El Paso Mayor, Juarez Mayor sign sister cities agreement

Mayor Dee Margo and Mayor Armando Cabada formally signed a Sister Cities Agreement between El Paso and Juarez Tuesday in a ceremony at San Jacinto Plaza.

The signing comes after The Sister Cities Agreement was presented at a Joint Council meeting on October 30, 2017.

The meeting focused on strengthening ties between the two cities. The group discussed border relations, cultural events and economic development between the two cities.

“It is a resigning so to speak of a sister city agreement that has been somewhat dormant. And all we want to do is accentuate and reinforce the fact that we are truly one region. We are one region economically, culturally and otherwise,” Margo said.

Both cities agreed to create a task force to work on bi-national issues and projects.

Rep. Peter Svarzbein said city officials from both sides of the border want to work on improving the way the region is viewed from the outside.

“Comments from federal government officials that talk about the border only in terms of danger and violence, that only communicate the border as a threat and never communicate the border as an opportunity hurts us,” Svarzbein said.