He conquered McAllen with a song
Texas Border Business –
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez,
June 24, 2015 – The City of McAllen, McAllen Economic Development Corporation, McAllen-Mission International Bridges and the McAllen Chamber of Commerce sponsored a reception to welcome Guillermo Ordórica who recently arrived to McAllen.
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McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said, “Welcome, welcome to McAllen.” He continued, “The consul’s office in McAllen is very, very important to many of our citizens here, and certainly all the visitors that come from Mexico to do business in McAllen, and travel through McAllen and all those other important things.”
Mayor Darling said that it’s been a very special relationship with the Consulado de México office and that he had hopes that the relationship will continue.
Steve Ahlenius, president of the McAllen Chamber said, “Consul we are glad you are here. What an exciting time. You have a challenge because your predecessors have been astounding assets for our community. They’ve been wonderful to work with, and it’s been a true sense of partnership and collaboration.”
He also said that the McAllen Chamber dates back to the 1920s and 1930s and has always recognized how important Mexico is to our economy. “They started, back in the 1930s, friendship caravans into Mexico to build relationships, which have paid off for this community over the years.”
Steve told him that a good third of the Rio Grande Valley’s retail sales come from Mexico and it drives a lot of retail development that is happening here. He said, “You look at some of the businesses and new business starts that we have are coming from folks from Mexico who want to invest in the United States. Mexico plays a big part of what’s happening here.”
He pointed out that the dynamics have changed and highlighted that there is a lot of politics out of Mexico City and Washington DC that have failed to recognized how things have changed.
“I always tell folks from Austin and Washington, D.C. that Mexico now produces more jobs than they have people to fill those jobs,” he said.
He also pointed out what’s happening in the auto industry. “Mexico is becoming the next big Detroit, and there’s going to be opportunities for us along the border especially here in McAllen to have a role and play a role in that.”
Guillermo Ordorica Consul of Mexico in McAllen came to the podium and said that all members of the Foreign Service take their jobs very seriously. “We are professionals in this thing that cannot be touched, cannot be smelled, because it is diplomacy.
Consul Ordorica is a member of Mexico’s Foreign Service. He took office as Consul of Mexico in McAllen, Texas, on May 26th, 2015. Previously, he was appointed as Consul of Mexico in Boise, Idaho, and Deputy Consul General of Mexico in El Paso, Texas.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has served as advisor of three Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Director General for the United States, Deputy Director General of the Matías Romero Institute (Mexico’s Diplomatic Formation Academy) and Deputy Director General for Africa and the Middle East, among other relevant positions.
Abroad, Consul Ordorica has served in the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the Organization of American States, the Embassy of Mexico to the Holy See, and as General Director of Casa de México, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.
He has been a delegate of Mexico to the G-6 and G-8 international conferences, Ibero-American Summit, General Assembly of the Organization of American States, Río Group Summit, and the Financing for Development Summit of the United Nations, among others.
As a scholar, Consul Ordorica is the author of 11 books and has been a professor at The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. He has also published various articles in Mexican and international newspapers and magazines.
Pope John Paul II designated Consul Ordorica as Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory The Great. Consul Ordorica is a former national cycling champion and a national swimming sub champion.
During the reception the entertainment was left to Mariachi 7 Leguas with Emilio Santos and Consul Ordorica took the opportunity to sing “Voz de la Guitarra Mia”, a very popular song in Mexico. You can watch the video to listen to Consul Ordorica singing. Guests of the reception, many of them Mexican descendants sang the entire song with him. This gesture by Consul Ordorica brought a closeness of friendship and trust that is difficult to acquire so soon.
Present to Welcome Consul Ordorica, were Keith Patridge, President of the McAllen Economic Development Corp.; Alma Ortega Johnson, Area President for Wells Fargo Bank; Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Treviño; Jose Luis B. Garza, Editor of the El Periodico USA, and the Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras Foreign Consuls respectively. All of them have consul offices in McAllen. TBB
Written by Roberto Hugo Gonzalez, the 2009 SBA Journalist of the Year Award Winner and the 2009 and 2012 Paul Harris Fellow Award recipient.
Spanish Lyrics for “Voz de la Guitarra Mía”
Voz de la guitarra mía,
al despertar la mañana
quiere cantar su alegría
a mi tierra mexicana
Yo le canto a sus volcanes
a sus praderas y flores
que son como talismanes
del amor de mis amores
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
Que me entierren en la sierra
al pie de los magueyales
y que me cubra esta tierra
que es cuna de hombres cabales
Voz de la guitarra mía,
al despertar la mañana
quiere cantar su alegría
a mi tierra mexicana
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
Fuente: musica.com
By Jorge Negrete
