Seriously, what do you think you'll find there that is going to so much better that it is here? Other than the aboriginal people you want study. Or, do you think these people had/have some wondrous relationship with nature?
Socialism hasn't worked anywhere. There's rampant poverty. Governmental corruption (far worse than even the left-most nightmares of our government.) diseases, poor medical care and really big bugs! 
I'm not baiting you...I really want to know.

Mark

Poverty in Latin America is largely caused by unfair trade agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA, and GATT are unfair to workers everywhere.  It creates an environment that forces workers to compete against each other, thereby driving the cost of labor down.  Simple supply and demand.  The winners - giant international corporations.)  I could go into the nitty gritty of deflation, community based economies, but its really dry and boring.  As for socialism.  Democratic socialism is the preferred method of government in Canada, Europe, Israel, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Chile.  Chile is a very prosperous country, and Venezuela under the leadership of Hugo Chavez has cut poverty by fifty percent in five years (largely through reallocation of profits from oil).  Chile is also a nice case study in privatized social security - it has utterly failed in that country.  Bolivia just elected the first indigenous person to hold chief of state in a Latin American country.  Chavez has been villanized by the western media, but every election that he has won has been certified by international voting watchdog groups as legitimate.  He has virtually eliminated illiteracy and given land back to indigenous groups that held it for thousands of years before colonialism.  The story of the coup attempt when Chavez was deposed for two days was truly remarkable (possibly to the point that its not entirely true).  Anyway, the story goes that the higher ups in the military led the coup, but when the lower level officers found out about it they rebelled and defeated the coup before it could really get started.  There is also some evidence that the coup was CIA backed which would not be suprising given the CIA's reputation in Latin America.

Basically, the reason that I want to work in Yucatan is that I like the people there.  Milpa (slash and burn agriculture) has been practiced for thousands of years and is still practiced today.  Though land intensive, it is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of farming on the planet.  I also have certain values about shared wealth that aren't congruent with American culture.  It would probably be better for me to leave than to try to change them.