ABSTRACT

The Inter-Oceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a megaproject proposed by the government of Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador that focuses on the construction of infrastructure and energy projects among which is the rehabilitation of the Isthmus Railway and the construction, maintenance and operation of the Jáltipan Salina Cruz gas pipeline. The aim is to put into operation an electric train and a 247 km gas pipeline to expand gas production in the region. Both projects are developed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme and have foreign investment.

In Mexico, PPPs have been implemented considering that they are the necessary formula to solve the State’s inability to administer and offer public goods and services. However, this approach has not guaranteed its success and has generated various territorial conflicts.

This project reproduces relations of domination over territories based on the discourse of a development model that meets social needs, although it maintains as a priority economic growth linked to extractive production. This approach not only generates environmental and social impacts but also makes invisible and accentuates the discrimination and marginalization that women in the region face by not being considered as subjects for decision-making.

In this context, women defenders in this region have undertaken a way of resisting by building their own notion of well-being and proposing an agenda in which the rights to health, education, food, water and environmental protection are fundamental issues.