Tijuana Reborn, reality or fiction

By Adina Moloman

For those who lives or visits this border town city it is absolutely amazing noticing a change in the atmosphere.

Not that long time ago, Tijuana Border town known for its violence caused by drug trafficking gangs or for its gambling and prostitution reputation starting in the 1920’s,  is experiencing right now a new cultural, economic and technological transformation.

Nevertheless how I mentioned in an article before could be a consequence of the arrangements between two powerful criminal groups, the Arellano Felix clan, which had controlled Tijuana’s trafficking routes for the last two decades, and the new arrived and in charged, controlling the Pacific route, the Sinaloa Cartel.

After many years of battles between those two powerful groups, when in Tijuana it was almost daily news shooting and murdered gang members hanged around the city, apparently Arellano Felix group decided to cooperate with the Sinaloa Cartel and this entire terror image suddenly starts to slow down.

But the impressive thing is that different cultural, business groups, industrial groups where coordinating themselves and trying to make a difference for the city.

It is so common right now to assist to new expositions, art galleries, book fairs, the Baja California Orchestra functions, new theatre premiers, concerts, etc. And that’s not all, young people which enjoys “fiesta” can go with no restriction to the new reborn Sixth avenue, downtown Tijuana, where a few blocks are invading with new bars and restaurants where one can listen from rock to jazz, electronic music to salsa or northern rhythms. This is an experience for young medium class population in my opinion, but there is also arising a new concept of Tijuana gastronomic corridor where new world class restaurants are more impressive than ever. As a consequence it also was given a demand for new and modern night clubs and disco’s, where the high society from this region which actually before were forced by the situation to cross the border and have fun in San Diego, right know are finding a good service here in Tijuana.

There is also a big effort from different powerful local business groups to organize technological events or centers to attract foreign direct investments in order to appropriate new technologies to local host firms. I’m talking about the Tijuana Innovadora movement or the construction of Baja Innovation and Technology Center.

On the other hand industry is more organized; Tijuana Maquiladoras are working in clusters. There is coordination between different government institutions, private institutions, industrial organisms, universities and technological centers which are working in an articulated way with the multinational corporations established at the border in order to get the priorities strength. Many of them are making the effort to promote the region and are focusing specially on strengthening the aerospace and medical clusters.

There is also another group which is more skeptical regarding the calmness around the city, but I believe that is important the continuity of the effort that all this different local groups are doing.