Mexico’s new consul general in Denver, Eduardo Arnal, hopes to improve on cultural, social and economic trade relations with Colorado — our state’s second-largest trade partner behind Canada.
Wednesday he sat down with The Denver Post to talk about how he hopes to achieve his goals of improving relations on trade and building cultural understanding between his country and Colorado, including his hopes to personally introduce Gov. Bill Ritter to Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico as early as next year.
No serving Mexican president has ever visited Colorado.
Currently, however, one of his main objectives toward bettering relations is to arrange a meeting between Gov. Bill Ritter and Calderon in Mexico, as early as next year, he says.
Arnal knew by reputation the challenges he faces in Colorado. This state is considered by many south of the border as being one of the unfriendliest states toward Mexicans with the harshest laws around illegal immigration.
“We want to work hard to be in contact personally with Mexicans in Colorado, to give them the most quality of information on cultural affairs,” Arnal said. “We want to follow the command of Presidente Calderon that we want to move Mexico into the world, and move the world into Mexico.
“Additionally, we want to express to your government and the whole actors political and social that we see the issue of illegal immigration as a shared responsibility between both countries,” he added. “We know we have to do our part. We have to do our job inside of Mexico’s borders. Illegal immigration is motivated by different reasons. We don’t have enough opportunities and jobs in our country and the American economy is so strong, that it acts as a magnet. The only real way to solve the problem of illegal immigration is to provide job opportunities in Mexico and decrease the size of the difference between our economies.”
Meet The Consul General
At 37 years old, Arnal already is a seasoned diplomat having worked in politics since the age of 17, including three years in the Mexican Congress (2000 – 2003). He’s always been a member of the PAN Party, currently Mexico’s ruling party. PAN was the perennial darkhorse behind the PRI, which ruled the country for seven decades until Vicente Fox was elected in 2000.
Arnal points out his position as consul general has no affiliation with any party.
Arnal is the fourth-born son of five and was raised in Mexico City. His father was an insurance broker and inventor who invented an adhesive mosquito screen for automobiles.
One of Arnal’s prized possessions is an antique German-made piano handed down by his grandmother, which is currently being shipped to Denver.
Arnal met his wife, Cecilia Ramos, a Bolivian attorney, at a leadership conference in Washington, D.C., four years ago. They wed on their 13th meeting. They have one daughter, Pamela, who is 3 and has already started pre-school in Denver.
His hobbies include bicycling, swimming and bowling — he played in an amateur league and his highest score was 198. While in Denver, he looks forward to skiing and, if he can find the time, to learn to golf.
He arrived in Denver a week ago.
“Already it feels like home,” he says. “I had never been to Colorado before.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
