Political Challenges, Infrastructure and Schools

Ecological Challenges:



Progreso should not be mistaken as merely being a quant fishing village twenty minutes north from Merida. In fact, there are several characteristics that compile Progeso’s unexpected charm and bustling energy. Behind the brand new Malecon boardwalk lined with restaurants and multi-colored beach umbrellas, along with the sun-soaking vacationers and the locals eager to sell their handmade goods, Progreso’s compelling hidden qualities are distinct. The town is currently facing several political changes and challenges, especially within this current precarious global economy. In this section of the blog, I will turn to the current state of governmental policy and presence within Progreso to give a greater understanding of the lifestyle of locals as well as current challenges that they face on a daily basis.

Similar to the economic geography of Merida, it is apparent that the wealthier neighborhoods of Progreso lie in the north and north-east regions of the city. In these areas, many retired expats from Canada and the United States own the beautiful pastel-colored houses that line the coast. However, further to the south and the far west and east, the local working class Yucatecos actively strut the streets. Not only commercial restaurants and large houses mark the economic stratification, but street pollution as well. Walking down calle 78 from the touristy Malecon towards the Aurrera de Progreso and the Gasolinera Progreso Remos, the increase of garbage in the street becomes evident: Progreso has a grave problem with street contamination and pollution. Apart from the commerce and tourist sector of Progreso, which counts for 60.3% of the active economy, 21.69% of the economy depends on the mining industry, petroleum, manufacturing, construction and electricity. This high industrial dependence- along with tourism- has greatly contributed to Progresos contamination issues. In a recent article in the SIPSE News of the Yucatan, Progreso Mayor, Maria Ester Alonzo Morales says that the garbage in Progreso increases six times over during the vacation seasons. Due to this, Progreso is in a crisis of not knowing where to put their garbage. The mayor has complained that the Semarnat of the federal government (Secretario de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) has not taken enough initiative in providing a solution to the problem. Without the interference, Morales says, “Now we don’t know what to do with our garbage.” Due to the lack of government support, Progreso’s local Direccion de Ecologia y Medio Ambiente will sign an agreement with local authorities in Merida to send their trash to the city to be dispersed and processed. The mayor stated in an interview, “ Lo tuvimos que hacer antes y ademas de generar un costo adicional para la administración, pues esta mas que probabdo que no es la solucion.” http://www.progresohoy.com/2011/02/de-nuevo-la-basura-de-progreso-se.html


Sitema Municipal de Agua Portable y Alcantarillado de Progreso on calle 31 by 86, controls the system of clean drinking wáter in the city. They are currently experiencing a financial crisis due to years of local businesses and residents not paying their water taxes. To help stabilize the shortage, the director of Smapap, Irving Castillo Avila, will implement a new policy where during the next nineteen months, the authorites will apply a 50 cent increase each month on
water fees. The domestic tax which is now 25 pesos, will reach 37 pesos in October 2012. The commercial tax, which is 72 pesos will reach 88.50. In an interview, Avilla stated, “Habra mano dura para los que no paguen; se les cortara el servicio. El agua cuesta mucho producirla y muchos no pagan.”
http://www.progresohoy.com/2011/02/el-aumento-real-del-agua-potable-sera.html


After strolling past SMAPAP, I began to walk north, away from the uncomfortably polluted southern barrios. On calle 74 and 37 in El Centro, I walked past the Office of Civil Registration and El Colegio de Bachilleras del Estado de Yucatan, a local public college. According to the Enciclopedia de los Municipios y Delegaciones de Mexico, there are fifteen preschools in Progreso, twenty-seven Primaria schools. Thirteen Secundaria schools, 27 colleges/bachilleratos, and one school that falls into the category of “nivel superior.” http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/yucatan/municipios/31059a.htm




Schools:


Throughout the city there are abundant Jardines de Ninos and outdoor sports complexes which are all funded by the Secretaria de Education del Estado de Yucatan. They are easily spotted by their legible, green and white signs. A small detail that caught my attention was the painted mural of Chichen Itza in the Jardin de Ninos Consuelo Ruz de Fernandez on calle 37. Quite the contrary to the images we see kids playing with in outdoor parks United States. I thought, “As a matter of fact, what type of images are in the outdoor play spaces of parks in the US? Are there images of like, Iroquois longhouses in the public parks for kids in New York?” Just a thought.












From calle 37 I walked to avenue 88 and calle 31. I passed a sign that read, “Colegio Particular Bilingue Jardin de Ninos Maria Aurora.”

