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 Editorials | Issues | July 2007 
Mexican Cities Along Border Want Their Due
 Diane Lindquist - San Diego Union-Tribune
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 |  | Here at the border we feel abandoned by the rest of the country because they don't understand our problems. We as a bloc need to make more noise.
- Tijuana Mayor Kurt Honold |  | |
Tijuana Mayors from across northern Mexico formed a new organization yesterday to push border issues higher on the Mexican government's agenda.
Ten mayors from mostly northwestern border cities created the Association of Northern Mexico Border Municipalities after a two-day meeting at the Camino Real Hotel in Tijuana.
Here at the border we feel abandoned by the rest of the country because they don't understand our problems. We as a bloc need to make more noise, said Tijuana Mayor Kurt Honold, who promoted the meeting and creation of the association.
Rodulfo Martinez Ortega, counsel to the mayor of Ciudad Juarez on the Texas border, said that while the northern tier of Mexico drives the country's growth, the region receives little in federal tax revenue. Out of every dollar for the country's tax income, he said, only 4 cents stays in the border region.
It's urgent to address these issues, he said. This is a small step that will lead to positive results.
The group's formation follows an effort that northern border governors started last year in Mexicali to address the same issues. The six border states Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas produce about a quarter of Mexico's gross domestic product and account for 15 percent of Mexico's population of 107 million.
Many of the region's chambers of commerce, which represent maquiladora factories, tourism operators and other business groups, are involved in both efforts to draw more attention to the northern frontier.
They also have the support of cities and organizations on the U.S. side of the border.
What helps Tijuana helps San Diego, so we expect to work together to find success, said Ruben Barrales, president and chief executive of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Six issues, most of which are interconnected, were addressed at the meeting:
Public safety. The region's leaders want the federal government to do more to combat trafficking in drugs, other contraband and people at the border. The situation not only endangers area residents, they said, but also hurts foreign investment and tourism.
Maquiladoras. The manufacturing operations, mostly concentrated in the border region, would take hits in profit and competitiveness from President Felipe Calderon's fiscal tax reform. Meeting participants called for changes in the new tax code. More also needs to be done, Honold said, to encourage domestic producers to make components for the dynamic sector.
Tourism. Several municipal representatives called for a special promotional campaign to draw more visitors from the United States to the border region.
Commerce. High Mexican import taxes raise the prices of many of the products purchased at the border so much so that Mexican border residents can find the identical goods for less in the United States.
Immigration. The border region is affected by migrants traveling through the area to cross into the United States to find jobs. The situation has worsened since U.S. agents have undertaken mass deportations of migrants apprehended on the U.S. side of the border, meeting participants were told.
As many as 8,000 to 10,000 are deported from San Diego to Tijuana a month, Honold said. The deportees, many of them criminals, resort to stealing and drug use to get by in Mexico.
We need to get both countries together and send these people to their homes, he said.
Border crossings. Bottlenecks at existing crossings are disrupting business and social and family ties along the U.S.-Mexico border, conference participants said. They urged both countries to move more quickly and consider using private resources to increase the number of crossings.
Manlio Fabio Beltrones, president of the Mexican Senate and former governor of the border state of Sonora, said he will work on creating a mechanism to deal with the issues.
The fact that the federal government doesn't address these problems might be because there's no structure to do so, he said. I will work to create a commission to address problems at the border.
Diane Lindquist: (619) 293-1812; diane.lindquist@uniontrib.com |
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