A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NEW MEXICAN CONSULATE – A Q&A WITH HEAD CONSUL EDURNE PINEDA
Last December, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that a Mexican Consulate would be opening in Oklahoma City in 2023, which will provide consular services and assistance to Oklahoma’s growing Mexican community, whose population is estimated to be between 400,000 to 450,000. The Consulate will also promote economic, commercial, educational, cultural, tourism and community affairs relations between Mexican entities and Oklahoma stakeholders. VeloCity recently sat down with the Consulate’s head consul, Edurne Pineda, to discuss the coming Consulate in more detail and to learn more about her and her role with the Consulate. Consul Pineda, I understand Mexico has many more consulates throughout the United States. Can you tell us a little more about that? There are currently 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S., and Oklahoma City is going to be number 51. It’s the widest consular network in another country by one single country. Nobody has 52 consulates in another country; Mexico does, however, because we have a very large population of Mexican origin here in the U.S. and also because our economic, social and political relationships with the U.S. are very relevant to Mexico and the U.S. Your official title is head consul. What is the difference representatives, that are always based in the capital city of the other country. And then you have consulates which are there to provide consular services and assistance to our nationals and also promote economic trade and political relations at a local level. The Mexican government has 12 or 13 consulates general in the U.S., and the rest are career consulates. Many people address me as Consul General Pineda. But I am not going to be a consul general here in Oklahoma because this consulate is a career consulate. I believe we will eventually be a consulate general because the Mexican population here is growing. In what ways will the Mexican Consulate assist the Mexican population in Oklahoma? There are three main departments, and eventually a fourth one, I want to put together which are very important – the first three departments would be documentation, protection and community affairs. between a head consul and consul general? We have embassies, which are the political
EDURNE PINEDA HEAD CONSUL MEXICAN CONSULATE
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