Abstract

GRUEL SANDEZ, Víctor Manuel. The opening of the Pan American Highway. Tourism and stereotypes between Mexico and United States. Estud. front [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.36, pp.126-150. ISSN 2395-9134.  https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2017.36.a06.

The objective of the article is to explore the geopolitical context at the time of inaugurating the first direct road between the national capital and the border with the United States. In addition to considering the specific weight of this event within the media sphere, the text tries to contribute the historical study of cultural stereotypes and tourism promotion between both countries. Through access to documentary sources and official correspondence of the time, the findings concern the meanings that were built about the road and Mexico itself. We also discussed political and economic tensions between the National Northeast and Northwest regions. The historical context reconstruction describes the border region as a space for cultural exchanges where precise stereotypes about Mexico and the United States arose. The fact that the road inaugurated had the name "Pan American" had ideological and diplomatic implications that in this work are crumbled.

Keywords : roads; cultural stereotypes; tourism; border towns; revolutionary nationalism.

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