New Mexico in Focus; 508; Lines in the Sand: The Changing U.S.-Mexico Border, Part 1

provided by the McHughan Charitable Foundation, enriching the cultural life, health, education, environment, and spiritual life of the citizens of New Mexico. The New York Times Gone are the days when only cheap goods and farm produce were traded with Mexico. Seven years after NAFTA became reality, high -tech goods and billions of dollars in trade are flowing through the border. But why is New Mexico missing out on the profit? Find out next on Infocus. Hello and welcome to Infocus, I'm RC

Choppa. Trade across what is now the US -Mexico border is as old as the ancient civilizations that once inhabited this land. Cross -border commerce has continued through the centuries, helping shape the empires that have traded control of the region. In 1994, with the hope of revolutionizing international trade, the North American free trade agreement or NAFTA was ratified joining Canada, the United States, and Mexico into what was the world's largest free trade zone. Having been an effect now for only seven years, NAFTA is still a work in progress. Its champions and critics have already alternatively declared its failure or triumph, but its full impact is yet unknown. Still, NAFTA has been changing life in both the US and Mexico to find out how NAFTA has impacted trade between New Mexico and its namesake to the South. We decided to look at the sister -city relationship that exists between the two largest cities in our state and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. They are two states that share an international border and a vision of big profits from commerce. Albuquerque and Ciudad Chihuahua have been sister

-city since 1970, but only recently have businessmen from both cities began to explore the emerging economic landscape created by NAFTA. As we discovered, it's a landscape that has been making people wealthy on both sides of the border, but as yet to prove profitable for most New Mexico businesses. The United States is becoming increasingly Mexicanized and vice versa because of NAFTA, you know, Maxwell is becoming MacDonaldized. I think that Mexican people buy more from the states than the state buy from us. The goal of the state should

be to make people realize throughout the state that there are opportunities in Mexico. The ultimate goal is to erase the border. In other words, really, to have communication in a way that we can have one culture, one business, one goal. New Mexico shares 176 miles of border with Mexico, along with a shared language and heritage, and yet our dealings with Mexico and our neighboring state of Chihuahua are virtually non -existent. Ciudad Chihuahua was on the original Camino Real Trade Route which followed the Rio Grande to Santa Fe, bringing European

and Mexican goods via caravans. The journey along the Camino Real was long and perilous and still the trade continued. Today, New Mexico's interaction with Mexico has vastly diminished. Both the Mexican federal government and the state government of Chihuahua have indicated an intense desire to reestablish close ties with New Mexico in various capacities. Yet, while there have been notable efforts from the private sector to encourage these relations, our state government's executive reaction has been less enthusiastic. New Mexico, I often say that we start from away behind the starting line. And it's ironic and it's very sad because there's no other US state. I don't care, you can argue with me if you're from Texas, Arizona or California. There's no other US state that has such a historical and cultural connection to Mexico. And it's just by the mere fact that we were the northern, most part of what was the Spanish and

then the Mexican Empire. You have people that have been in New Mexico for 400 years, Hispanic people. People that came up from Mexico with the Spanish and settled here, indigenous peoples. We have these connections. It just has not translated into very much trade or very much cultural or even social connections. Still, there are promising movements. The governor of Chihuahua, with the blessing of President Vicente Fox, has actively encouraged the state of New Mexico to move towards a better working relationship along our border. There is no doubt that we are not fully capitalizing on the ability to take advantage of the NAFTA agreement. We do much more commerce, I believe, in the Orient, or with the Orient than we do with our partner and our partners in Mexico. We definitely don't take advantage of it. Why that is, I believe, is because there are perceptions that exist about doing business in Mexico. There are also realities that

exist about doing business in Mexico. Some of those realities are things such as a uniform, commercial code type of a set of laws that protects business people in transactions. That doesn't exist in Mexico. That's very tough. They acknowledge that that's a difficult thing to address when you're talking about doing business in Mexico. That's just one of the many tremendous challenges ahead for the Fox administration, especially given the sense of heightened expectations in both countries. Not satisfied with the North American free trade agreement as it is, Fox soon after his election offered a bold program for making NAFTA into something more like a North American economic community. Although his election as president of Mexico may be one of the most important legacies of NAFTA, as far as he's concerned, NAFTA is unfinished business. NAFTA has failed to raise the living standards of most Mexicans, and it has so far failed to deliver the large -scale flow of capital Mexico needs to create jobs for the many young Mexicans entering the labor force.

