U.S. dollars sustain rural Mexican village – Opopeo, Mexico

“In many ways, Opopeo is still a traditional Mexican town. A woman in a serape sits on the sidewalk in the plaza selling fresh fish as a farmer on horseback passes by. But La Providencia Dollar Exchange Center occupies a prominent place near the mayors offices. And up the street is a cellphone store selling the newest in wireless devices.

For those who stay home, the main sources of income are crafting tables and chairs from pine trees felled in the surrounding mountains and farming beans and corn.

The lack of local opportunities and the lure of better-paying jobs in the United States, as well as networks of friends and relatives from Opopeo who provide a cushion for recent U.S. arrivals, have combined to form the towns culture of outsourcing workers to the United States.”

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