Mexican Citizens Take Illegal Immigration Debate Into Their Own Hands…Close Down Bridge…

The border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, is seeing it’s fair share of political action today.  According to news sources out of the RGV’s television outlets, citizens of this border city have created a human barrier along the Mexican side of the International Bridge across from Hidalgo, Texas.  They are barring any U.S. citizen from entering Mexico.  Latino ethnicity or not. 

They are doing this in protest of the illegal immigration debate going on in Washington D.C., and reports are saying that these citizens are planning on staying through the rest of tonight making sure there actions are heard loud and clear.  I’m not sure how much of an impact this will make to anyone north of Falfurrias in South Texas, but for local people, citizens and tourists alike, this makes a major dent in anyone’s plans to go across the border for cheaper priced liquor, or prescription drugs.  Prices of which are normally half as much as those sold by their U.S. counterparts. 

For the TV report please visit http://www.newschannel5.tv/ 

KRGV also has additional stories about local marches and protests held in the Rio Grande Valley. 

The Men’s Resource Center of South Texas…RGV Politics has a guest post…

The following guest post by Cesar J. Alvarado appeared this morning on my blog site RGV Politics.  Cesar J. Alvarado is the Community Organizer for the NGO, The Texas Council on Family Violence, in Austin, Texas.

“My journey to manhood has been interesting.  After being born and raised in San Juan, Tejas, I moved to Central Tejas where I sincerely realized everyone was not Latin@.  Life experiences took me through a lot, colegio-no colegio, work-no work, partying-no partying, dating someone-not dating someone.  Overall, I cherish the eleven years I lived in between Bryan-College Station, Austin, and Houston.

Today, I walk with much gentleness and respect.  After recognizing I was living a destructive life, I knew I had to change.  The Men’s Resource Center of South Texas is a place where I have personally seen and felt radiating light.  This safe place in Harlingen, Tejas, is one where males can discover “growing, sharing, connecting and building community with other males”. 

I genuinely invite you to the Center and it’s website, www.mrcofsouthtexas.org.  The Men’s Resource Center of South Texas is one of the Valle’s best assets.  Emiliano Diaz DeLeon and the rest of the all volunteer staff will welcome you with love.  Hopefully, more people will recognize the magnitude a place like this has in providing safe opportunities for el Valle”. 

-Cesar J. Alvarado

For an additional essay by Cesar titled “People of Color, and the Color of Love” follow this link to http://www.mensresourcecenter.org/coloroflove.html  

The Run-off Race for Hidalgo County District Attorney…All’s Fair in Love, War, and Politics…

Less than one week away from the run-off election date, April 11, and the mud is starting to fly in the Rio Grande Valley.  A place known for it’s spit in your eye tactics, and hitting below the belt punches when it comes to political campaigns. Some times they work, and some times they don’t, but rest assured at least one candidate will use them, and use them with the utmost of malice and conviction.  Take for instance a campaign ad that began it’s rotation today on the local ABC affiliate, KRGV.  The campaign ad accuses Hidalgo County District Attorney candidate Alma Garza’s husband, local attorney Hector Villarreal, of owing more than forty thousand dollars in taxes. It is an ad that is paid for by the Rene Guerra Campaign for Re-Election. Rene Guerra is the current Hidalgo County District Attorney.  His camp’s most recent campaign slogan, “People who don’t pay their taxes, should keep their hands off ours”. 

Very well then.  Round one. The first punch is thrown.  Many political enthusiasts down here, are waiting. Wondering if Alma Garza has a few tricks up her sleeve as well, or will she take the high road and run her campaign clean and scandal free.  Her slogan by the way is “It’s Time For a Change”.  Let’s see if this “Change” includes a departure from the same ‘ol mudslinging as well.  

The Rio Grande Valley…Waiting for it’s two cents worth…Only the beginning?

The Rio Grande Valley, South Texas. The southernmost border between the United States and Mexico. A collection of small towns and booming urban areas connected by a main roadway that is Expressway 83 which runs east to west along miles and miles of palm trees. An area that is estimated to have close to one million people calling this corner of the world their home. Of that population, 86% are of Hispanic ethnicity.

