Championed by Mexican President Vicente Fox, the Plan Puebla Panamá ("Puebla Panama Plan") is a multi-billion dollar development plan in progress that would link the nine southern states of Mexico (Puebla and points south) with all of Central America into a colossal free trade zone. The Inter-American Development Bank is overseeing the PPP. Seal of the Office of the President of Mexico The President of United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. ... Vicente Fox Quesada[1] (born July 2, 1942) served as President of Mexico from December 1, 2000 to December 1, 2006. ... The United Mexican States or Mexico (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or México) is a federal republic made up of 31 states (estados) and one Federal District, (Distrito Federal), which contains the capital, Mexico City. ... The Mexican state of Puebla is located in the center of the country, to the east of Mexico City. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ... The Inter-American Development Bank (preferred abbreviation: IDB; but frequently given as IADB), was established in 1959 to support Latin American and Caribbean economic/social development and regional integration by lending mainly to public institutions. ...

Goals

Goals of the Plan Puebla Panamá include:

• improve transportation links
• promote tourism and trade
• promote education and environmental protection
• ease travel restrictions between countries
• connect power, telephone, and gas grids – eventually to the US and Canada.

Criticism

Much criticism of Plan Puebla Panamá is related to criticism of CAFTA. Critics argue that, driven by corporate intersts, corporations would pit desperate workers in Central America against workers in the United States. Several Mexican governors are formulating rival plans. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is a free trade agreement between the United States and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and Canada, and Mexico. ...

In addition, critics argue that Plan Puebla Panamá is destroying fragile rain forests and displacing Indigenous peoples who have little voice in the development effort.

Related

The Trans-Texas Corridor can be viewed as a U.S. counterpart to Plan Puebla Panamá transportation, extending from the US-Mexican border through the entire United States along I-69 and into Canada via Port Huron in Michigan. The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas. ... The international border between Mexico and the United States runs from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east. ... Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

By breaking down trade barriers, Central American Free Trade Agreement is a crucial component in Plan Puebla Panama, and the North American Free Trade Agreement can be viewed as a precursor. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is a free trade agreement between the United States and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and Canada, and Mexico. ... Map of NAFTA President Clinton signs the agreement. ...

Similarly, as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas can be thought of as an extension of CAFTA, so also can further integration via connectivity to the Initiative for the Integration of South American Infastructure be thought of as a follow on or expansion to the Plan Puebla Panamá and Trans-Texas Corridor initiatives, linking those roadways and reducing barriers to the flow of people and goods throughout much of North and South America. An expansion of the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which relaxes trade restrictions between Member States. ... The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is a free trade agreement between the United States and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and Canada, and Mexico. ... The Initiative for the Integration of South American Infastructure is a project via which countries of the Andean Community are attempting to further integrate their economies, especially by creating better road infastructure connecting from Panama City in the north to major cities in South America. ... The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas. ...

External links

• http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.iadb.org/ppp/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPlan%2BPuebla%2Bpanama%26hl%3Den%26hs%3D9k4%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official
• http://www.americas.org/item_10043
• http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2004/16.html
• http://www.iadb.org/