Economics
How a U.S. Remittance Windfall Saved Small Towns in Mexico
Transfers from workers outside the country jumped 27% last year, lifting communities that got little pandemic relief.
A fair in Tehuitzingo in the Mexican state of Puebla on Feb. 15.
Photographer: Koral Carballo/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pizza and beer vendors were doing a brisk business at a February fair in Tehuitzingo, a municipality of 12,700 people in central Mexico. Groups of kids jumped in a bouncy castle, while teenagers braved a swinging carnival ride shaped like a dragon. Local vaqueros bowed their heads to pray for protection as they prepared for a bull-riding contest with a grand prize of $1,000, most of it donated by migrants living in Nevada.
“From Las Vegas, we got pure green,” the carnival’s announcer yelled across the fairgrounds.