CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico _ Faced with the threat of the increased spread of the coronavirus across their borders, three northern Mexicans states are calling on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to do more to stop people entering Mexico from the U.S.
The three states _ Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon _ border Texas, which has more than 2,600 confirmed cases of the virus as of Sunday, based on more than 25,000 tests. Combined, the three Mexican states have more than 90 cases, though the number of tests is not clear.
The urgent call comes just days before the April 5-12 Holy Week vacation period begins, a time when cross-border traffic traditionally spikes. Traditionally, Mexicans head north to shop, and Americans with ties to Mexico head south to visit families. Many of them use Interstate 35.
Mexican consul generals in the U.S, including at the Dallas consulate, are urging their paisanos, or compatriots, to stay put during Holy Week.
"For the moment, we should not be moving around on either side of the border," Francisco de la Torre, the Mexican consul general in Dallas, said on Sunday. "We shouldn't move from our cities in North Texas, our home, wherever that is on either side."
The three Mexican governors met in Saltillo on Friday as part of ongoing meetings to assess the health situation and prepare the region for the spread of the coronavirus.
"This is a message to the president: Call us," Nuevo Leon Gov. Jaime Rodriguez Calderon said, calling on Lopez Obrador to act. "We don't have the capabilities to close the border. He does."
Chihuahua, which includes the industrial Ciudad Juarez, has reported six cases of the virus. Chihuahua Gov. Javier Corral Jurado met with his counterparts Saturday from the states of Sinaloa and Sonora, also border U.S. states, but did not join the call for reduced border traffic.
Already, the U.S. and Mexico have halted nonessential traffic, but that term can be interpreted in different ways and people continue to cross the border. Trade and medical goods are considered essential.
Javier Garza, a political, radio commentator and journalist in the northern city Torreon, Coahuila, said while the U.S. government is limiting essential travel to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, "the Mexican (government) has not taken the measure to restrict the flow of Americans who are not doing essential travel, so I think the (governors') idea is to level the playing field."
The governors of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas asked for an urgent meeting with Lopez Obrador. A spokesman for Lopez Obrador said Sunday evening that the president was expected to address the governors' request at his Monday morning daily news briefing.
Over the weekend, Lopez Obrador had begun to sound more concerned about the virus, using for the first time the phrase "flatten the curve" to call on Mexicans to stay home. Nearly 1,000 people in Mexico have tested positive, including two governors. One of the governors, Omar Fayad of the state of Hidalgo, recently met with Lopez Obrador. The Mexican leader said he had no plans to take a coronavirus test.
Lopez Obrador's deputy health minister, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, in somber fashion Saturday night, called on Mexicans to avoid any essential travel for the next 30 days. He said Mexico was facing its "last chance" against the virus that's spreading worldwide.
Asked if he's heard from Mexican state governors saying they want him to restrict Americans from crossing into Mexico across the Texas border, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday that he understands the U.S. and Mexico made an agreement � similar to one the U.S. made with Canada � "it was intended to basically eliminate all nonessential travel across either of the two borders. It's my understanding that commercial travel was continued to be allowed and certain types of essential travel would be continued to be allowed, but with the same standard going both ways � meaning that the travel limitations on those coming from Mexico also applied to travel limitations of those going from Texas into Mexico."
He noted that international travel is regulated by the federal government.
