people
E X C L U S I V E
I N T E RV I E W :
SECRETARY OF STATE
CARLOS CASCOS
I
By Melissa Y. Herrera, iF Magazine Director Of Business Development
make my way through
the harried Houston traffic at rush
hour to a nice Mexican Restaurant in Sugar Land, TX where the
Secretary of State, Carlos Cascos,
is scheduled to speak to a group
called the Hispanic Republicans
of Texas (HRT). I am the first to
arrive and the wait staff is quick
to be of service to me and my
photographer. Shortly thereafter
the Secretary of State arrives a
little road weary after battling the
traffic. It was my first opportunity to meet Secretary Cascos and
there was no way to mistake him
for anything other than a Texan.
He was wearing a western style
48 iF Magazine | September 2016
shirt accented by a bolo, a western
jacket, and of course finished off
with a nice pair of western boots.
Mr. Cascos quickly informs me
that we only have about 10 minutes for the interview due to the
delay caused by traffic, plus he still
needs to speak to the Hispanic
Republicans of Texas. We make
our way to a private room in the
back of the restaurant away from
the din of the gathering HRT
crowd and patrons.
to him though. He comes across
as an all American kind of guy
with a little bit of a South Texas
accent. He strikes me as someone
who is down to earth and very
action oriented. I ask him about
his family and how his Mexican
heritage might play a role in his
work as Secretary of State (SOS).
He takes me quickly through his
background and what I fondly like
to refer to as his “American Story.”
His family moved to Brownsville
when he was very young and his
Secretary Cascos is of Mexican first language naturally was Spandescent and was born in Matam- ish. “I had to learn English by total
oros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. You immersion. This was a time when
would never know this by talking there wasn’t a migrant program or