But despite these statistics, the recent immigration debate on Capitol Hill has done nothing more than cause a ripple in the every day lives of it’s citizens. This is in sharp contrast to the more than five hundred thousand protestors that marched last weekend across the country in cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, and Milwaukee. Los Angeles bearing the brunt of the protests at an estimated five hundred thousand people, according to various news sources, and bloggers across the web.

One could argue that places like Los Angeles, and Houston are so highly populated and ethnically diverse that an ethnic group’s call to action takes little more than a comment by a television anchor, or radio disc jockey. After all, if there ever was a hotbed for marches and protests, Los Angeles would be at the very core of such public displays, i.e. Cesar Chavez, 1968 walkouts, etc. But what drives these citizens to take action? What at the very center of their beings compels them to not sit back and take whatever the government has in mind to feed them at any given moment? To hold true to the time honored quote by this country’s forefathers, “Don’t tread on me!”?

This same attitude, this same ideal is being questioned by more than a few people in the Rio Grande Valley. After all, for most of us that got into the business of political blogging, the lack of active citizens in the area is both disheartening and worrisome. Word on the street from John Q. citizen seems to always be, “It doesn’t affect us personally, why bother?” or the ever popular, “the government is going to do what it wants, what can we do about it?”.

It’s this same type of attitude that I have stated before on RGV Politics, that gets the wrong people elected in the first place, and secondly, allows the government to pass questionable laws and policies that will affect us for generations to come. But words like these seem to fall on deaf ears for the most part. Or at the very least there is the general conception that Valley political bloggers, and those that share our views and need for a more pro-active community is nothing more than a case of preaching to the choir.

Things may be changing. According to a report out of the local South Texas newspaper, The Monitor, students from McAllen High School staged a walk-out to protest the illegal immigration debate. Students marched from the high school down Bicentennial Blvd. to the Mexican Consulate in downtown McAllen, about a two mile stretch. Outcry’s by students, according to the report, included, “We are not criminals, we are dreamers”. Should we leave it then to the younger generation of children that will bear the burden of whatever laws Congress decides to pass regarding illegal immigration and border security? Some may say that student walk-outs are wrong, children need to be in class, which is true, I’ll concur that there are better days to stage a protest. Instead of normal weekend activities, they should stage there protests on Saturday afternoons, or Sunday mornings. After all, becoming a more pro-active community should not involve unruly conduct or lawlessness. But I will say, that if these young adults are willing to become more organized in their protests, it would be irresponsible of us as a community not to encourage such activity. Wouldn’t it?

This may be the first step in changing the attitudes that are prevolent in the Rio Grande Valley political and social atmosphere. After all, for too long, the Rio Grande Valley has been built as somewhat of a political and social pergatory. On one end of the spectrum, an unflinching idealism that the government will do what it wants and it’s citizens should have no say. On the other end, there are the beginnings revolving around an undercurrent of political rumbling and frustration that believes that we can no longer sit idly by, and do nothing about it.

South Texas School Board Formally Accepts Resignation

News out of South Texas, last night, members of the Edcouch-Elsa School Board met in a “special board meeting” to formally accept the resignation of School Board President Aaron Gonzalez.  Edcouch, and Elsa are two small rural communities in the Rio Grande Valley with a combined population of 10,813 people.  Citizens from a small community with big city problems.  In mid-December, Aaron Gonzalez was indicted on three counts of bribery and extortion charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.  Charges which were updated in early February to include an additional two counts of bribery.  Four weeks later, Aaron Gonzalez was arrested on witness tampering charges in connection with the five indictments.  Denied bond, Gonzalez now awaits his May 2 arraignment hearing in police custody.  As of last night, Aaron Gonzalez no longer holds a seat on the Edcouch-Elsa School Board.  Reports out of local South Texas newspaper The Monitor early this morning are of the two men chosen to fill two positions left vacant by Gonzalez’ resignation.  Vice-President Juan Jose Ybarra has been appointed as the new president, while the legislative director for Senator Aaron Pena of State District 40, Saul Garcia was appointed to the chairman position.  I have been following this issue closely on RGV Politics, and will continue to do so as both author to my site and contributing writer to Capitol Annex.  A big thank you to Vince for bringing me on board, I hope this post is the first of many.