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Q&A: Eugenio Elorduy Walther; governor of Baja California
http://www.mercedsearch.com/news/673.html
Jan 10, 2006
Elorduy Walther, a member of Mexico's center-right National Action Party since 1968, was elected governor of Baja California in 2001. Prior to that,
he served as the state's finance minister, mayor of Mexicali and secretary of foreign affairs for the PAN. This is an edited transcript of his
interview with members of the San Diego Union-Tribune's editorial board.
Q: How do you see the state of relations between Baja California and California, and between Tijuana and San Diego, with all of the challenges we have
and all of the promises and potential?
A: I can tell you that from my experience first as a businessman and then in politics. I've been in PAN (Mexico's National Action Party) since 37
years ago. I've had the opportunity to see both sides of the stadium, let's say. As a businessman and in public office. And I've always felt that this
is a region, this is a place where there is obviously a border that divides the two countries. But we should not be divided just because we are in two
different countries. I see, as you mentioned, common challenges, common opportunities. We have been advancing, especially I would say in the last
15-20 months more intensively in this. And particularly I would say in the last half year.
Q: Advancing in which issue?
A: For example, we have set up a very good working relationship that I did not have before with Governor Schwarzeneggar, since July. He came to
Mexicali in September. I went to see him on the fifth of December in Los Angeles. And he'll be coming back into Mexicali probably around the end of
February, beginning of March. So that's a reality that we didn't have before.
Q: What is on the agenda for the two of you?
A: Interesting topics. Education, sports, culture, economic development, migration reform, even though it's a federal situation in the U.S. It's still
a reality in both our states. This probably is the most intense place of where it happens of any place on the border. We need more border crossings.
We need more high tech equipment on those border crossings because we have thousands and thousands of people crossing every day in the morning who are
very, very well known, in fact they spent probably 30 or 40 years of their lives working here. And they have to sit in their cars up to two hours
every day in the morning. We've got to get them quicker across the border.
Q: What are you doing?
A: San Diego County is losing $2 billion in sales according to a SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) study that was made a few months ago.
We have set up an initial agreement with UCSD (University of California San Diego) through Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and we had a meeting on the 30th
of November in Tijuana. We now have an agenda of working together around the University of Baja and UCSD. About topics having to do with development
and investigation of opportunities to create jobs on both sides of the border. That's something that is already happening. We hope to have some
results on that by February.
Q: What about the border bottleneck? It certainly got a lot worse after 9/11. What can the two states do to alleviate that problem? It's primarily a
federal problem on this side, anyway.
A: At least, let's do this. President Fox and I agree there can be and should be another crossing in Otay - Otay 2. We have the land. We have the
money to construct a building.
Q: This would be east of the existing crossing?
A: Yes. And that ties in to a highway that we will be finishing in March of about 42 kilometers between the freeway that goes to Tecate and the
Pacific Ocean where Fox Studios is. And this new border crossing would tie in to that very well. But we have to get the U.S. side to agreed to that.
And Governor Schwarzeneggar has agreed with me that he will work with his federal government to get the authorization. This is a very bogged-down
procedure. It's a swap. It's got to do with the U.S. Department of State and our department of state, if you want to call it that, our foreign affairs
secretary. And they get together every six months. To get a border crossing you have to wait 10-12 years. It's ridiculous. There are five times more
border crossings between Canada and the U.S. than between Mexico and the U.S. So these long lines are due to that because we need more border
crossings. But we also need some kind of an ID for all of these people who come across every day for many, many years and are very, very well known.
But you have this SENTRI situation where it takes months to get it authorized. It lasts only two years and you have to go through the same procedure
again when it expires. And they ask you for everything except your death certificate to be able to authorize it. And we feel that there should be more
flexibility in that.
Q: A streamlining.
A: Yes, and I am aware of safety on the border, of course. I am very much aware of that and I do not want to belittle it in any fashion. But we have
been effective in detecting illegal migration from Middle Eastern countries coming through us and we have stopped them. And we have returned them.
Q: How have you done that?
A: At the airport, for example, primarily. When they come in from flights from Mexico City. And they come in with false passports, obviously. Turkish
passports, and other types of passports. They come in through South America sometimes.
Q: For a while the Chinese seemed to want to try to get in to the U.S. through Baja.
A: That has been stopped. A few ships, as you know.
Q: Wasn't that last spring?
A: No, that was longer ago. But we are doing an effective job of policing our border in terms of people who are not documented. Because also you have
an attractiveness here. You have a population of Iraqis in San Diego County. And of Iranians. And with all due respect to these people, obviously this
pulls in their own people from these countries.
Q: How do you feel about Congressman Duncan Hunter's proposal to build a wall all the way from the Pacific to Brownsville?
A: Ridiculous.
Q: What kind of impact would it have on the border?
