While human rights organizations denounce the increase in aggressions against territorial defenders in the context of the construction of the Interoceanic Corridor in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the last year and a half, in that same period there has been an intensification of activities and meetings promoted by Mexican authorities together with businessmen and political leaders from Europe, the United States and Asia, to promote what they consider the “benefits” of said corridor and its more than ten industrial parks. The objective is to attract large companies to the region.
In one of the most recent actions, carried out at the beginning of June 2024, a Mexican delegation headed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, and the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Rafael Ojeda Durán, held a meeting in Washington D.C. with Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden for U.S. Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Homeland Security Advisor to President Biden.
The Mexican delegation shared details of the Welfare Development Hubs (Podebis) being built in the area.
The delegation participated, together with businessmen and representatives of the Mexican private sector, in an event organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “in which they agreed on the modern and efficient alternative that the CIIT will represent for global trade due to the easy access to the United States, Asia, Central and South America”, says a joint communiqué from the Ministries of the Navy and Foreign Affairs.
The Mexican officials emphasized the “tax benefits” decree published last year by the Mexican government for companies investing in the region.
Two months earlier, in May 2024, another Mexican delegation made up of officials from the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, the Ministries of the Navy and Foreign Affairs (SER), as well as representatives of the Legislative Branch, the Interoceanic Corridor and the winning consortiums of the Podebis, toured Europe – which began at the Hannover Messe 2024 Industrial Fair in Germany and continued in Belgium, Portugal and Spain.
In these places, working meetings were held with members of the European Union, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the European Commission, as well as representatives of governments, industrial sectors and investor conglomerates.
One of the main agendas of the delegation was the Salina Cruz-Coatzacoalcos-Sines maritime corridor (in Portugal), established in December 2023, contemplated among the priority projects of the Global Gateway (a European Union policy to finance infrastructure projects worldwide) and considered one of the pillars to strengthen production chains between the European Union and Mexico, through the Interoceanic Corridor.
The Mexican delegation also toured the port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium, the second largest in Europe, where they explored future collaborations.
A few months earlier, in March 2024, a delegation from the European Union was in Mexico for what they call a High Level Dialogue. The Interoceanic Corridor was discussed as a priority project, as well as the Sonora Plan.
In June 2023, at a meeting in Mexico between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the President of the European Commission, Úrsula von der Leyen, they identified Mexico as a strategic energy, industrial and logistics center – through the Interoceanic Corridor and Plan Sonora megaprojects – to supply the North American and European markets, with great potential in green hydrogen, and agreed that European investments will be important to contribute to its development.
Companies
Transnational companies have also been targeted by the Mexican government. The Ministry of Economy informed that it initiated, as of May 8, 2023, a round of actions to promote the corridor. At least 330 companies from 23 countries have been reached by these actions, including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Spain, the United States, France, India, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States and Taiwan.
One example was the Mexico-Taiwan Business Meeting for Growth and Relocation, held in June 2023 in Mexico, which was visited by a delegation of 20 companies and three business associations from Taiwan in the semiconductor and printed circuit board sectors.
Original text by Sare Frabes in Avispa Midia on July 3rd, 2024.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.