New bridges needed, Mexico consul general says

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 02/14/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

The time is ripe for new ports of entry in El Paso, Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, the Mexican consul general in El Paso, told Downtown business owners Wednesday.

"This community is unique. Right here we have almost 3 million people working together. The last bridge (built) was (the Bridge of the Americas), but it was 45 years ago and it's very sad to hear that," Rodriguez said.

"Since NAFTA, the trade increased four times but the infrastructure is still the same," he said. "It's very sad that we did not have the opportunity to increase infrastructure to increase the trade."

Building new ports of entry was also the theme of a two-day meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission Working Group on Ports of Entry at UTEP on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Border officials came from California, Arizona, New Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley to make five-minute presentations about their border-crossing proposals to about 50 officials from the U.S. State Department and the Mexican Foreign Ministry.