Artist's conception of a ship railway across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 1885 (text of audio follows photo)
Cassell's Family Magazine

Narrator

Another possible location for a dry canal is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico's narrow waist just west of the Yucatán. Ports already exist on both sides: Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast and Salina Cruz on the Pacific. A standard gauge railroad runs between them at close to sea level. But neither of the ports nor the railway is in good condition. Larry Burkhalter is a transportation adviser to the United Nations based in Chile:

Larry Burkhalter

Before the Panama Canal came online in 1914, they had a land bridge with donkeys carrying cargoes from one side to the other. So they'd always had the desire to connect their two ports. I think they spent something like 156 million dollars for rail and on port installations. In April of 1982 it was inaugurated, and as far as my information goes, it hasn't had one container go across.

The ship owners did not use: the first reason was of course that the extra port costs. The second reason was that the small population area surrounding the Gulf of Tehuantepec had so few people in it that it constituted a very miniscule market.

Narrator

The Isthmus is buffeted by serious social turmoil. The railroad passes near zones of conflict between the government and a guerrilla group. And in 1991, according to a high Mexican law enforcement official, a major cocaine trafficker unsuccessfully negotiated with the government to buy the ports of Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz.

Narration and interviews by Peter Costantini