MARTINEZ MOVES TO ADOPT COLOMBIA, MAKE BARRANQUILLA SISTER CITY

By Juan Montoya
After spending a delightful week in the balmy Caribbean port city of Barranquilla, Colombia, sources tell us that a delegation of Brownsville Economic Development Council and Port of Brownsville eco-dev wonks headed by Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez will initiate a constitutional amendment to adopt Colombia as the 51st state of the United States.
"We already consume more than half of its national products," Martinez was overheard saying on the plane. "As a matter of fact, if we adopt Colombia, they wouldn't have to smuggle them in."
We didn't know whether it was the coffee or the bananas Martinez was referring to, although someone did say that he was waxing poetic about Colombian products when he "andaba en el avion."
Martinez, who said he did his share for Colombia's economic development by consuming a good portion of that country's processed agricultural products while in college, said that other Americans might well enjoy consuming others more benign such as lulo, maracuyá, guanabana, pitaya y banano (lulo, soursop, passion fruit, pitaya and banana.)

According to news reports from Barranquilla, Da Mayor said that since a large number of South Texans and Texans in general are Latinos, they would be natural customers for the exotic fruits that grow in that country.
Now, banana we probably know. The others would be a slightly chancier proposition. We would wager that less than half – if not a larger percentage of our readers would probably not guess what the names of the fruits pictured above are named. And it is doubtful that more particular eaters (myself included) would venture a taste of those pictured above without having a taster show us we wouldn't keel over and die if we took a bite of them.
We never knew that the mayor was so passionate of the produce industry, but hey, with his longish hair and penchant for natural wines, he's a natural.
On the other hand, his companions on the trip such as the BEDC's Jason Hilts and Gilbert Salinas are known to savor a fine meal in a classy locale such as Panama City and Bogota. And what can we say about the Port of Brownsville's German Rico? As we have said in our previous posts, just a cursory look at his credit card expenditures indicates he is a lover of fine cuisine and spirits.
Hilts has gotten in trouble with his BEDC credit card in the past but managed to survive the ordeal by fire and emerge victorious as the executive director of that outfit.
The Port of Barranquilla is seen by Brownsville, port and BEDC officials as a natural for becoming a sister city to Brownsville. Whether the dismal container-ship capability of the Port of Brownsville can accommodate the modernistic port of Barranquilla is a small matter.
The most popular cultural event is Barranquilla's annual Carnival (Carnaval de Barranquilla), which is celebrated 4 days before Ash Wednesday and is broadly recognized as one of the world's largest Carnivals. We have Charro Days.
It lies strategically next to the delta of a river, as does Brownsville. In the 1940s and later years, it was an important city but later declined because local administrations gained fame because they were given to widespread corruption.
It's a natural fit all the way around!