New Mexico's current relations with Mexico (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: 2015, dangerous, vs.)

[Champ le monstre du lac]

I'm thinking about travelling to Mexico this year (Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City) and was pondering that we border Mexico, but most people I know in the ABQ area and what I imagine Northern NM don't get down there much. I can imagine the dynamic is different in Southern NM, particularly around Las Cruces and 1-10/borderlands areas.

I'm looking at booking flights and the only way to get to Mexico from New Mexico is to connect in Houston/DFW/PHX or LAX. I know ABQ is not much of a viable hub for international flights, but it's interesting that our neighboring states seem to have a lot more interaction with Mexico than NM does. I guess its due in large part that it's a combination that our border areas with Mexico are around remote desert regions of Chihuahua and that Juarez perhaps still isn't safe enough to visit or the perception is still there because 6-7 years ago it had very alarming rates of cartel violence.

There is the bordering town of Puerto Polomas next to Columbus. NM, and there's an organization in Santa Fe that does overnight excursions to Polomas for people who want dental work at a lower cost. But it's an isolated small desert town with a kitschy store to visit and venturing beyond that into Chihuahua is seemingly questionable for exploration going unguided.

These are my perceptions on New Mexico's interaction with Mexico, but I know historically it goes much deeper than that so I wanted to get a thread going to discuss what others perceptions are of New Mexico's current relations with Mexico.

[Cactus Hibs]

I think that historically there has been a lot of interaction between Las Cruces/El Paso and Juarez...the recent violence certainly killed off any tourist traffic and it is only now coming back, but there remains a lot of back-and-forth for business and so on. El Paso is the center of that back-and-forth, but to the extent that LC is part of the greater El Paso metro area, it also participates. Certainly the new Santa Teresa industrial hub on the NM/Chihuahua border between LC and El Paso seems to be ramping up a lot lately.

As for the rest of the state, back before the drug violence took off Albuquerque folks used to do a fair amount of day tourism to Juarez. A few tourists are starting to return, but obviously nothing like what it used to be. Even at its prime it was nothing like the level of interaction you see in Arizona, California, or Texas.

There are a couple of major reasons for the difference, but to my mind there are two big ones. First, other than Las Cruces the major population centers in New Mexico are a lot further from the border than they are elsewhere. It's a good 4-5 hour drive from Albuquerque to Juarez, compared to the hour or so it takes from Tucson. Phoenix and LA are a bit closer to Mexico as well, and of course there are all the large US cities and towns right on the border like San Diego or all the towns in Texas. The other big reason is that unlike in CA or AZ, where a large portion of the local Hispanic population identifies as Mexican and maintains family and cultural ties south of the border, northern New Mexico's Hispanic population has always been very isolated and culturally distinct in terms of language, food, and general way of life. (Back in colonial days, New Mexico was its own province and it took six months for the supply wagons to reach Santa Fe, without much in between El Paso and Albuquerque except open, unsettled, and dangerous plains.) Things have changed a bit in the last 30 years, especially with all the new immigration to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but northern New Mexican Hispanics still do not see themselves as an immigrant population, or maintain any particularly strong ties with people in Chihuahua or elsewhere. This is very different from what you see in El Paso - which in many ways is functionally part of Chihuahua if not a suburb of Juarez - or in Arizona, where Hispanics in Tucson and Phoenix have many strong historical ties to Sonora and identify closely with Sonoran Mexican culture.

[funkymonkey]

The state has been making an effort to increase trade with Mexico, and it has nearly tripled between 2012-2015 from $593 million to $1,683 million. It think much of that is due to the new rail facilities in Santa Theresa and the Foxconn plant just across the border from NM.

New Mexico has opened a trade office in Mexico City to help NM companies find a market there.

[TKO]

I would look at the possibility of flying out of Juarez, I saved a pile by doing so when I flew to Mexico City.

The reasons why we have less cultural interaction as a state were expressed quite well in the above posts. In southern NM the local Hispanics identify with Chihuahua much like Sonora for CA and AZ but Northern NM is it's own thing and always has been. There are old threads here discussing the issue of Spanish vs. Mexican and the self-identity of northern New Mexicans.

Here's one I found, but there are many others.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/new-m...hispanics.html

[spyrye]

Under Richardson's administration there was a carrier flying non stop ABQ - Chihuahua. Everyone thought it was going
to be popular. As I recall, and maybe someone can correct me here, it discontinued service as the loads were not full. ABQ
is a regional city for travel, so not a viable hub city like DEN, IAH, PHX, LAX for travel to PVR. It is generally more expensive to base from ABQ when traveling internationally. Flying southwest to El Paso and then crossing the border to fly out of Juarez is a hassle,but you can save some money. Let us know here on this forum!
If you think about San Diego/Tijuana, there is a train that goes down there, shopping and eating are great, and it feels
safer. Same thing with Nogales/Tucson. Close distances, worth traveling to for prescriptions and tequila.
The NM/Santa Teresa port is more industrial, and crossing into Juarez is fine now, just not as fun as AZ/CA.
As far as NM/MX identity, well that's a totally different story. Read language of Blood.

[Poncho_NM]

AeroMexico Introduces First Airline Service between Albuquerque and Chihuahua City, Mexico, on February 9
January 28, 2009
MP News Staff Leave a comment

By MP Mexico News Staff

"AeroMexico, the global airline of Latin America, and the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced today that air service between Mexico and New Mexico will become a reality February 9. The first AeroMexico flight from Chihuahua City will depart at 11:05 a.m. MST and touch down at 12:25 p.m. MST at Albuquerque International Sunport."

Entire Article: Mexico Premiere - Current Event and News in Mexico - Part 124

I don't recall the specifics, but the program did not work out and was terminated.