Juarez Could Be Left Off Map Promoting Sister Cities

By ABC-7 Reporter Celina Avila

El Paso, Texas -For generations, El Paso and Juarez have been promoted together as sister cities.

But with no end in sight to the violence across the border, El Paso tourism is now focusing solely on the Sun City.

“It’s always been El Paso/Juarez map,” said former city councilman, Alexandro Lozano, who created the original “Two nation vacation” map promoting our border region in 1978. “We have always included Juarez, Juarez has never participated in these maps at all.”

Lozano who draws the map by hand.

Private sponsors print it every ten years, but this year he’s having trouble, “They’re afraid that we’re sending the wrong message to sending people to Juarez.”

Back in 2000, when the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce printed the last map Juarez tourism was bustling.

The bull ring and the mercado were still operating, but with the increase in violence the last two years Lozano says the next map will focus on this side of the border and he’llleave Juarez off.

“There’s enough of it here…Mexican food, Mexican culture, Mexican music, ” said El Paso Mayor John Cook. He says while city officials still promote business in Juarez tourism is different, “I think that would be irresponsible for us.”

Lozano agrees and says there are plenty of attractions for him to draw on this side of the border, “We have so many things to promote and show our tourists what they can see.”

Lozano has approached the Convention and Visitors Bureau to sponsor this year’s map.

CVBofficials tell us no contract has been signed at this time.