Paving the way.

Yucatan has always been a defiant Mexican state, not unlike Texas in the United States. So renegade is the southeastern state, in fact, that it refers to itself as a "republic." But it is more than bravado that has carried it to economic good times. About four years ago, the government of Yucatan recognized it was in trouble. Tourist dollars pouring into Cancun and the so-called Mayan Riviera bypassed Yucatan, and underemployment was a thorny problem. The solution: infrastructure. "The Yucatan government has invested huge sums in developing transportation infrastructure, which includes airport expansion, road development and modernization of Puerto Progreso," says local businessman Raul Chan.