| Description |
In 1928, Utah Construction Company completed its first project outside of the United States with the 110 mile railroad for Southern Pacific of Mexico. Over the next 30 years, UCC continued to work on projects in Mexico including dams, roads, mining, and canals. The collection contains several booklets and correspondence along with approximately 500 photographs. |
| OCR Text |
Show THE MEXICAN ENVIRONMENT Mexico is known officially as the United Mexican States. It has an area of 760,000 square miles (almost one-fourth the size of the United States) and occupies the major part of the area between the southern border of the United States and the continent of South America. It is the third largest country in Latin America after Brazil (3,285,000 square miles) and Argentina (1,080,000 square miles). The major portion of the country is a highland, volcanic plateau that is bordered on the east, west, and south by mountains. This plateau gradually rises to the south. The southern portion includes Mexico City, which is the political, economic, and population center of the country. The city is located at an altitude of about 7,500 feet on layered volcanic rock. Almost 50 percent of the total area of Mexico, including the entire northern part of the country, is arid or semiarid. The more southerly parts of the nation have a rainy season usually lasting from May to October, but very little rainfall during the rest of the year. Political Environment The Mexican Government is a federation of states that is based on a uniform system specified by the Constitution. The states of the republic are sovereign in the management of their internal affairs. They have their own administrations, elected by direct vote, consisting of three authorities executive, legislative, and judiciary. The executive authority at the federal level is vested in the President of the United Mexican States, who is more commonly known as the President of the Republic. The President holds office for a six-year term and is elected by universal suffrage and direct secret vote. The legislative branch is the Congress of the Union, which consists of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate has 60 members who are elected for six-year terms; the Chamber of Deputies has 210 members who are elected for three-year terms. The judiciary system is headed by the Supreme Court of Justice, whose members are appointed by the President for life. All appointments to the Court, however, must be ratified by the Senate. Many of the functions at the state level are conducted through institutions and federal agencies that, although they are not part of the national government, are nonetheless subject to the President's authority. These autonomous agencies have played a 7 |