A: You can construct as many walls as you want and as long and tall as you want them. It will not stop the reality of human survival. We have our
responsibility in our country to provide jobs, obviously, to keep our people in our country. It hurts us very much as Mexicans to have our people have
to leave our country because they don't have opportunities in Mexico. That's our situation. That's why we need obviously to create more jobs. That's
why we need structural reform from our congress. Fiscal, energy, labor reforms. Which President Fox has been trying to get across in the Mexican
congress without any luck, unfortunately. So we need to create more jobs, obviously. At least Baja California, my state, is doing its job. We are the
second state in creation of jobs. We are creating 11 percent of Mexican jobs. This year we have already hit our target of close to 50,000 jobs. We've
received $1.6 billion in investment this year. You referred to Congressman Hunter. I think it's very important to not live in denial of the reality.
This is what Governor Schwarzeneggar and I agree on 100 percent. This is a human rights situation. We need to have from the U.S. Congress a reform
that recognizes this reality of people going across. I am very worried about the current Sensenbrenner initiative in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Q: What are your concerns about it?
A: Because this gentleman is proposing to penalize with jail whoever is caught (without documents) in your country l and also the employer and also
whoever helps and abides with him. I think this is not the way to do things. These people who go across are not criminals. They are not people that
are going to terrorize your country. These are people who are helping the economy of the U.S. And without them what would happen? So we have to be
objective about this. The U.S has to safeguard its borders. Absolutely. As any country, it has its rights. But the U.S. has to recognize a reality. As
the European countries have recognized. When the Iron Curtain went down, they recognized that they had to obviously bring the harmony to people from
Hungary, from Romania, from the Soviet Union, etc. So you have this flow of people in Europe which is a reality and it's being acknowledged as such.
Because everybody is needed. You're also having this situation in Southeastern Asia. So what we need here is a reform. For example, Mr. Bush proposes
one, very good. McCain-Kennedy has another proposal which looks interesting because it recognizes the necessity of working in the U.S. The
Sensenbrenner initiative is to put them in jail. How are the businessmen in the U.S. going to feel about that? They're going to be hurting.
Q: Why is there a reluctance on the part of the Mexican congress to do what they need to do?
A: (It's) political. They do not want Fox to be successful. So the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) is (refusing) to authorize these reforms.
Q: But they also don't want to do them themselves when they are in power. Why is that?
A: In fact, it's curious because they are now proposing some of these reforms, like the energy reform, for (PRI presidential candidate Roberto)
Madrazo. So why don't they authorize them right now? Why wait until he says he wins to have them authorized? And these reforms are nothing new under
the sun because they collect other initiatives that have been presented in fact by their own party in other times but haven't been able to get passed
because within certain attitudes that people have, and this includes congressmen from Mexico, they feel that sometimes nationalistic fervor has to go
before common good. And so why let private foreign investment in strategic fields like producing gasoline? And we feel that's ridiculous. You can't
close yourselves out from reality. If you don't have enough public funds, you've got to allow private funds. The Mexican government can keep the oil
(industry). We are never going to sell that. We're never going to let foreign companies out there be producing oil. But we can use private companies
to produce gasoline, diesel, natural gas, etc., as long as we hold on to the primary essence of the source. Let me answer your question here about
energy. In Baja, as you know, a little bit north of Ensenada there is construction going on by a consortium involving Shell. And it's a liquid natural
gas storage place. This is probably this gas will probably come either from Southwestern Australia or the Russian peninsula where Shell has some gas
fields. This is very good for Baja and also good for California and whatever other states receive the natural gas. Baja needs natural gas. Our
companies in Baja need it, our homes need it. So I think it's going to be a very good situation that is very well covered with all the rules and
regulations and laws of our country. Public hearings, eight of them, to get this authorized.
Q: How would the gas get to the United States? Does a new pipeline have to be built?
A: Yes, a new pipeline up until you hit more or less Rosarito because you already have a north/south pipeline from Rosarito to the border. We receive
natural gas right now from the U.S. But, unfortunately, natural gas in the U.S. is almost an oligopoly. The prices are semi-controlled by a very few
companies. So prices are very easily going up, etc. You've felt it in your own state.
Q: Has it already been decided that the Sempra/Shell project will be built?
A: It is being built.
Q: What in your view will be the legacy of President Fox and how do you analyze the campaign so far to succeed him?
A: First, there was a very intense but peaceful democratic transition in 2000. Nothing (bad) happened in Mexico. If you would have asked many people
in the U.S., analysts, editorial boards, in '99, there would have been very natural understandable expressions of worry. What's going to happen with
the PRI? Will they let go?
Q: Some thought that the PRI wouldn't let the PAN win but they were wrong
A: Yes. But I have to recognize one thing. It is very important. There hasn't been enough recognition that (then-Mexican President Ernesto) Zedillo
was crucial in this decision. He acted institutionally. This was a tremendous example of what we need more of. So, we expect another democratic,
peaceful transition. It will be, God willing, when he leaves office on the first of December of 2006.
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David K
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Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Very interesting read!
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