By Roberto Hugo González
As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition June 2018
People that live in Mission and those who visit the city, know well that Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas, has performed above his call of duty. He has dedicated time, energy and even his own funds to get things done. All in the name of keeping the community he represents as progressive and as safe as possible.
His hands-on experience has given him the knowledge on how to do things right. Serving as Hidalgo County Commissioner in the 1980s, being part of multiple assignments on both the state and federal level and ultimately becoming Mission’s Mayor in 1998, has made the difference of an experienced individual compared to others that only want a title.
Mission residents have an important duty, first of all, to reflect on the evolution of the city and to decide if they want a continuation of great leadership. In this issue, find an Exclusive with Mayor Beto Salinas.
On another matter, having Mexico so close has given us the opportunity to make many friends. During the years, we in this border (La Frontera) have enjoyed a sustained growth and great economy, but also, we have endured the most adverse events. These events have also affected the economies of both borders lasting longer than what many had anticipated.
Mexico is a great country, beautiful, and with friendly people who are proud of their heritage. Unfortunately, for the last ten years, they’ve lived in anxiety and with a real threat from criminal elements.
It was 2008 when things began to change in the Mexican border, systematically, organized criminals started to take over communities in the area. The U.S. Texas border first felt it by an exodus of scared Mexican families, looking for cover renting hotel rooms, homes and even buying properties to whether the criminals.
The criminal activity on the Mexican side has also been felt adversely on the U.S. border. Uncertainty on Mexican roads is a big factor for those who want to travel to the U.S., consequently, it is demonstrated in low sales which affect business community in the Valley.
The maquila industry in existence is also enduring organized criminals, consequently, there have been no announcements of new plants wanting to move to the Mexican border, not even when manufacturing in Mexico is attractive and means being able to compete globally.
There is much more which we plan to get into later, in the meantime enjoy the June 2018 issue.