Real wages in Mexico are 26 percent below their 1981 levels and drop steadily after the inauguration of NAFTA. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans still cross the U .S. border each year in desperate search for work. But it is important to note that of all the persons who crossed the border from the South to the North, only 1 percent do so illegally. Each year, the border sees 250 million legal crossings each way. Mostly Mexican shoppers who spend an estimated $25 billion in the U .S. and pay $2 billion in sales taxes without receiving any public services. Fox continues to promote his long -term goal of improving Mexico's economy enough so that the United States can open its borders to its southern neighbor within 20 years. NAFTA hasn't done anything at all for New Mexico. NAFTA has nothing more than a treaty. I've written for seven years about Mexico and international issues. And one of the biggest fallacies in this state is what's NAFTA

do for us, what's NAFTA this, what's NAFTA that. NAFTA has nothing more than a tool. And if you leave the tool in the tool chest and don't understand how to use the tool and educate yourself as to what the tool can do for you, it's useless. New Mexico has one of the lowest levels of trade with Mexico of any U .S. state. Last year, only two states in the U .S. actually saw their trade with Mexico go down. West Virginia and New Mexico. Mississippi, Delaware, Connecticut, often behind the Dakotas, we rank behind them in terms of trade with Mexico. The other issue is that there is a historical prejudice against Mexico here in New Mexico. And that is, again, I'm talking predominantly about the business elite and the Euro -American culture that has been here in New Mexico for about 150 years. And that is that they think that Mexico is filled with poor people, only poor people, that Mexicans take along Ciestas. And there's stereotypes about Mexicans that are simply not true.

The reality is, Mexico has the 10th largest economy in the world and is growing. It has negotiated 10 free trade agreements, covering 31 countries, including all 15 members of the European Union. These trade agreements, NAFTA and the rise of the Maquilladores coupled with severe border congestion and inadequate infrastructure in other U .S. border states present an excellent opportunity for New Mexico to reestablish itself as a major U .S. trade partner with Mexico. In simple economic terms, over the past five years, New Mexico has exported $300 million worth of goods and services to Mexico. During that same period, Arizona exported about $13 billion and Texas over $100 billion. I would say for the last 150 years, New Mexico has missed the vote. I would say that at the governmental level, we're doing a lot better. At least there's awareness where there wasn't

before. And that's happened in the last 15 years. In addition to the advertising and all of the infrastructure and support that has to happen, you've got to have all of the things, such as the participation by the entities that matter, the city of Albuquerque, the state of New Mexico, the city of Chihuahua, the state of Chihuahua, the University of New Mexico, Sandio Labs, Los Alamos Labs, all of the different entities that can use this. Vicente Garcia is a member of the Mayoral by National Working Group, a group comprised of 10 members, five from Chihuahua and five from Albuquerque. Their mission is to develop and promote opportunities in business, tourism, and culture between the two cities. Once we can get a flight between Chihuahua and Albuquerque and maybe Mexico City, then I think things will just automatically start happening. If we cannot transport people, we can, you know, the cellular focus is not the same thing. We need to speak like we're doing now face to face. But why Chihuahua? Besides the fact that we are neighbors, the cities of

Albuquerque and Chihuahua have been sister cities for 30 years. Chihuahua City is located 230 miles south of the Mexican border. A quick look at the city will show you why many investors throughout the country are saying Chihuahua is not only the ideal location to do business, but it's also a place to enjoy a different kind of tourism. Chihuahua is the capital of the world. What can I say? You know, frankly, I think Chihuahua has this very special touch. The city was officially

founded in 1709 and its historic building stands scattered around the busy downtown area. Paid foreign part by a special tax on silver, the richly decorated 18th century stone cathedral was built between 1717 and 1826. With its Baroque facade embellish with statues of the 12 apostles, there is no more impressive ecclesiastical building in northern Mexico. In the adjacent Plaza de Armas is Chihuahua City Hall. Occupying center stage in its conference room is its buildings claimed to fame. The largest conference table in the world, according to a Ripley's Believe It or Not column. Five blocks away is the Museo Casa de Juarez, this building functioned as the national palace for two years during the French invasion and was president of Juarez's official residence during

