Indigenous communities in southern
Mexico voted overwhelmingly to approve President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's pet project to build a regional railroad aimed at boosting tourism and economic development, the government said Monday.
The $6.2-billion "Maya Train" is meant to link Caribbean resorts such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen with ancient Mayan archaeological sites such as Palenque and Chichen Itza, passing through the impoverished interior of southeastern Mexico along the way.
Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist widely known as "AMLO", says the passenger and freight railroad will kick-start economic development in the region.