De espacio “vacío” a región vivida. Vías de comunicación en la frontera entre Veracruz, Tabasco y Chiapas (Siglos XIX-XX)

Abstract

This article analyzes the process of formation of the Choapas region in the Mexican Southeast during the 19th and 20th centuries. The socio-spatial transformations that favored such integration are examined with the theoretical-methodological proposal of social space by Pierre Bourdieu and the theory of gaps by Juan Pedro Viqueira, highlighting the contingent character of regions, the flexibility and permeability of spaces, but above all the power relations that cross the geo-historical axes of that process. From a relational perspective, some socioeconomic variables are approached that impelled the construction of communication routes and gave rise to important changes in spatial organization between the 19th and 20th centuries. The article covers various periods: the time when rivers were the main communication routes, Porfirian modernity, the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, settlement and colonization, the indirect impact of the “March to the Sea” program and the socio-spatial dynamics in border areas. This long journey accounts for the transformation of an “empty” space into a lived region.