1864. Two blocks north is a state government palace and its murals depicting the state's history. The building, originally the site of a Jesuit monastery, needed substantial repairs after being damaged by fire in the 1940s. The Regional Museum is one of Mexico's finest example of Art Nouveau, constructed between 1907 and 1911, it now houses exhibits on archaeology and history. Chihuahua City is also the home of the museum commemorating Pancho Villa. Ironically, the Museum of the Revolution is now owned by the Mexican Army. V .S. former 50 room mansion was turned into a museum by his widow, who lived here proudly showing it off to visitors until her death in 1981. While Chihuahua's history is beautifully showcased in these ornate buildings, tourists can also experience the bounty of the region at the Mercado Popular. Yes,

sister, cities should be the first ones to start doing business between each other. It's over 400 years ago that, you know, Albuquerque and Chihuahua have some kind of communication or trade, but now it's in a different level. Nothing we need to proceed into that different higher level of commerce and really do intelligent things and for both for our people in Chihuahua and Albuquerque. We have a plan to do six stories of condominiums residential and it's going to be done like this bridge. So it's going to look like a warehouse. The mayor of Chihuahua and his group have been up here numerous times now. I've entertained them probably five or six times. They love coming up here and they marvel at what we're doing in our downtown Albuquerque. And they have wishes to do the same in downtown Chihuahua. We've sent some of our experts down there to meet with them about redoing their hotels and revitalizing Chihuahua's downtown, which is a very picturesque place already. And so, yeah, they're very interested in

keeping this commerce going. And they feel as I do that the cross -cutting issue on this thing is airline service between our cities. And if we get that done, you're going to really see things move. You can drive the Chihuahua in about eight hours now through Santa Teresa. And you can move goods back and forth. You can truck goods into the Mexico and get them there within a day. So all of those links are in place. What's missing is that direct flight so that business people have the facility of access to both markets. Both going and coming because the Mexicans are interested in looking at opportunities. Particularly here in Albuquerque. I actually think that direct flights between here in Chihuahua three times a week in Mexico City would fill. I'm almost certainly would fill. So it's something that I'm excited about and I hope we can pull it off. Another promising movement is the Santa Teresa border crossing just west of El Paso, but in New Mexico. Santa Teresa

has to have one of the highest industrialization or growth rates of any project in the state. It's absolutely the state's largest economic development project. There's about 34 companies in Santa Teresa right now. About 24, 25 are manufacturers. Almost all of them are from out of state. And Santa Teresa is actually booming. It's got rail access. Three industrial parks in Santa Teresa attracting out of state companies. And that's really the opportunity for the state in New Mexico. The original pioneers forged the communal real trade route against seemingly insurmountable odds and despite great personal risk. Today the risk is not reopening these channels. In which

the beginning of a future in relation and very different for more cities. I think people who have biases in Mexico who refuse to see the new reality of Mexico and the enormous strides they're making are going to be left behind. They're going to miss enormous opportunities. And as you know New Mexico desperately needs investment. New Mexico desperately needs expanded markets for what we do have. And Mexico is down the road. Whether it's through the direct flight between our two cities or the new Santa Teresa border crossing, one thing remains clear. It is time to renew our trade relations with Mexico with a vision for the future. It's time to re -blaze the Camino Real. Production on this program began last summer well before the events of September 11th. But

like with so many other things, a terrorist attacks have helped place a chill on trade with Mexico. The faltering U .S. economy has had serious repercussions on the Mexican economy, which was already stagnating. The Makiladoras featured in this program have seen massive layoffs in September and workers on both sides of the border face an uncertain future. Still economic recovery is expected and many New Mexico firms are still positioning themselves to enter into business in Mexico. Next week we'll look at another important aspect of the U .S. relationship with Mexico. Immigration. Mexican immigrant labor is perhaps even more important to this country's economy than trade. But just as President Bush and Fox were calling for major immigration reform, terrorist struck within our borders, changing the way many citizens and lawmakers feel about immigration. So what happens to immigration reform now? Watch and focus next week to find out. I'm Rc Choppa for everyone at Infocus. Good night. To respond to this

program, receive weekly email previews of the show or to find out more about Infocus, visit the Infocus webpage at www .canmtv .org. Major funding for Infocus is provided by the McHughan Charitable Foundation, enriching the cultural life, health, education, environment, and spiritual life of the citizens of New Mexico. To purchase video cassettes or transcripts of this or other episodes of Infocus, call 1 -800 -328 -5663 or write to the address on your screen. Please specify date and subject of the program. Additional funding for this program was provided by the City of Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico Center for Regional Studies.

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