(Photo: Arnau addressing press at her first news conference in San Diego.)
Mexico's new consul general in San Diego hopes to improve bi-national relations and promote dialogue between the U.S. and Mexico. The consul held her first news conference in San Diego on Wednesday. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson was there.
Mexico's new consul in San Diego, Remedios Gomez Arnau, compared the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico to a marriage.
Arnau : We need to focus on the positive. We need to build on the potential of the relationship and work on those things that are affecting us negatively. We need to work together.
Before arriving in San Diego, Gomez Arnau served as Mexico's consul in Atlanta, Georgia for seven years. She has a doctorate in international relations. She's written extensively on Mexican immigrants in the United States.
Gomez Arnau says it will be a new experience working so close to the Mexican border compared to working in the Southeast.
Arnau : The authorities and the people, they didn't understand. What Mexicans? But here it is different. Mexicans have been here all the time. So I think that helps.
Gomez Arnau insists a system for Mexican workers to come to the U.S. legally must be created.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
