Where is the NM Border Authority?
Government of Chihuahua Takes Even Stronger Measures Last Night

Tightening the "Sanitation Ring" Within the State

Coordination of Efforts with Some Surrounding States But Not NM or TX

Salvador Esparza of NorteDigital reports this morning (click here) the State of Chihuahua is taking additional steps to tighten controls designed to reduce the spread of coronavirus.  Among them are:  (1) the design and creation of  one Covid-19 hospital in Juarez and another in Chihuahua; (2) coordination of efforts with the neighboring states of Sonora, Durango, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila; (3) creation of 14 "sanitation" checkpoints at strategic locations on major highways, including the old customs checkpoint at Km 30 just South of Juarez.

Secretary of Health Enrique Grajeda, according to the report, said that at the present time there are "enough hospital beds with intensive care capabilities to deal with the eventual spread of the virus." (comment:  this is in sharp contrast with what Diario has reported is the case in Juarez).  Secretary Grajeda earlier on Friday met with key state legislators in the legislative palace, which is closed to the public as part of the state quarantine.

Comment: While it is reassuring that Chihuahua is coordinating efforts with surrounding states, two key surrounding states were not mentioned:  Texas and New Mexico, on the US side of a border that coronavirus does not respect.  With a combined population of more than 1 million people living within coughing distance of Juarez,  and with hundreds of thousands of trucks crossing the border checkpoints each year, no measures taken by the government of the state can ignore this reality.  There may be a lot more going on in the way of communication between the three states than we know about.  But we have a right to know that something is happening, even if not exactly what.  Our probability of contracting coronavirus may depend in part on just that something.

Where is the Border Authority?

One potential New Mexico player in all of this is the NM Border Authority, created more than a quarter century ago precisely to deal with the infrastructure needed to sustain current levels of commerce between NM and Chihuahua.  If the health of our population is not part of the infrastructure of the region, during a global pandemic, then what is the point?  The executive director speaks excellent Spanish, and worked for Senator Udall, so he would seem to be in a good position to interact with officials in Juarez and Chihuahua.  

in my opinion he should be reporting directly to the Governor of NM (instead of to the Secretary of Economic Development) and charged with (1) understanding just what is taking place on the other side of the border; (2) exploring possibilities of mutually beneficial cooperation in the coronavirus crisis; and--perhaps most important--providing information for the citizens of NM about what is happening on the other side of the river that might bear on our health. 

One former executive director of the NM Border Authority, Jaime Campos, is now in charge of the division of "industry" for the Chihuahua Secretary of Economic Development, and has lately been in the news announcing forthcoming measures to combat coronavirus in the maquila section of Juarez.  His boss, Alejandra de la Vega, is married to a prominent El Paso businessman; she has made significant donations to NMSU.  She has a long association with border issues.  Has someone contacted them?  Let us know.