Laredo Asks TXDOT to Remove Nuevo Laredo from Road Signs

Laredo would like to distance itself from its troubled sister city Nuevo Laredo. So much so, that it’s asked TXDOT to remove the city from Texas road signs.

About a month ago, TXDOT started removing Nuevo Laredo from road signs denoting the distance to Laredo and its sister city Nuevo Laredo. The request came from Laredo’s Chamber of Commerce, according to Laredo’s Pro 8 News.

Because of the drug violence in Mexico, the chamber says they’ve seen a drop in tourism and college students considering schools in the border city.

“They honestly don’t know it’s a different country and we unfortunately inherited that image,” Miguel Conchas, president of Laredo’s chamber of commerce told the news channel. “Always we seem to get the same kind of response from families out of town, is it safe? We hear there are shootings in the streets and so we are trying to dispel that image.”

Laredo’s Mayor Raul Salinas tried to deflect the move made by his city and strike a more conciliatory tone toward Nuevo Laredo, which has been wracked by violence from the U.S. fueled drug war.

 “It’s a decision TXDOT made and obviously we respect their decision. It’s a family, not divided but united by a river and we keep that in mind as obviously they are going through some tough times.”