxtla or carsickness in the mountains. Of
course it will also serve Tuxtla's businesspeople and politicians.  The fact
that an entirely new airport is being built (rather than an expansion) is a
telling commentary on a city that already has two "airports."
Terán, one of Tuxtla's two existing airports, was once upon a time a
military airport. (An airforce base still sits adjacent to the airport. Dark
olive green helicopters are often visible as passenger planes taxi down the
runway.)  It had no passenger facilities.  The other airport, Llano San
Juan, is located a long way from the city and lacks the technology needed
for instrument landings in foggy or rainy weather. Since Tuxtla experiences
fog and/or rain much of the year, flights were often unable to land and were
redirected to land in Tapachula, many hours away by bus. The uproar this
generated among businesspeople and the political class resulted in a
makeover of Terán and its conversion to civilian use. Neither airport,
however, has customs facilties and cannot accomodate international flights.
International visitors headed for Tuxtla must now collect their luggage in
Mexico City, go through customs and immigration, and then check in again at
the ticketing counter for connecting in-country flights, have their luggage
searched and go through metal detectors once again before going on to
Tuxtla. It is a huge, time-consuming hassle and requires allowing a
considerable amount of time in between flights.
Much of this inconvenience will be eliminated once Chiapas has its very own
international airport and, in theory, tourists will be more likely to visit.
Some international airlines are actually considering direct flights to
Tuxtla, thereby avoiding the Mexico City airport completely. Personally, I
confess to having mixed feelings about the new airport. There is something
about the current inconvenience and lack of facilities for travel that feels
appropriate.  The state of Chiapas is Mexico's poorest. It seems a little
incongruous to visit the poorest state in the country and find modern
transportation infrastructure at my disposal.  I think I would prefer to
continue to experience all the current inconveniences and see the money
spent on health care and education for all the citizens of Chiapas. I guess
I am not the kind of tourist they hope to attract. And, I hope that the
restaurant in the new airport is as good as the current one at Terán.


*Conclusion*
All these key infrastructure projects were once encompassed within the Plan
Puebla-Panama. That plan got a bad reputation because lumping all the
projects together from the state of Puebla to the country of Panama made
many residents shudder at what the states or countries would look like after
their neoliberal transformation. Now, at least in Mexico, the projects are
all proceeding individually without any mention of the dubious plan
promoting them.
________________


Mary Ann Tenuto Sanchez is a founding member of the Chiapas Support
Committee in Oakland and a writer for Chiapas Update. She visits Chiapas
frequently and may be reached at cezmat at igc.org




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