The Other Cancún: Municipal Politics, State Formation, and the PRI

In 1974, the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo became Mexico’s 30th state. Its transition to statehood emerged from the refashioning of Cancún, a former Maya island in the Caribbean Sea, as the country’s most popular and profitable resort town. Nevertheless, Cancún’s development posed numerous social and spatial challenges. This paper examines that tension. I argue that the key to understanding the contradictory nature of municipal politics in Cancún and of state formation in Quintana Roo lies with the PRI. After 1974, the constant expansion of Cancún’s hotel zone displaced workers onto the mainland. This led to conflicts with agrarian communities, which PRI authorities in Mexico City and Chetumal readily exploited for their own benefit. By understanding the particularities of these dynamics, I conclude that we might also better understand the ways in which the PRI adapted to the changing realities of the late twentieth century.