Yucatán is growing fast — new towers, commercial parks, and ambitious public works seem to pop up with each passing month. But the federal government’s preference for military builders is squeezing private contractors out of the picture.
That was the message from José Guillermo Dosal Valdez, president of the Federación Mexicana de Colegios de Ingenieros Civiles, who traveled to Mérida this week for a leadership transition ceremony at the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Yucatán. The organization’s incoming president is Germán Gabriel Euán Góngora.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Dosal Valdez said the headwinds facing Yucatán’s construction sector are hardly unique to the state.
“This is a problem we have at the national level,” he said.
A recent report from the Banco de México on regional economies backs him up. It found that private-sector construction in Yucatán is being held back by higher materials and labor costs, lengthy permit processes, and gaps in urban planning and basic services. Those obstacles aren’t new, but they’ve become harder to ignore as the state’s growth has accelerated.
Mérida is now the 10th-largest metropolitan area in Mexico, a milestone that reflects the city’s rapid population growth and a wave of real estate investment that has sent land values soaring. That boom has created real demand for new roads, water lines, and public spaces — precisely the kind of work that engineers and private builders would normally take on.
But much of that work is going elsewhere. Dosal Valdez pointed to a trend that has reshaped public construction in Mexico over the past several years: major infrastructure projects are increasingly being handed to the Army and the Navy rather than to civilian contractors.
“Most public works are now assigned to the armed forces,” he said. “Those public resources no longer flow to the population the way they used to, when hiring private builders meant more jobs and more spending on materials.”
The military’s expanded role in construction dates to the administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who used the Army to push through signature projects — including the Mayan Train — while bypassing administrative bottlenecks. President Claudia Sheinbaum has signaled she will maintain that approach. An analysis of six major military-managed infrastructure projects found they generated only about half the revenue needed to cover operating costs without continued government subsidies.
For private engineers, the frustration is more immediate. Dosal Valdez noted that more than US$5 billion in infrastructure works has been announced nationally, but private firms have struggled to break in. Permit procedures are a constant complaint.
“The bureaucratic obstacles are a recurring issue,” he said. “In many cities, the processes are complicated — not just because of the lack of resources, but also the paperwork.”
He said the federation, which represents 60 member engineering organizations across Mexico, is developing digital platforms to simplify administrative procedures. In the meantime, the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Yucatán has set up a working group with state officials focused on economic development zones under review at the Secretaría de Economía. Dosal Valdez said he plans to convene workshops and open the process to broader participation soon.
“We’ve raised our hand because, with fewer infrastructure projects available, it is crucial that we are present and that we contribute,” he said.
The stakes are real in a state where growth has outpaced public services in many neighborhoods. Mérida’s periférico ring road has long struggled to keep up with traffic, and new residential developments continue to press against the limits of the city’s utilities and road networks.
The practical effect of routing more public contracts through the military is that money that once circulated through local supply chains — paying wages, buying materials, supporting smaller businesses — no longer does so in the same way. That’s the economic argument Dosal Valdez keeps returning to.
“Those resources used to flow through,” he said. “That’s what generated a broader benefit.”
Fast Facts
- José Guillermo Dosal Valdez is president of the Federación Mexicana de Colegios de Ingenieros Civiles, which represents 60 engineering organizations across Mexico.
- Germán Gabriel Euán Góngora was named the new president of the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Yucatán at this week’s ceremony.
- The Banco de México’s most recent regional economies report identified rising input and labor costs, slow permit processing, and weak urban planning as key constraints on private construction in Yucatán.
- The federation is developing digital platforms to simplify permit and licensing procedures.
- The Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Yucatán has a working group tracking economic development zone policy at the Secretaría de Economía.
- Major public infrastructure projects in Mexico have increasingly been assigned to the Army (SEDENA) and Navy (SEMAR) rather than private contractors since 2019.
Sources: Diario de Yucatán, yucatan.com.mx; CounterPunch, “The Militarization of Commercial Activity in Mexico,” November 2025; Mexico Business News, “Mexico’s Military Projects Lose MX$5.6 Billion, Rely on Subsidies,” May 2025; Phenomenal World, “Militarized Capitalism,” March 2025; Yucatán Magazine, “Mérida’s Meteoric Rise: Now Mexico’s 10th Largest Metro Area.”