He admits that he never thought
about being from Texas as a “big
deal” but he has discovered firsthand that it truly is. “When
Texas walks into the room, it is
like the parting of the Red Sea
and we have a lot to be proud
of as a state. “
He has taken the role of unofficial ambassador to heart.
Working with Mexico he
has been able to resolve the
issues related to Mexico’s
delinquency on the water
treaty. This has been an ongoing
issue since 2007- 2008. Secretary
Cascos stated that Mexico has
been very unhappy with Texas,
and that he has been the one to
go to Mexico and discover what
needs to be done to have a better
working relationship with them.
Governor Greg Abbott’s first trip
outside of the United States as
Texas Governor was to Mexico. It
was¬¬ Labor Day almost a year
ago. “I went before that in April.
Not so much to pave the way, but
to kind of open some doors and
feel them out to see what they
were thinking. They were not
shy in telling me how they felt.
I won’t use the phrases that they
used, but they were upset with
the prior administration.” He was
able to successfully explain that
the new administration under
Governor Abbott would be different and has continued to foster
the relationship with Mexico. As
a Mexican American, he jokingly
says Mexicans are high maintenance. Ironically he takes that
very seriously because they are
Texas’ largest trading partner with
35% ¬to 38% share of the Texas
market. Prior to him becoming
50 iF Magazine | September 2016
SOS no one from the Texas government had gone to Mexico for
7 or 8 years. “So I have kind of
made a commitment to Mexico
saying I intend to visit some part
of Mexico every year and Mexico
City every 18 to¬ 22 months depending on schedules. And they
like that. We have to take care of
our biggest trading partner in this
hemisphere and it is not because
I am a big Mexico lover, but I
do love Mexico and think it is a
great country. In spite of its challenges there are half a million jobs
in Texas that are directly related to
Mexico and there are 6 million
jobs nationwide.” Secretary Cascos recalls a conversation between
himself and the Lt. Governor of
Hawaii in which he asks if Hawaii
does a lot of business with Mexico
and the response was a resounding yes. The Secretary says that he
already knew the answer because
every state in the United States
has jobs because of Mexico. “The
thing is business is business and if
Mexico sneezes we catch a cold.
That is true of the reciprocal also.
The amount of trade that goes
on between Texas and Mexico is
beyond people’s numbers because
they just don’t know, so part of
my role is to go out and educate
and inform them that the border
along with the Houston area is
the economic juggernaut of the
state. Texas is the economic juggernaut of the country. Other
states may not like it, but Texas is
doing things that are right.”
Reflecting on how many jobs are
created due to our trade relations
with Mexico, I ask him about his
role in trade negotiations and if he
is currently working on any. He
very clearly articulates his views
that the role of government is not
to engage in trade as a governmental entity, but to provide the
most conducive environment for
trade to take place between companies. He views himself as a
type of promoter who puts Texas
and Mexican companies together.
“Government is NOT a job creator. Businesses create jobs.” He
has held to this view throughout