Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Renowned Mexico expert Duncan Wood spoke about near-shoring and re-shoring in a speech held at Texas Southmost College on Thursday, July 27. The event was hosted by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and drew an audience of business leaders, diplomats and elected officials from Brownsville and Matamoros. Wood is senior advisor to the Mexico Institute at the Wilson...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - When renowned Mexico expert Duncan Wood last came to the Rio Grande Valley to speak about that country’s economy and its governance he was not optimistic.  It was in January, 2020, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had just started his second year in office. Wood spoke at the McAllen Performing Arts Center at an event hosted by IBC Bank and the Rio Grande Valley Partne...

MCALLEN, Texas - Environmentalist Geoffrey Alger would have liked to have had as big an opportunity to discuss the rezoning of Green Jay Park with McAllen city commissioners as Zoho Corporation did “I wish I could take you guys out to dinner like you went out with Zoho,” Alger said, during a debate at McAllen City Hall. Following more than two hours of debate McAllen city commissioners voted to re...

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos points out that if Zoho Corporation were to build its 90-acre campus in north of the city, it could benefit Edinburg CISD. Many environmentalists said the campus should not be built on Green Jay Park in south McAllen because of its unique habitat.  But if it were put in north McAllen instead, Mayor Villalobos warned, millions of dollars of property...

MCALLEN, Texas - A McAllen resident and nature lover says Green Jay Park is far better for birders than Quinta Mazatlan, a property the City of McAllen has invested in heavily to attract eco-tourists. Lois Kim lives next to Green Jay Park. She says when she moved there it was liked “winning the lotto.”   “The birders use an app called eBird. When you go on the app and then you click explore, it sh...

MCALLEN, Texas - The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service recently interviewed McAllen resident and nature lover Raquel Oliva about Green Jay Park.  Oliva lives next to the park. She said it is beautiful and unique in McAllen.  She does not want it destroyed, which she fears will happen now McAllen city commissioners have voted to change the status of the park from “agricultural/open spa...

MCALLEN, Texas - The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service recently interviewed McAllen resident and nature lover Vicky Guerra about Green Jay Park.  Guerra lives close to the park. She said it is beautiful and unique in McAllen.  She does not want it destroyed, which she fears will happen now McAllen city commissioners have voted to change the status of the park from “agricultural/open s...

MCALLEN, Texas - South Texas College President Ricardo Solis says a top award won by a South Texas architectural firm is well deserved. Able City, based in San Antonio but with offices in Laredo, El Paso, and now McAllen, has won a 2023 Studio Award from the Texas Society of Architects.  The award for the Binational River Conservation Project in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, was won in conjunction with...

EDINBURG, Texas - On Friday, July 21, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez joined Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Commissioner, Ellie Torres in Edinburg to celebrate a groundbreaking for the North Main Drain project.  Congressman Gonzalez secured funding for the project in the Fiscal Year 2022 Government Spending Bill.  Torres said the project will expand the North Main Drain to enhance the drainage capacity of a...

WESLACO, Texas - Cynthia A. Gutierrez, president of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo, says students are leaving nearing school districts to join PSJA because of blazing fast internet speeds. PSJA has 5G thanks to an agreement with the City of Pharr. It is currently being offered for free to Pharr students. Before long, Gutierrez hopes, the service will be available to students from San Juan and Alamo also. “W...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Democratic congressional delegation hosted a webinar on Tuesday to denounce Gov. Greg Abbott’s floating barriers on the Rio Grande.  U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston said Abbott should be impeached. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Houston, a native of South Texas, said the United Nations should investigate.  Two members of Congress from the Texas-Mexico border were on the webinar...

WESLACO, Texas - On the eve of a visit to the Rio Grande Valley by the leadership of the U.S. side of the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has announced increased funding for the agency.  The U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) is a federal government agency and the U.S. component of the International Boundary and Water Commi...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet.   “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron Coun...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The executive director of Workforce Solutions Cameron says he is working to get far more construction workers from the Rio Grande Valley hired for the big LNG project at the Port of Brownsville. In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service , Pat Hobbs acknowledged that the minimum local talent Bechtel must hire for the building phase of Nex...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet.   “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron Coun...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet.   “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron Coun...

MISSION, Texas - Anyone attending the much-lauded “Leagues Of Our Own” exhibit that has just opened at the Mission Historical Museum Annex will no longer find any memorabilia on Mission baseball legend Bernardo Peña prior to 1940. That is because the owner of the collection, Bernardo Peña’s daughter Ester Salinas, has asked the City of Mission to remove the items. “I was not asked to be part of th...

Former state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., and Brownsville Navigation District Commissioner John Wood have paid tribute to Mario A. Martinez, the longtime lobbyist for the City of Brownsville and the Port of Brownsville.  Martinez, of Rockport, Texas, died unexpectedly on June 28, 2023, at the age of 69.  Martinez’s life will be celebrated with a service at Riverbend Church in Austin on Thursday, June 13...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order that the entire county has access to high-speed internet.   “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron County,...

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen Economic Development Corporation President Keith Patridge let rip during a recent webinar. He said the the Rio Grande Valley’s international bridges are not in competition with each other. “We are not competing. We have got to get over that,” he said.  Patridge also said a lack of regional cooperation has hampered economic development opportunities.  “One of the big things...

EDINBURG, Texas - Diego Reyna, assistant principal of operations at IDEA Toros, has given his explanation for why the Rio Grande Valley is nationally recognized as a hotbed for soccer.  “This (region) has been known as a hotbed for soccer since the 90s. It is something that national writers have written about. They've said this is a hotbed for talent. And one of the reasons is, it's a pl...

MISSION, Texas - Mission Historical Museum is currently displaying a Baseball exhibit that will run until September.  The exhibit is called “Leagues Of Our Own.” It runs Friday, July 7, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Museum annex, which is located at 200 E. Tom Landry Avenue in Mission. “Baseball made its way to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the 1800s when soldiers stationed at forts Brown and Ring...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar hosted a webinar with reporters on June 6.  Cuellar calls the webinar series, “Conversations with Cuellar.” Topics discussed included recent appropriations wins, including language to expedite expansion of the World Trade Bridge in Laredo.  He said he was also successful with these initiatives: securing $32 million to support additional training between t...

EDINBURG, Texas - Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, recently participated in a webinar on near-shoring. The webinar was hosted by the Greater McAllen Area Chapter of the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos. Francisco J. Peña-Valdés, president of AEM’s McAllen chapter, moderated the discussion. The other economic development specialists on the webinar we...

MISSION, Texas - Mission Economic Development Corporation CEO Teclo Garcia will be attending the 19th Annual Mexico’s Near-Shoring and Auto Industry Summit in San Luis Potosí. The event, hosted by Mexico Now, takes place July 20-21. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit the BMW manufacturing plant in SLP. Garcia gave the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service an exclusive interview...