The last PODECOBI

For three decades, the left has governed Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl intermittently. Between 1996 and 2010, the PRD mayors were from Movidig, a group—led by brothers Héctor and Víctor Bautista—that fought for the regularization of occupied properties on the banks of the Bordo de Xochiaca.

At that time, the social left had joined the PRD, the party-movement that became an electoral machine under the leadership of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In the State of Mexico, Movidig displaced the Political Action Group, then headed by Higinio Martínez and based in Texcoco, from political control in Neza.

The Bautista brothers established themselves in Neza, and another of their own, José Luis Gutiérrez Cureño, established themselves in Ecatepec. Both towns promoted the National Democratic Alternative movement, which during the PRD era took over the party apparatus in the State of Mexico and managed to coexist—without much fuss—with the Peña Nieto supporters.

In early 2009, in Víctor Manuel Bautista's last year as mayor, the city council approved the construction of a new "clean urban development" complex on a strip of land that was once a garbage dump.

Neza II and III were left as vacant lots adjacent to the draining of the former Lake Texcoco reservoir. The closure of the dumps left an irregular urban settlement that over time became a source of insecurity in the area due to the abandonment of the land. The Peña Nieto administration promoted the environmental restoration of the Xochiaca River Basin, with the construction of a High-Tech Logistics Center, a Botanical Garden, and an Urban Park.

The PRD-majority city council authorized the sale of the lots—737,185 square meters—on February 12, 2009, and a year and a half later, the PRI-controlled state Congress authorized the state executive branch to sell them.

Two six-year terms—and four municipal administrations—passed without the Clat Neza Bicentenario company completing the project. Until August 29, 2023, when Morena mayor Adolfo Cerqueda Rebollo received a mandate from his council to process the recovery of the lands with then-governor Alfredo del Mazo.

Their claim was based on the failure to comply with a transitional provision of the Peña Nieto decree—which required the formalization of a legal act certifying the corresponding purchase and sale for the sale of the properties ceded to the state government.

But it would take another year and a half for the efforts of the Morena mayor—who was reelected just a year ago—to be successful. This time, his demands had the full support of Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The Wellbeing Development Hubs are a legacy of the López Obrador administration. At the start of her six-year term, President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed Plan Mexico and a new package of PODECOBI projects, in addition to the eight developments of the Interoceanic Corridor, under the responsibility of the Navy. A total of 26 projects—15 new ones—are to be implemented over the next five years. The strategic sectors of the PODECOBI projects are: agribusiness, aerospace, automotive and electromobility, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, electronics and semiconductors, energy, chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles and footwear, circular economy, clean energy, basic metal industries, paper industry, plastics industry, logistics, and metalworking.