Wednesday, May 13, 2009

President Calderon Due in Juarez Tomorrow

After postponing his trip to Juarez a few weeks ago due to the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico City, President Felipe Calderon has rescheduled, and will visit Cd. Juarez tomorrow. He will discuss the impact of the current economic downturn in Mexico on the local Juarez and border economy, as well as meet with officials to discuss the effectiveness of Joint Operation Juarez, which began more than a year ago but which was beefed up considerably in February and March as a result of a spike in violence.

Commentary: What brings President Calderon to Juarez--problems with the border economy and public security in Juarez--are not irrelevant to the border region on the U.S. side. The Paso del Norte, which includes Juarez, El Paso, and the Mesilla Valley south of Las Cruces, is highly interdependent and for many years before the outbreak of influenza it has been a local cliche that when Juarez sneezes, El Paso catches a cold, and vice-versa. In recent years the South Mesilla Valley has become part of the border economy, and with the introduction of Foxconn, the largest maquila plant in Mexico, adjacent to New Mexico, and the expansion of Cd. Juarez to the West along the border, Southern New Mexico is more heavily invested in this interdependence. Likewise, virtually all of us living in the Paso del Norte region have been affected by security issues, as a minimum through the inconveniences of wait lines at the border crossing, or making the marginal decision not the cross the border to visit a friend, dine out, or talk business with someone.

For a more personal and universal statement about interdependence, you might click here to read the words of a famous Englishman writing a famous passage in 1623 that includes the following phrase: "And therefore never send to know..."

No comments: