| Historically Los Tuxtlas were isolated from mainstream Mexico and did not begin to participate in the country´s development until the late 1800's when foreign entrepreneurs developed tobacco processing in the San Andrés Tuxtla area. The building of a railroad in 1913 and the coastal highway in the mid 1950´s finally suckered Los Tuxtlas into the 20th century. Since then the region has experienced explosive population growth, largely related to Mexican government land give-away programs. Accurate statistics are a well kept government secret, so the following figures are personal interpretations: Monetarily, the primary drivers of the Catemaco economy are cattle ranching, tourism, fishing, agriculture and witchcraft. The largest employer is the municipal government, followed by state and federal agencies. The largest private employer is the US based foliage grower Flor de Catemaco. Aside from housewives, cowboys are probably the largest individual segment of employment, followed by more than 2000 registered fishermen, (almost no women registered), and hundreds of shills touting brujos and boat rides The individual businesses with the highest sales are possibly a hardware chain, a dry goods grocer, a furniture chain, a 57 room hotel and a pharmacy. Catemaco's population of app 46,000 has one bank, one post office, one telegraph office, one ice factory, more than a dozen state and federal agencies, 30 internet cafes, but no phone company office . |
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| Catemaco Veracruz, Mexico |
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