Mazatlan, Brownsville officials talk about future with highway

Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald

Brownsville Port Commissioner Ralph Cowen, left, and Mayor Tony Martinez listen as Mazatlan City Councilman Sergio Romero speaks about the benefits of a sister-city relationship with the Rio Grande Valley and Mazatlan, Mexico.

Posted: Thursday, August 29, 2013 11:08 pm

BY TY JOHNSON The Brownsville Herald

 

The ink had scarcely dried on the sister-city agreement between the cities of Brownsville and Mazatlan, Mexico, Thurs-day when Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez handed a pair of baseball caps to Mazatlan Mun-icipal Commissioners Eric Reynoso and Sergio Romero.

Martinez spoke, in Spanish, the slogan written across the front of the caps, “Always a fiesta,” as he handed them to his Mexican counterparts.

But as Romero presented Martinez with a gift from Sinaloa, it was clear the Mazatlan officials had upped the ante of what was meant by a party.

Barrera explained that the bottle of Los Osunas reposado he brought from the Pacific Coast city to present to Martinez was not tequila, but insisted it was better.

“Always a fiesta,” Martinez repeated, this time in English, as those gathered laughed along.
Although Mexico’s federal laws prohibit the use of the word tequila to describe spirits distilled outside of certain regions, it is one of the few Mexican products that does not come from the area surrounding Mazatlan.

Such was the mood at the meeting between officials from Brownsville and its soon-to-be sister city of Mazatlan.

With the completion of the Mazatlan-to-Matamoros “super via” nearing, officials are abuzz about the economic boost it could bring to the Rio Grande Valley, and those in Mazatlan took notice, reaching out to their new partners in commerce on this side of the border.

Mexican Federal Highway 40, which Mexican officials have said they expect to open Oct. 17, will connect Mazatlan on the Pacific Coast with Matamoros and the Port of Brownsville on the Gulf Coast.

Its potential impact on international trade has been likened to the Panama Canal, as it will reduce trips between the two coasts to just about 12 hours each way, making Brownsville’s port the most efficient route for Mexican produce and goods to reach the East Coast and beyond.

The ports of Mazatlan and Brownsville have already formalized their sister-port relationship, leading to Thursday’s meeting at the International Technology Education and Commerce Center, the first of two meetings to establish a formal relationship between the two municipalities.

A second meeting, in Mazatlan, is scheduled for Sept. 14.

“The opportunity to link the east and west is very important to us,” Romero told those gathered, speaking in Spanish. “We need the cities and counties in the region to build agreements to work on security and other issues.”

He explained that the city hopes to build ties with Pharr, McAllen and Brownsville ahead of the completion of the highway.

Port of Brownsville Commissioner Ralph Cowen expanded on the historic importance of that connection.
“This is the same as when they hooked up the East and the West by railroad,” he said.

Martinez continued that theme, calling the highway the most significant connection for the city’s economy since railroad tracks reached the Valley more than a century ago.

Noting that the rural area surrounding the city of Mazatlan is often considered the “breadbasket of Mexico,” he suggested the new highway and relationship with Brownsville and its port could mean that moniker could be known worldwide.

“It is now time for Brownville to let it be the breadbasket of the world,” he said.

Martinez explained afterward that the sister city relationship would be formalized during the September meeting, when he and others will visit Mazatlan to complete the process.

That won’t conclude festivities between the new sister cities, however, as there are plans for officials in Brownsville to help commemorate the completion of the highway after construction is finished on Puente Baluarte, a bridge that skips across the peaks of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range.

After the bridge is built, it will be the only east-west crossing for trucks for more than 500 miles, allowing for safe, fast travel from Mazatlan to Durango and on to Matamoros.

Officials from Brownsville will then travel the new highway via bus to meet with Mazatlan officials on the Pacific Coast before flying home. The buses will then bring representatives and entrepreneurs eastward from Mazatlan in an effort to inspire a long-term economic relationship among the two cities.