It was a bilingual preschool for kids age four to six. As I stopped to take a photograph which felt awkward, hence, who takes photographs of the outside of a door to a school? One of the teachers came out and asked , “Can I help you.” I then explained my situation. After telling her I was from New York she said, “Buscas trabajo?” I said no, but the thought I working in a bilingual preschool in Progresso seemed intriguing. She then started to talk to me about her family. She has two daughters, one who is fifteen who seems to have dropped out of school, and another nineteen who moved to Merida with her boyfriend and is currently studying to be a nurse. She is divorced and lives alone with her daughter. Since I had just came from the southern barrios, where I saw a lot of graffiti, I asked her, “Porque hay tanto graffiti por aca? Hay problemas con pandillas en Progreso? Que hacen los jovenes por la calle?” She told me that a lot of the graffiti is actually not done by residents of Progreso, but by people who come from “afuera” and vandalize the town. There are no problems with gangs. However, she did mention that there is a large population of youth in the city who don’t go to school, or end up dropping out.

She allowed me to come inside and take a few photos of the school and meet the kids. There were only about twelve children in the school in total. The head teacher of the day, Wendy, is twenty-three years old and seemed quite tired from disciplining the rambunctious preschool troop. Apart from the basic curriculum, Wendy teaches basic, English words such as colors, numbers, and animals, but it seemed like the greatest challenge was just trying to make the kids sit still in their seats.











My next destination was Progreso’s Palacio Municipal, located on calle 80 between 31 and 33. The Palacio Municipal is the center of political administration. In Progreso, there are 25 localities. The five largest and most important are Progreso, Campestre Flamboyanes, San Ignacio, Pariso, and La Candelarita. The offices located at the Palacio Principal watch over these 25 provinces. The political departments are divided among the following offices: the office of the secretary president (who is currently Felipe Calderón Hinojosa http://www.puertosyucatan.com/cgi-bin/news.cgi?folio=220) the local police, health and public services, transport and education, performances, ecology and markets (flea markets), nomenclature and regulations, handicap services, military recruitment, and gardens and parks. The “bolsa de trabajo” is also a part of the services that are given at the Palacio Municipal. The local administration consists of the Town Council, Town Police, and the Town Offices and agencies. According to the Town Hall council, the following responsibilities are divided amongst these three powers, and their specific services they provide in the city can be found on this link-
http://www.progresohoy.com/2011/02/el-aumento-real-del-agua-potable-sera.html


Interview with Lourdes Cristin Sampedro, Local Coordinator of Employment, “Bolsa de Trabajo.” Palacio Municipal, Calle 80 x 31 y 33, Planta Baja. Tuesday February 22.
I met Lourdes by complete chance. I was walking past the office of Military recruitment taking photos when she called out to me from inside the office, “Can I help you with something?” I entered and explained who I was and what I was doing in Progresso. She got immediately stimulated by the project. It seemed as though there hadn’t been much action around the office, so she seemed eager to discuss with someone about the current employment situation and political climate in general in Progresso. She exclaimed, “What do you want to know? I can tell you about anything you want to know.” Lourdes grew up in Progresso but had lived for various years in the D.F obtaining her Masters in Anthropology and Education. She then lived in Canada for various years afterwards. Her education and life travels eventually brought her back to the humble fishing village of her youth.
I casually asked her a very broad, general question, “So, how is the economy here? The job market?” Her answer was quite direct, “Estamos en el sótano.” She proclaimed, “Es la época de la hacienda.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by that. “What do you mean?” I asked. She continued to explain that the Mexican government has favored North American capitalism to the point where they have “forgotten about their own people.” She discussed how the middle class is slowly disappearing, the poor class is increasing, and the rich class is decreasing. She spoke of the corruption of the federal government, and how Yucatecos pay a high federal tax, but rarely does this money trickle down to the people. I asked, “But what about all of this new construction that is happening around the city?” She said that the budget for these projects (for example the rebuilding of the Malecón) is coming from the state budget and from what I could observe, it seemed as though that budget was quite generous.

