In the late 1920s the government of the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo introduced the cooperative system in the chicle industry, which was controlled by U.S. chewing-gum companies and its contratistas, intermediaries between the companies and the chicle producers. However, the project ended in failure, because of various factors, including the impact of the Great Depression, U.S. companies' boycott, the competition between chicle and other raw materials for chewing-gum, the corruption and inefficiencies in the government, or the discord between the local and federal governments.