April 24, 2007

Mexican consulate opening in Little Rock (Huckabee, Beebe)

A new Mexican Consulate is opening in Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow. The consul is Andres Chao and the "event coordinator" for the opening is Liliana Olea.

Gov. Mike Beebe will be out of town and is sending Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, but he's nonetheless ecstatic:

"Any time you have a foreign government that chooses your city for a location, it's potentially an economic boost, it's certainly a cultural boost and it certainly allows interaction between people that have a kinship to whatever country that might be."

As you might expect, there's a "Huck" connection:

The idea of establishing a Mexican consulate in Arkansas was first discussed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee after his trip to Mexico City in 2003.

Last year, Huckabee struck a deal with Mexican officials to house the consular office in a state agency office for $1 a year while the consulate facilities were being refurbished. At the time, some lawmakers complained the governor made the deal without notifying the Legislature.

More at the link; see the comments for the details on a couple protests. More on Mexican consuls working Arkansas here.

Posted to Immigration_consul at April 24, 2007 12:18 PM

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