As a quick side note, in an article that came out in Opinion de Yucatan in November 2010, it says that the state government has put aside 50 million pesos to rebuild the Malecón. This will include a two- lane street, new street lights, garbage bins, wider sidewalks for security, new ramps for the handicapped, and the “serpent-like” mural will be rebuilt with newer material that is more resistant to the strength of hurricanes that frequently pass by the region.
Lourdes continued on to explain the minimum wage in Yucatan and what work life is like for a local Progresano. The average monthly salary living on minimum wage is $1500 pesos a month. Someone who works on a minimum wage job will work up to twelve hours a day and make $50 pesos on average. She exclaimed, “Los sueldos son pésimos.” She said on average on a weekly basis an engineer (a career highly valued that requires years of study) could gain $500 pesos. This is nothing to live by. She then added, “We (pointing to her coworker, Esther who was casually flipping through the local newspaper) are in a good position because we work for the government. Government jobs pay well. But if we were working as secretaries in any other office, we would be living on this minimum wage.” She says many engineers and doctors try to leave the country to find better work, but no longer are they turning to the United States. I asked her, “I would imagine that the United States is becoming less popular to move to because of the whole economic crisis. Where do Mexicans with this level of education go?” She answered, “More recently many travel to Japan, China, and Australia.” But she also said that the people who have the chance to move, “No tienen nada que perder.” She said that work in Mexico is not valued, and that this is part of the problem.
The second question I asked Lourdes was the structure of the public school system. Similar to the United States, starting at four years old kids begin kinder; which is three years. Then they go to primaria, which is another three years. Then after that they begin secundaria which is another three years. After this they have the option to go to prepa or bachillerato. Once students reach the age of prepa, or bachilleto, their studies become extremely focused on one skill or subject. Prepa is usually associated with a vocational skill: car mechanic, computer science etc. Bachilleto might be more math, science, or technology focused. According to Lourdes, if a student wants to continue on in the humanities or medicine, they need to study and work harder to get accepted into a University. Apparently there are no major universities in Progreso for this type of study, so many young students move to Merida if this is their goal.
As a second side note, Progreso has a wide array of public and private schools, the public schools outnumbering the private.

However, Progreso does offer a special type of educational opportunity. El Centro de Los Estudios Tecnologicos del Mar, or CETA specializes in tecnological studies related to the fishing and industry sector. They offer Bachilleratos in the following fields: Aquaculture, Administration, Nutrition, Naval Construction, Electronics, Motors, Sport Fishing, and Refrigeration. The degree in Refrigeration specifically caught my attention. The description on the schools website goes as follows, “La Carrera de Técnico en Refrigeración y Aire Acondicionado proporciona las herramientas necesarias para aplicar los principios de refrigeración y el aire acondicionado e cualquier context, realizando el mantenimiento en sistemas de refrigeración doméstica, comercial, cámaras frigoríficas, sistemas de aire acondicionado tipo ventana, minisplit, automotriz y tipo paquete. Podrá emplearse en Talleres de refrigeración, centros comerciales, congeladoras, empacadoras, embotelladoras, hotleria, y centros de diversiones.”
This degree certainly seems something that pertains specifically to the warm climate of the Yucatan.

Lourdes also expressed an obvious ferver towards the fact that a lot of teachers in the public schools are not well-suited for their jobs.

My next question for Lourdes pertained to the population of foreigners who come to Progreso and stay, such as the retired Canadians and North Americans. How do the locals perceive all of the tourism and outside investment? She said, “la población no recibe ningún beneficio del turismo.” The money goes directly into the powers of private investors within Yucatan. She mentioned that if you ask an expat who lives in Progreso what they like about living here, the first word they will say is “la tranquilidad.” “No vienen porque a les gusta a nosotros. Vienen por la tranquilidad, la playa.” She then began to talk about how it’s easy for them to live here, because their dollar goes a long way.
Due to my past experiences in Cuba, and seeing how the local police forces favored the foreigner more than the local, I asked her, “Does the police look out after the foreigners in Progreso more than the locals?” She replied with a firm, “Si. Se cuidan más a las turistas que el pueblo.” From this, I asked her if there was a lot of crime in Progreso. She said that there is not much crime at all. Progreso doesn’t even have it’s own prison. What exists is more of a detention center where you get locked up if you steal someone’s purse, or vandalize a building. According to Lourdes, the crime in Progreso usually consists of these types of minor crimes. If there is a murder or rape reported, they are sent to the higher courts and incarceration facilities in Merida. By the way, she also told me that the penetenciaria in Merida is the best place to buy a hammock. Every Saturday they have a market where they sell crafts and other goods that they make in the prison. The money also goes towards the inmates families. I asked her where this detention center was located in Progreso. She said, “El Puerto de Abrigo.”

Puerto de Abrigo. Saturday, February 26. A very sweaty ride in a combi takes to me to outskirts of Progreso. It drops me in what seems to be, a place slightly in the middle of nowhere. Boatville, so it seemed. Puerto de Abrigo is the heart of Progreso’s fishing industry. It is where all of the fisherman sail out to sea, but it is also where one can find the main police station. I could not find the local carcel, and thought best just to stay away. There was also the office of the Fiscalia General del Estado, and the Direccion de Obras Desarollo Urbano y Servicios Publicos. Once again, the pollution and the stench was potent coming from the industrious port.