IMPORTANT WORK, WARM PEOPLE DREW ME BACK TO MEXICO

As the recently appointed U.S. consul general in Tijuana, I come to work each day with a sense of optimism about the strength of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship and for the future of the Cali-Baja region. From the highest levels of our governments agreeing to expand cooperation on security and economics to local projects to treat transboundary wastewater to robotics programs connecting our nations’ schoolkids, every day we are transforming and deepening our partnership with Mexico.

In my 20 years in the Foreign Service, I have served around the world — in Washington, D.C., Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Afghanistan, Colombia and India. Each holds a special place in my heart, but Mexico is the only one where I have served multiple postings.

I have been drawn back to Mexico three times by the importance of the work, the beauty of the country and the warmth of the people. As consul general in Tijuana, I am honored to represent the United States in Baja California and Baja California Sur.

With a shared 2,000-mile border and at least 35 million U.S. citizens with family ties to Mexico, we are truly two nations with one future. I continue a long line of U.S. representation in Baja California, where we have maintained a diplomatic presence since 1886, when Francis Andonargui was appointed as the consular agent in the port of Ensenada. Andonargui and his successors dispatched communiques about shipwrecks off the Mexican coast and provided consular assistance to Americans. One hundred and thirty-five years later, 500,000 Americans visit, work or live in the Baja Peninsula. Assisting our fellow citizens remains at the core of my team’s mission.

Few binational relationships are as consequential as that between the United States and Mexico, and, in the past few months, President Joe Biden and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have opened a new era in economic and security cooperation. In recognition of our broad strategic economic and commercial relationship, we relaunched the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue in early September. Mexico is our largest trading partner in goods, including as a top market for U.S. agriculture exports. The program will foster economic development and growth, promote job creation, enhance global competitiveness, and reduce poverty and inequality.

Guided by shared responsibility and driven by a mutual national security interest to stop transnational criminal organizations from smuggling the illicit drugs and weapons that threaten the health and safety of citizens on both sides of the border, the United States and Mexico adopted the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities during the

U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue on Oct. 8. These initiatives demonstrate our nations’ shared commitment to transforming our cooperation to deliver a more safe and prosperous future.

In addition to implementing these highlevel economic and security initiatives, the U.S. consulate team and I collaborate with our U.S. government colleagues, Mexican government counterparts and local stakeholders to address key priorities in our region, among them transboundary water, border infrastructure and health challenges. I was pleased to recently preside over a donation of $60,000 of COVID-related medical equipment to the General Hospitals in Tijuana, Ensenada and Mexicali. In September, we installed a new air quality monitor at the U.S. consulate, whose data will improve our understanding of air quality in the Cali-Baja region and enable U.S. and Mexican leaders to better address the air pollution that impacts families in the region.

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, has called this a “transformative moment” in the dynamic U.S.-Mexico relationship. Addressing our intertwined security, cultural, economic and environmental challenges requires dialogue and cooperation across all sectors of society.

Nowhere is that truer than here in the Cali-Baja region, the U.S.-Mexico border’s most populous and interconnected area. With the partnership of local experts, community leaders and government officials, we can seize the opportunities to improve the long-term health and competitiveness of our binational community.

Optimism is the foundation for progress, and I am very optimistic about our shared future.

I have served in Washington, D.C., Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Afghanistan, Colombia and India. Each holds a special place in my heart, but Mexico is the only one where I have served multiple postings.