We confess. When we suggested that Hizzonor Da Mayor Tony Martinez would advocate making Browntown a sister city to Barranquilla, Colombia, were were speaking tongue-in-cheek.
But lo and behold, even before he had gotten off da plane! da plane! that's exactly what he was advocating.
If his plan goes through, how many sister cities would Brownsville have total?
Let's see, we have our neighbors across the river, Matamoros. That's one.
Barranquilla would make two.Somewhere we had heard that even Valle Hermoso has at one time been counted as our sister city as well.
The we have Tampico, Tamaulipas, Miguel Allende, Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo, Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon, and for cosmopolitan purposes, Capri, Italy.
Just what have we done with these cities to promote the sister city concept?
Are there exhibits somewhere that depict life and commerce in these entities? Or will the adoption phase wear off after a while and the idea get tossed into the bin of forgetfulness like the others?
Maybe what we need is a Sister City Czar to keep all this stuff straight or at least to communicate with them every once in a while.
Let's see, we already have a Ambassador of Good Will in Raplh Cowen, who single-handedly adopted San Miguel Allende. Doubtless the fine food and wines there might have provided an incentive for Ralph to pander to the Miguel Allendans. But Ralph has been kind of busy lately trying spending our good money at the port trying to lure the elusive cruise ship business to Port Isabel and the Island.
But for example, when was the last time we had any inkling of what's happening in Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo? Or perhaps Capri, Italy? And just where is Santa Catarina? Does anyone even know without looking at a map of Mexico that it's nestled on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico?
Depending on who's mayor next, we wonder what other locale will be added to the Brownsville family? God forbid that someone comes up with the bright idea to open up a sister to sister relationship with San Fernando or other trouble spots south of the border.
All this talk about having another sister city isn't sitting well with some Matamoros residents.
"When," they ask, "has Tony Martinez visited Matamoros or attended any function there?"
And speaking of manners, remember when they had the Hands Across the River ceremony during Charro Days? The coordination between the city and federal authorities was so bad that during that ceremony, a large number of forced deportations was happening simultaneously, much to the chagrin and embarrassment of the Matamoros delegation.
"Isn't there someone coordinating these things?" asked an incredulous Matamoros businessman present during the ceremonies. "They could at least have coordinated the event with the federal authorities to wait until the event was over. It was awful. The US showed no tact toward their neighbors."
For the meantime, however, we look forward to the Colombians coming to Brownsville laden with exotic tropical fruits and gifts. Or is that what they expect us to do when Tony and Gilbert go back there again?
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