On December 22, 2023, 116 years after Porfirio Diaz inaugurated the National Railroad of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, President López Obrador gave the green flag for the Interoceanic Railroad of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (FIIT) and thus, starting the operations of the CIIT.
Due to the years of neglect and failed initiatives, this occasion marked a significant moment for Mexico, for which the president expressed: "I am very pleased to participate in this historic act".
The president spoke of the event’s relevance:
"For centuries, five centuries at least, the possibility of creating a passage that would unite the two great oceans of the world, the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic, began to be explored.
That is what Charles V, King of Spain, asked Hernán Cortés to do: explore the possibility. And he was here, in Salina Cruz, searching for the most suitable strip. Rivers like Coatzacoalcos among others were explored to learn how to cross them, how to go from the Gulf to the Pacific.
Time went by, and other kings and other important individuals in the public sphere became interested in the same thing, until a German scientist, [Alexander von] Humboldt, did his own exploratory work and found that there were nine passes to cross from one ocean to another. He discarded the most complicated ones and left three: Panama, Nicaragua and Tehuantepec, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. He does a good job.
Due to special circumstances the Panama Canal begins to be built, but here Porfirio Diaz, along with his contractor friend Pearson, decides to make a passage through the Isthmus, from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz. With Pearson, he established the two ports at that time, the one in Coatzacoalcos and the one in Salina Cruz.”
Also with Pearson he built the railroad which was inaugurated in 1907, seven years before the Panama Canal was put into operation; the first ship to cross the canal did so in 1914.
"The project did not prosper enough because Asia was not what it is now and the port was abandoned as an option, but it did have enough vision. It was a project of great work at that time. Times have changed and now the CIIT is a strategic project and everyone is interested.
We are going to let the people of Mexico know the importance of this project that connects the two largest oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, in a 300-kilometer strip from ocean to ocean. We celebrate that they have had the vision to restart it, to rehabilitate the ports, to rehabilitate the tracks, to have the railroad ready for cargo as well as passengers, and that at the same time they are promoting the Development Poles in the Isthmus strip, because this is going to help a lot".
Cuitláhuac García Jiménez, Governor of Veracruz; President Andrés Manuel López Obrador; Herman Deutsch Espino, Head of the CIIT Infrastructure and Transportation Unit; Admiral Eduardo Redondo Arámburo, Undersecretary of the Navy; Rafael Marín Mollinedo, former Director of CIIT; Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection; General Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, Secretary of National Defense and High Command; Jorge Arganis Díaz Leal, former Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transportation.
NEW STAGE
President López Obrador explained that until relatively recently, after centuries of dominance, the port of Veracruz was Mexico’s most important port. While it still is, commercially speaking the Pacific ports like Manzanillo for example, now hold a larger influence in terms of numbers of containers due to the development and growth of Asian markets.
That is why we are now entering another phase, "we are inaugurating a new stage, as in 1907, and we want to be successful. There are unbeatable conditions to achieve and I wish nothing more than for this project to flourish in this new stage".
He added that "it will depend on all of us, because this project, if we analyze it well, is no longer for our generation or no longer only for our generation".
He also pointed out that "we need to leave a future with possibilities of development for the new generations, we have to think about those who come after us, this project is for them, and we have achieved it with the participation of all of us, of everyone, and we have to continue supporting and promoting it.”
The President asked himself how this new stage of development would be achieved and answered that 'with the participation of the communities of all the towns along the Isthmus'. Under this consideration, besides reiterating the support of the communities of Oaxaca and Veracruz, he acknowledged the construction workers and their influence in reaching the project's goals.
In a similar matter he thanked the companies that were and still are involved in the Isthmus, both Mexican and foreign: ICA, Mota-Engil, INDI and Carso. In particular, he expressed his gratitude to the confidence of Carlos Slim, as well as to Guadalupe Phillips.
The President also acknowledged the certainty of those invited to participate in the project for the administration of the ports and for the operation of the Development Poles. Due to the strategic nature of the project, the participants are mainly Mexican companies and Mexican investors. "And they are being given the opportunity, Mexican businessmen, to be the ones to manage the ports and the Development Poles".
To conclude, he stated that "as all these works are being done with money from the budget, the people's money -because we are simply administrators of the people's money, the budget does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people-, we have to leave all the works in custody; therefore, we have decided that all the project will be carried out by the Mexican companies, and that the Mexican companies will be the ones to manage the ports and the Development Poles".
To conclude, the President stated that "as all these works are being done with money from the budget, which is the people's money -because we are simply administrators of the people's money, the budget does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people-, we have to leave all the works in custody; therefore, we have decided that the Secretary of the Navy will be in charge entire integral project of the Isthmus.”
General Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, Secretary of National Defense and High Command; Salomón Jara Cruz, Governor of Oaxaca; President Andrés Manuel López Obrador; Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy and High Command of the Mexican Navy; Cuitláhuac García Jiménez, Governor of Veracruz; and Jorge Nuño Lara, Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation.
Text:Real Estate Market & Lifestyle
Photo: AMLO ORG