The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

munities is alive and well, fos- tered by longstanding binational bodies, notably the Border Liaison Mechanism established in 1993. The BLM is chaired by U.S. and Mexican consuls in “sister city” pairs and has proven to be an effective means of dealing with a variety of local issues. These range from accidental violations of sovereignty by law enforce- ment officials and charges of mis- treatment of foreign nationals to coordination of port security. In that spirit, officials at all levels of government, civic leaders and university stu- dents on both sides of the border are working together for the betterment of the entire region. The San Diego Dialogue, the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies and the Transborder Program are among the many binational organizations, based on the U.S. side, working to narrow the eco- nomic and cultural divide bet- ween the two countries. The Tijuana-San Diego re- gion is like nowhere else in the world. It is a place where resi- dents can go whale-watching in the morning, catch an afternoon major-league baseball game fea- turing the San Diego Padres, stay to see the Tijuana Potros playing a Mexican League base- ball team in San Diego’s Petco Park, and finally return to Tijuana for tequila shots and margaritas while watching dog races or bullfights in the Playas de Tijuana (Tijuana Beaches) stadium. Almost anything you can imagine can be found here. For all these reasons, Tijuana is one of the best-kept secrets of the Foreign Service. F O C U S 28 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 Cooperation between U.S. and Mexican border communities is alive and well, fostered by bodies such as the Border Liaison Mechanism established in 1993.