Saal
In August 2025, the Mexican president announced the expansion of the destructive "Tren Maya" and "Interoceanic Corridor" infrastructure projects to Guatemala. In recent years, the interlinked projects have already led to a territorial reorganisation of southern Mexico: in addition to the railway lines, roads, ports and airports, industrial parks, urban centres, monocultures, gas pipelines and refineries are being built. While the corridor is intended to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as a "Panama Canal on rails" and enable energy generation and industrial production along the route, the function of the "Tren Maya" on the southern Yucatán Peninsula, which is primarily presented as a tourist attraction, goes far beyond transporting wealthy passengers between archaeological cities and Caribbean beaches: In addition to opening up new regions for mass tourism, the "Tren Maya" will also function as a goods train, with direct connections to the "Interoceanic Corridor" and its own harbours, enabling numerous extractivist megaprojects to be linked. Together, the "Tren" and "Corridor" form a gigaproject of gigantic proportions: some of the continent's most species-rich ecosystems are being jeopardised, as are the cosmovisions and ways of life of numerous indigenous population groups in the isthmus of Tehuantepec and the country's five southernmost states. Traditional farming methods and common land are giving way to plantations and construction projects, the water is being contaminated and the soil sealed, while violence in the region is on the rise. In the middle of one of the world's largest migration corridors, the militarised megaprojects also serve the border regimes of global players, and alongside transnational corporations and the Mexican armed forces, organised crime is also hoping to make a profit from the colonial exploitation of previously autonomous niches. The "Tren" and "corridor" are only the latest attempt at historically ongoing attacks on this region: As early as the 19th and 20th centuries, militarised train projects were intended to conquer the south of Mexico for economic exploitation - and to fight the indigenous rebels.
Internationale Recherche AG / Colectivo de InvesitgAcción reports on the current situation on the ground, the involvement of European companies and the ongoing resistance.
The internationale Recherche AG / Colectivo de InvesitgAcción is an internationalist research collective that investigates global processes - both historical and contemporary - in the context of the destruction of life and territory. We are committed to anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-colonialist and queer-feminist struggles, which is why our research (investiagciones) leads to actions (acciones). Between 2021 and 2025, we produced two publications on the mega-projects "Tren Maya" and the "Interoceanic Corridor in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec" in the south and south-east of Mexico. Both publications are available free of charge on our website: https://deinebahn.com/tag/oekozid/ Contact: recherche-ag@riseup.net