Troubling Tourism: Development and Democratization in Latin America

In Juan Villoro's best-selling novel Arrecife (The Reef, 2012), the hapless protagonist Antonio "Tony" Góngora plays reluctant witness in a murder mystery when two of his coworkers, in successive fashion, turn up dead at the tourist resort where they had worked.Aptly named the Pyramid, the resort is ensconced on the fictional coastline of Kukulkán, a standin for Cancún, Mexico's most popular and profitable tourist destination.As the dystopian plotline unfolds, readers discover an uncanny cast of characters, including a dubious US investor dubbed El Gringo, who stage mock kidnappings of foreigners, guerrilla fantasies of revolution, and absurdist hallucinations that blur the boundaries between make-believe and reality.Through it all, the political economy of tourism endures.