AUSTIN, Texas - In July, Gov. Greg Abbott hosted Mexico’s then-foreign secretary, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin.
Next week, Abbott will meet with Meade’s successor, Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas. Abbott is taking a small delegation to Mexico City on Sunday. They will return on Tuesday.
Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas is the new foreign secretary of Mexico.It is Abbott’s first international trip as governor. During the visit the delegation will meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, in addition to Massieu, other Mexican Cabinet members and business leaders from across the country.
“Texas and Mexico have a deep cultural and economic history founded on common interests and values,” Abbott said in a statement. “As I travel to Mexico—on my first international visit as Governor of Texas—I look forward to continuing my discussions with Mexican officials to improve bilateral relations, expand our long-standing trade partnership and ultimately create more economic prosperity on both sides of the border.”
Abbott pointed out that Mexico is the Lone Star State’s biggest trading partner and that Texas exports more goods to Mexico than any other state. In 2014, Texas exported more than $100 billion in machinery, technology and other commodities to Mexico, about 35 percent of the state’s total exports. These exports sustain tens of thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses in Texas and more than 1.1 million jobs, the most in the nation. Texas also imported more than $90 billion of goods from Mexico last year.
The Texas delegation that will travel to Mexico City with Abbott will include Secretary of State Carlos Cascos and Tracye McDaniel, CEO of TexasOne. TexasOne, which will sponsor and pay for the trip, is a program of Texas Economic Development Corporation. It was created to market Texas as a premier business location. Other leading members of Abbott’s staff will be on the trip, along with and various Texas business and economic leaders.
Political observers in Mexico say there are some fences to be mended between Mexico and Texas. The Mexican government criticized the decision of Abbott and the Texas Legislature to spend $800 million on border security. Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said the legislation would “promote division between our societies, and runs contrary to the principles and values governing the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship.”
Mexico has also filed an amicus curiae brief in a lawsuit filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project to stop the Texas Department of Health from not issuing birth certificates to undocumented parents of children born in the United States. The Department of Health has said it cannot accept Mexican metricula consular documents as a form of ID from these parents.
When Abbott met with Secretary Meade in Austin he touted the deep cultural and economic ties Texas and Mexico enjoy.
In his remarks, Abbott said he is looking forward to continuing the friendship and relationship the State of Texas and the country of Mexico have.
“We have already begun very productive conversations and dialogue today and we will continue that over the course of the evening. We are talking about ways in which we can build a more productive and economically vibrant relationship together. In furtherance of this I am very proud to have received an invitation to visit Mexico and I have accepted that invitation and look forward to following up on that very soon. But, most importantly, I look forward to the ways in which Texas and Mexico can build upon our long and historic relationship and ensure even more promising results as we move forward,” Abbott said.
Meade agreed that it had been a productive meeting. “I think it allows us to have an idea as to the scope of the importance of the Mexico-Texas relationship. By almost any number, any metric you want to choose, it is a vibrant relationship. It is an important relationship. It is a relationship that is based on people to people, business to business, and connectivity and we are very glad to receive Secretary Cascos in Mexico and very happy now to be able to visit with the Governor and develop an agenda that can make sure that the prosperity of Mexico and Texas continues into the future, that we have a vibrant economic partnership, that we enjoy good creative dialogue. I was happy to extend an invitation to the Governor to visit Mexico. I am very happy that he accepted and I am sure that that visit will take place very soon and that that visit will show that the capacity of both Texas and Mexico to construct a fruitful agenda that will benefit the citizens on both sides. We are very happy to be here.”
Editor's Note: The main image accompanying this story shows Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and then-Mexican foreign secretary José Antonio Meade Kuribreña shaking hands at the Governor's Mansion in Austin on July 9, 2015.
