Monday,
January 18, 2010
A New Private Bridge Crosses the U.S.-Mexico Border
Frontera NorteSur
Amid much
fanfare, a new bridge over the Rio Grande was christened [last] week between Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Mission, Texas.
Estimated at a ballpark cost of $100 million, the Mexican-built structure will connect traffic from hundreds of maquiladora
plants to destinations in the US. Opened for light traffic last month, the new Reynosa-Anzalduas International Bridge is expected
to begin handling heavier commercial trucks by 2012.
In a ceremony attended by hundreds of elected and appointed officials
from both sides of the border, Mexican President Felipe Calderon praised the long bridge as an example of the ties that bind
a capital-intensive United States and a labor-intensive Mexico. "Our economies are designed to complement one another," Calderon
said.
The dominant role of private capital in the construction and operation of the Anzalduas Bridge distinguishes
it from similar border crossings. Mexico City's Marhnos development company was awarded a 30-year concession from the Mexican
federal government to build and operate the bridge. Financing for the bridge came from Marhnos' own investment as well as
a loan from the Monterrey-based Banorte Bank, which became a partner in the project.
The Anzalduas Bridge project has
not been without controversy. For example, former construction workers including Jorge Guerrero and Manuel Mendiela charged
late last year that Marhnos had not made adequate severance payments to laid-off laborers. According to the workers, the severances
amounted to only about $500 for nearly two years of work. Marhnos representatives Laura Cortez Hernandez and Alejandro Peņafiel
declined to answer Mexican reporters' questions about the payments, and reportedly tossed journalists out of company offices.
Officials
present at the January inauguration ceremony for the northern border's new bridge included Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia
Espinosa, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, among many others. In all, Mexico plans to
build seven new bridges to connect the country with its northern neighbor.
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Sources:
Enlineadirecta.info, January 12, 2010. Article by Carlos Peņa Palacio. Agencia Reforma, January 12, 2010. Article by Miguel
Dominguez. El Universal, January 12, 2010. Article by David Aguilar Juarez. Presidencia.gob.mx. January 11, 2010. Press release.
Milenio.com, January 9, 2010. Metronoticas.com, October 26, 2009. Article by Sofia Rodriguez.
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Frontera NorteSur (FNS)
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
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Reprinted
with authorization from Frontera NorteSur, a free, on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news source; translation FNS
