State of Mexico announces its intention to accede to ORU-Fogar
During the opening of the “Seminar on international action of local governments in Iberoamerica”, held in Mexico City on the 10th of November, the governor of State of Mexico, Eruviel Ávila, announced his state’s intention to accede to ORU-Fogar. The governor, who had previously held a working meeting with ORU-Fogar’s president, prefect Paúl Carrasco, also announced his intention to propose in its next meeting the accession of the National Governor’s Conference (CONAGO), of which he is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The seminar gathered local and regional authorities from several countries as well as representatives of international organizations, who shared experiences on how a framework for international action and cooperation can support social and productive development.
Eugene Zapata, organizer of the event, delivered a clear message: “Citizens must understand that international relations support development, they strengthen the actions of the local government and the visibility of a state or city”.
ORU-Fogar’s president, prefect Paúl Carrasco, stated that the times when international relations were the exclusive domain of states are long gone. He referred to the eighties in the 20th century, when cities like New York, Mexico City, Berlin, London or Barcelona initiated an international projection, and were followed by regions like Flanders, Bavaria, Tuscany, Catalonia or the Basque Country. Similarly, NGO’s, civil society, trade unions and employers’ organizations created international networks.
“Nowadays, whether due to the crisis or to the political dynamics, -explained president Carrasco- some people want to turn the clock back. There are people who want to go back to the 19th century politics and who are trying to send the cities and the regions back to the local level. Given this drive from so many Latin American governments, but also European and African, we will tell them that we’ll be facing them, but we will also explain to them that they are going against the course of history”.
ORU-Fogar’s president took advantage of his visit to meet with Mr. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, General Coordinator for Foreign Affairs at the Mexico City Government and emblematic figure of Mexican politics, who had taken part in the seminar.
