people
Q: Tell us about the Consulate
General of Mexico in Houston. What
parts of America are covered by the
Consulate and what are the services it
provides?
A: The Consulate of Mexico in
Houston is one of the biggest in the
United States and we are the con-
nection of the Mexican community
in Houston to their government and
their homeland.
Our first floor is what you call docu-
mentation. We have 12 windows to
attend, between 600 to 1,000 people
daily. They are here to apply for pass-
ports, consular IDs — also known as
matrícula consular —, voting IDs, and
birth certificates.
VIVA MEXICO!
THE INTERVIEW
The Honorable
Oscar
Rodriguez
Cabrera
CONSUL GENERAL OF
MEXICO IN HOUSTON
INTERVIEW BY
BLANCA BELTRAN
42 iF Magazine | July
26
September
2018 2018
Q: First, tell us about yourself and
walk us through your background?
A: I come from a very small town
called, Campeche, state of Campeche,
just across from the Gulf of Mexico. I
am a lawyer and have been in politics
in my hometown. I have been work-
ing in what we call the alcaldías, it’s
like the mayor, and really it’s more
similar to a judge. I have held sev-
eral positions related to the state gov-
ernment and I was a member of the
Federal Congress.
people and let them know about the
opportunities in Mexico. My first
year in as Consul was dedicated to
the promotion of this reform.
Q: What does a Consul in your
capacity do?
A: My duty is to be the visible face
of the Mexican government for the
Houston community. It is impor-
tant that we work with local gov-
ernments, businesses and communi-
ties to promote all what Mexico has
to offer. The Mexican Consulate in
What makes Campeche different is Houston is the third biggest in the
that we produce 70 percent of oil in United States. The biggest one is the
Mexico. So even though it is so small one in Los Angeles, followed by Chi-
and with a small population, we have cago, Houston and then Dallas. Even
been involved in oil and gas 35 years. though the circumscription covered
I was appointed here by President by the Consulate in Houston is geo-
Enrique Peña Nieto two years ago to graphically smaller than that of Dallas,
talk about the Energy Reform that because they cover a larger portion of
the federal government implemented northern Texas, the population is al-
in Mexico. I talk to the oil business most the same.
The matricula consular has been on the
market for more than 20 years and we
have been working really hard with a
lot of public and private institutions,
like banks, sheriff and police depart-
ments to show them all of the steps
needed to obtain it. It is a document
that they can trust because we make
sure that the person who shows the
ID, is who it says it is.
Another feature of the matrícula that
most of the police organizations over
here like is that it shows if the person
has a legal problem in Mexico, so we
cannot issue the ID in that scenar-
io. This is very useful because some
people say that we are sending our
criminals to the United States. In re-
ality we do not want criminals com-
ing into United States. The same way,
we understand that the United States
doesn’t want criminals from the
United States to head to Mexico. On
the second floor of the Consulate,
we have the Civil Registry area, for
people whose kids are American but
want them to have both nationalities.
This is a process that we recommend
Mexican parents here in the United
States to do because if, for any reason,
they have to go back to Mexico, they
could suffer what their parents suf-
fered in the United States, but now
in Mexico. So, we recommend them
to register and have the benefits of
both nationalities. In this floor we
also provide powers of attorney. If
they want someone in Mexico to do
something for them, we can provide
them with a power of attorney. So,
whoever they appoint can work and
do what they need in Mexico.
lawyers and local workers who are
dealing every day on cases in which
Mexicans need legal advice We have
also hired more than eight law firms
to help us with the different cases,
from issues that range from accidents,
traffic violations, and also death pen-
alty cases. In Mexico, we do not ac-
cept the death penalty, so we work
really hard every time that a Mexican
is sentenced to death, to try to help
We talked about the documentation, with their situation.
the civil registration, but we also have
a Department of Protection. This is Q: What are some past, present and
the one in charge of many issues that future goals for Mexico’s relationship
we face while working here in the with the United States?
United States. We have more than 20
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27