Rivers and Roads of Mexico

A little bit on Mexico rivers and Roads

Apart from in some southern areas, Mexico’s rivers are mostly unnavigable. (“can’t get there from here”)

Throughout the colonial period, the road from Mexico City to Veracruz served as the umbilical cord between the New World and Spain: during the 16th century land links were also opened to the agriculturally rich Bajfo region north of Mexico City and on to the mining district of Zacatecas.

But when new mines were discovered in what is now southern Chihuahua, attempts to colonize New Mexico failed. It took more than a year to make the 2,600 km round trip from Zacatecas to New Mexico, and neither Spain, nor Mexico had the resources to integrate the great northern reaches which the conquis tadores had claimed as theirs.

When the time came, Anglo-Americans fought the Mexicans and took over what was then northern Mexico.

During the Diaz dictatorship, foreign capital poured in and helped finance the building of roads and railroads to the north and develop un-tapped natural resources.

It then became economically worthwhile for North American companies to begin hulk ore mining. Foreign capital also financed the exploration for oil. By the 1930’s, when the government expropriated the Mexican oil industry, a basic communications system was in place.

Travelling Down The Road In Mexico