The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the skinniest part of Mexico, just above the southern tip. It's incredibly poor and rural: a real postcard of Mexico that has been left behind by NAFTA and globalization. President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador is building a train line through it that will connect the port of Salina Cruz on the Pacific Coast with the port of Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast. The hope is that this new overland route 1,000 miles north of the Panama Canal will attract trade and increase employment opportunities for Mexicans in the region.

Mateo Martinez Mendoza, 27, prepares salt evaporation ponds for the upcoming season on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 in Salinas del Marqués, Oaxaca, Mexico. Martinez Mendoza works with his father Carlos Estrada Cruz, 63, both generational salt field miners. Sal
  1. Mateo Martinez Mendoza, 27, prepares salt evaporation ponds in Salinas del Marques, Oaxaca, where he and his father are generational salt field miners.
Santiago Luis Carmona, 4, at his home that sits next to the train tracks that is part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Istmus of Tehuantepec, in the Jordán neighborhood on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Florencia Carmona Martine
  1. Santiago Luis Carmona, 4, lives next to the train tracks that, part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.
Aida Araceli Trinidad Rasgado, 16, left to right, mother Luvia Rasgado Villalobos, 40, and grandmother Vicenta Villalobos Vicente, 71, at their food stall Fonda Vicente in the Mercado 5 de Septiembre Juchitán, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in Juchitán de Zara
  1. Aida Araceli Trinidad Rasgado, 16, sits with her mother, Luvia Rasgado Villalobos, 40, and grandmother Vicenta Villalobos Vicente, 71, as they wait for customers at a market food stall in Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca.

A man walks along the train tracks that is part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Istmus of Tehuantepec in the Jordán neighborhood on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. People in the Jordán neighborhood are worried their families wil
  1. A man walks along train tracks, part of a project to connect the Pacific Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.
LA FORTUNA, OAXACA - DECEMBER 08: Mari (cq) Jimenez (cq), of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, makes a pilgramage along with others in honor of the Virgin of Juquila, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in La Fortuna, Oaxaca. Our Lady Immaculate Virgin of Juquila, is a Ma
  1. Mari Jimenez of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, joins a pilgrimage in honor of the Virgin of Juquila on Dec. 8, her feast day, in La Fortuna, Oaxaca.
Maurilio Galeana Alejo, 77, at the grave of his son Amadeo Galeana, 42, who died of cancer in Wisconsin, USA a year ago on Dec. 8th 2021, at the community cemetery on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in Boca del Monte, Oaxaca, Mexico. Galeano Alejo’s son Amadeo had
  1. Maurilio Galeana Alejo at the grave of his son Amadeo in Boca del Monte, Oaxaca. Amadeo died of cancer last year in Wisconsin.
MATÍAS ROMERO, OAXACA - DECEMBER 08: Matías Romero, right, pulls his cart up to a home to sell traditional Mexican sweet bread in the Colonia Hidalgo Norte neighborhood on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 in Matías Romero, Oaxaca. Matías is a generational sweet bre

  1. Matias Romero pulls his cart up to a home to sell traditional Mexican sweet bread in the Colonia Hidalgo Norte neighborhood in Matias Romero, Oaxaca. Romero learned baking from his father.
Esperanza Guzman Guzman, 74, prepares hand made corn tortillas on a wood fire stove in the family kitchen on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022 in El Súchil, Veracruz, Mexico. Esperanza Guzman receives roughly $3000 pesos every two months as part of President of Mexico
  1. Esperanza Guzman Guzman, 74, prepares handmade corn tortillas on a wood fire stove in the family kitchen in El Súchil, Veracruz.
José Martinez Pabón, 61, with crappie he caught in the Coatzacoalcos River near the Port of Coatzacoalcos on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022 in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. José Pabón’s home, he shares with his sister, sits next to the train tracks that is part
  1. Jose Martinez Pabon, 61, with crappie he caught in the Coatzacoalcos River near the Port of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state. Pabon is concerned he and his sister will be displaced by the train construction.
A man sells corn and other snack items along the malecón, an esplanade along the waterfront, on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022 in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. The City of Coatzacoalcos has been devastated by insecurities caused by the cartels in the state. The
  1. A man sells corn and other snacks along the malecón, an esplanade along the waterfront, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Read the story at https://lat.ms/3YxryiK

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