This was interesting. Texas and Mexico have a unique relationship. This was very powerful symbolism for the Mexican Nationals, on so many levels.
From mysa.com
http://www.mysanantonio.com/specials...d.7700942.html
Mexican army is more than welcome in Texas after Katrina
Web Posted: 09/09/2005 12:00 AM CDT
John MacCormack
Express-News Staff Writer
LAREDO — More than a century and a half after its last incursion into Texas, the Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande early Thursday and headed north.
Instead of muskets and battle plans, the military unit carried portable kitchens, water-purification plants and other relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina in a 47-truck convoy that arrived at San Antonio's KellyUSA, where 3,400 evacuees are being housed.
And after a brief ceremony, the no-nonsense general in charge put his troops to work, promising hot meals in two hours.
The trucks — and 183 unarmed soldiers whose ranks included dentists, doctors and nurses — had been dispatched from Mexico City on Mexican President Vicente Fox's orders.
Their progress was covered feverishly by Mexican news organizations. Some reporters rode along and many more waited for the convoy's arrival at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge, 20 miles upriver from Laredo.
"It's been in the news nonstop for the last three days. Sixty million Mexican people are watching this now," Primitivo Lopez, a Televisa reporter, said as a hovering network helicopter sent a live feed of the first army trucks crossing the bridge shortly after 8 a.m.
At a riverside news conference, Mexican Gen. Francisco Ortiz Valadez stood shoulder to shoulder with U.S. Army officers while the caravan of pickups, troop carriers and tractor-trailers — some proudly flying large Mexican flags — were inspected.
"We are bringing mainly all that is needed to prepare food for the people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina," said the general, whose soldiers wore yellow plastic armbands that read "humanitarian aid."
Later, Brig. Gen. Joe Prasek, deputy commanding general of the 5th U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, praised the Mexican soldiers, saying: "I'm impressed with their capabilities and professionalism."
Also on hand were consular officers from both countries and a host of Webb County and Laredo dignitaries, some of whom were busy handing out gifts to the Mexican soldiers.
Daniel Hernandez Joseph, the Mexican consul in Laredo, spoke emotionally about the unprecedented gesture.
"It's not something we talked about. We just reached out as a nation and as a people," he said.
After an expedited Customs and immigration inspection, the convoy was escorted out of Laredo with sirens and flashing lights by police motorcycles and along Interstate 35 by U.S. Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles.
Far beyond what the shipment will provide Katrina evacuees, observers of U.S.-Mexico relations say its symbolic weight was enormous.
"I don't think it has anything to do with the goods. The content is irrelevant. It's the fact they are doing it — and it has to do with the whole effort to increase cooperation between the two countries," said Roderic Camp, a Mexico expert at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles.
Other experts said Mexico's aid, which also includes a naval ship with supplies sent by Fox to the hurricane-affected areas, underscores how poorly the United States handled the crisis.
"Basically this is a poor country sending supplies into the richest country in the world. It would have been difficult for Bush to reject the offer, and by the same token it's pretty embarrassing for the administration," said Peter Ward, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in Mexican politics.
So often on the receiving end of U.S. aid, the Mexicans were eager to help and perhaps secretly surprised at how badly the hurricane response was handled, said Richard Craig, a Mexico expert at Kent State University in Ohio.
"Deep down inside, there's a feeling of comeuppance," he said. "The Mexicans may feel that they were able to handle their emergencies, like the earthquake of 1985, better than we are handling ours."
Analysis aside, the convoy was like the circus coming to town. Passing truckers honked, motorists waved and people along the highway cheered and waved. Near the town of Van Ormy, more than 70 waited by an entrance ramp.
"We're welcoming the Mexican army. Our family has lived here since about 1800. We were here the last time they came though in 1836, so we're welcoming them back, but it will be much more friendly this time," said Art Martinez, 30, perched atop a Van Ormy fire truck, a Mexican flag in one hand, Old Glory in the other.
Margarita Romero of Boerne, 53, snapped photos and waved, pausing now and then to wipe a tear away.
"It's very beautiful," said Romero, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen. "It's a very happy day to be a Mexican. I'm so proud that our neighbors are helping us out."
When the trucks arrived at KellyUSA, the troops settled into a large field and began setting up camp.
Among those waiting was Marta Lara, the Mexican consul in San Antonio.
"We're all human beings and we can feel for one another. The Mexican people feel very deeply the tragedy that the American people have gone through and we're with you," she said.
"This is what is profound about the relationship between the two countries. It's not just between two governments, it's between two peoples."
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