Living on the Border--1980's vs Present Day

Living on the Border

            Whenever new employees and families from the North Country of the United States, and later from France, arrived to Laredo, I would put them through cultural awareness training.  Living in Laredo, and working at the plant in Nuevo Laredo, was a much pleasanter experience if you could lessen the “cultural shock” these folks always felt.  I would start by telling them that they would think their first year on the border was terrible, the second year would seem much better, and if they stayed past a third year they would be unfit to go anyplace else!  Of course, they did not believe me until my prophecy was vindicated.

            During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the quality of life on the Laredo border was quite good.  Independently owned, unique, and very good restaurants on the Laredo side included Goldings, Favaratos, and the Tesoro Club at the La Posada Hotel.  In Nuevo Laredo, excellent eating establishments, at very reasonable prices, included La Fittes,  The Winery, and the Cadillac Bar.  If you had out-of-town visitors, you could walk across the downtown bridge and shop at the Nuevo Laredo Market, or buy up-scale jewelry and clothing at Marti’s.  Laredo’s first professional City Manager, Marvin Townsend, and his wife, started a “Newcomers and Friends Club”, which welcomed the new residents to Laredo.  There were two large shopping malls, two English language newspapers, and English speaking AM Radio stations with local news broadcasts.  Unfortunately, by the 2000’s, all of the above, except for one newspaper, disappeared.  In their place came three Wal-marts, national chain restaurants, and the demise of the Nuevo Laredo tourist scene due to an explosion of drug cartel violence along Mexico’s northern border. 

            I had several job opportunities while working at Delredo to leave the border, but chose to turn them down.  My wife, family, and I had come to truly appreciate the warm friendships we had made on both sides of the border.  We had also taken advantage of participating in the many opportunities for community service in Laredo, and had quickly discovered that “newcomers” were very much welcomed in organizations like Rotary Clubs, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Birthday Celebration, Habitat for Humanity, and others.  Laredo has grown to a medium-sized city but has retained its small town feel. 

There are still Maquiladoras in Nuevo Laredo, but the drug cartel violence in Mexico has kept many Americans from crossing the border, and most new plants have opened in Mexico’s interior.  I know from experience that the Maquiladoras contributed to both the Mexican and U.S. economies, but also trained and developed their employees to enable them to enjoy better lives for themselves and their families.  In the new “global economy” the decisions to establish maquiladora plants in Mexico, rather than in Asia, have strengthened the NAFTA partnership.