The Corridor Defended

The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (Spanish: Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec), abbreviated as CIIT, is a trade and transit route in Southern Mexico, under the control of the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through a railway system, the Railway of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec), for both cargo and passengers, crossing through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The project includes the modernization and expansion of local seaports, particularly the ports of Salina Cruz (Oaxaca) and Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz), and of the Minatitlán oil refinery and the Salina Cruz oil refinery. It plans to attract private investors through the creation of 10 industrial parks in the isthmus area, and two parks in Chiapas. The project aims to develop the economy and industry of the Mexican South through encouraging economic investment, both national and international, and facilitating commerce and transportation of goods internationally. Initiated under the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, analysts widely regard it as his most important project, as it has the potential to offer a long-term boost to the Mexican economy and develop the industry and economy of the South, which has been one of the poorest regions of the country for decades. Experts associated with the project reported that it had the potential to be an alternative "cheaper and faster than the Panama Canal." The project consists of the rehabilitation of the Tehuantepec Railway, which was completed during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz in 1907, and was built with similar goals, but started to fall out of use upon the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution and the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. It also will modernize the ports of Salina Cruz, which opens to the Pacific Ocean, and Coatzacoalcos, to the Atlantic. As part of the project, 10 industrial parks will be built in the area surrounding the railway to encourage economic investment and industrial development in the region. On 18 September 2023, the director of the CIIT at the time, Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, announced that the Corridor's freight services on the Coatzacoalcos-Salina Cruz line (Line Z) officially began "from this very moment", and that the Coatzacoalcos-Palenque line (Line FA) began that same month. Line Z was officially opened for passengers on December 22, but cargo operations were delayed.