Otillo Lopez

Otillo and his wife Irma live in the “newest” section of Salvador Urbina, near the soccer field. This section of town has grown rapidly since the start of the cooperative and the paving of the “Periferico.” A Periferico is like a beltway, or a metropolitan highway bypass, kind of like the “202” in Phoenix. Although it is a running joke for a town so small to have a by-pass, in reality the Periferico is a critical part for the development of Salvador Urbina because it allows for smoother movement around the town, and it is now easier to bring the coffee from the various socios’ homes to the coffee-processing shop. In the rainforest, the roads or paths that are not paved, and are used when they are muddy, quickly become a sticky quagmire. The Periferico is completely paved with concrete so it can handle the weight of trucks with coffee and is designed to shed the water. Otillo’s house value increased a lot when the Periferico went up near it.