Image: Moholy-Nagy, Self-Portrait with Hand, 1929
End of the American Road
America’s southern edge
Villages nearby in Coahuila are partly defined by their recent history of permanent suspension. The La Linda International Bridge, built by Dow Chemical, was once the only border crossing for hundreds of miles. But drug and electronics smuggling, the death of a Mexican customs agent, and local fluorite mines losing their advantages to China prompted it to close in the 1990s.
The dysfunctional bridge and its underwhelming barricade sit between two countries’ massive and extraordinarily undeveloped areas, symbolically designated variously as National Park, Área Natural Protegida, Biosphere Region, or Dark Sky Reserve. It’s about as remote as you can get, one of the darkest places on the continent, and where the frontier becomes otro mundo.
After the novelty of driving to the end of the American road wears off, standing at the midpoint of the unified desert landscape makes the national periphery feel like science fiction. “No drones” is handwritten on a sign at a store where I stop along the way, reminding me I’m at a security-sensitive area, and different rules apply. On the ground, the only material clue that I’ve reached the nation’s limit is a decomposing concrete airstrip and a sunburned metal grill bolted to the bridge.