Latin American Economy & Business - August 2014 (ISSN 1741-7430)

La Bestia (‘the beast’) is the generic name given to a number of slow freight trains that work their way through Mexico and have become notorious for carrying mainly Central American migrants and refugees northwards, as they attempt to get into the US. The large number of under-age children taking this perilous journey, coupled with US concerns over border security and immigration in an election year, has catapulted La Bestia into the headlines. As we try to show here, it is part of an interrelated multi-billion dollar ecosystem of legal and illegal businesses.