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WILKES-BARRE — It was just a matter of time before Carlos Obrador Garrido visited.
The head consul of the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia traveled to Wilkes-Barre Tuesday as part of his job, meeting with Mayor George Brown and Police Chief Joseph Coffay.
“It’s very important for us, first of all to get to know the authorities in the city and work with them,” Obrador said.
There was nothing pressing to bring Obrador and members of his staff to the city, only the chance to make a courtesy call and become familiar with the people and places in his territory of Pennsylvania, Delaware and southern New Jersey, where the Mexican-American community numbers approximately 300,000.
“This is a natural thing for a consul to do, to be close to their community,” Obrador said, who is new to the post. His next stop will be Pittsburgh.
For a couple of days, Obrador explained, the staff hits the road with its “mobile Consulate,” and provides services such as passports, consular IDs, and powers of attorney.
Brown added the Mexican-American community in the city is growing and, over lunch, he and Obrador discussed how they can work together.
“We talked about the wonderful workforce that we have in this area and for future investment, the infrastructure, things that Wilkes-Barre has to provide,” Brown said.
Obrador mentioned that Mexican firms such as Bimbo Bakeries and Mission Foods have operations in the region and elsewhere in the state.
It is important for us to get to know the area,” Obrador said, adding sometimes his office gets calls from companies looking to invest and expand their business opportunities. ” So it’s good for us to be in the place and be able to recommend that,” he said.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.