A closer look at the new Mexican Consulate – A Q&A with Head Consul Edurne Pineda

Head Consul Edurne Pineda

VeloCityOKC: Consul Pineda, I understand Mexico has many more consulates throughout the United States. Can you tell us about that?

Consul Edurne Pineda: There are currently 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S., and Oklahoma City is going to be number 51. It’s the widest consular network in another country by one single country. Nobody has 52 consulates in another country; Mexico does, however, because we have a very large population of Mexican origin here in the U.S. and also because our economic, social and political relationships with the U.S. are very relevant to Mexico and the U.S.

Your official title is consul. What is the difference between a consul and consul general?

Consul Edurne Pineda: We have embassies, which are the political representatives, that are always based in the capital city of the other country. And then you have consulates which are there to provide consular services and assistance to our nationals and also promote economic trade and political relations at a local level. We, the Mexican government, have 12 or 13 consulates general in the U.S., and the rest are career consulates. So many people address me as Consul General Pineda. But I am not going to be a console general here in Oklahoma because this consulate is a career consulate. I believe we will eventually be a consulate general because the Mexican population here is growing.

In what ways will the Mexican Consulate assist the Mexican population in Oklahoma?

Consul Edurne Pineda: There are three main departments, and eventually a fourth one, I want to put together which are very important – the first three departments would be documentation, protection, and community affairs. Our consulate has nothing to do with immigration, so what we basically do within documentation is we issue around 30 different documents all related to Mexico and with Mexico, such as passports, Consular I.D. cards, voting cards, powers of attorney, and death certificates; as well as visas for American citizens who want to live in Mexico, and many others.

Then we have the Protection Department, which is our legal area. We're not attorneys, but we give legal advice to our nationals. But we're also going to be doing a lot of preventive work, where we are going to explain to them what to do and what not to do, and how to be better members of their communities.

And then community affairs, where we are going to have a health program to educate and guide them to go to different health agencies to look after themselves and their families. We're going to have financial education programs and guidance for Mexican families on how to navigate, in the best way possible, the educational system in the U.S., so they can help their kids. We're also going to do a lot of work with our different communities and community organizations.

Is there going to be any assistance from the Mexican Consulate to Oklahoma companies and businesses that may want to do business with Mexico?

Consul Edurne Pineda: We have a big backlog of consular services and consular assistance to our Mexican community. We are going to have to take care of that first. Once we have all the staff were supposed to have, then we're going to put together a department of trade and economic promotion. We're going to focus on trying to promote these relations and help American companies increase their exchange and their relations with their Mexican counterparts.

Where will the Mexican Consulate be located, and when you expect the Consulate to begin operations?

Consul Edurne Pineda: The Consulate is going to be west of downtown Oklahoma City in an independent building that also offers enough parking space for our visitors. It's going to be right across Oklahoma City Boulevard so it will have very good connectivity for Mexican nationals visiting us from other parts of the state because, again, we're going to be serving Mexicans in the entire state of Oklahoma, not only from Oklahoma City. We have to open on May 1 because I have promised that everywhere. We already have our building, and [renovations] are in progress. It's looking great. We expect to have between 300 and 450 people coming through that Consulate every single day. We expect to launch our website at the end of April.

Why did you become a diplomat? What was it that attracted you to that career field?

Consul Edurne Pineda: I love traveling and I loved everything that had to do with international relations. I loved reading about politics and history, and so [a career as a diplomat] seemed to be very attractive to me. I ended up studying economy, but never practiced as an economist. I worked for two or three years in our Treasury Department. I have always worked for the government of Mexico. You have to take an exam to be able to get into the Mexican Foreign Service. So I saw the information in the newspaper, and I said I'm going to give it a try, and I passed. And that's how I began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What about your free time? What activities do you like to do? Any hobbies?

Consul Edurne Pineda: Even though I've lived here in the U.S. for so many years, I have always worked with Mexicans. I am very proud of being Mexican. And I hope that I find a way to make connections between Mexico, the Mexican people, our culture and Oklahoma. That's what I would love to do. I love to work because I love my job and it makes me feel safe. And I love to spend time with my children. I exercise whenever I can, which is not that frequent. And we have a dog, a rescue dog. She's the sweetest. I love walking my dog with my daughter. So those are my hobbies. I also love to travel. I try to organize one relevant international trip with my family every year. I believe that traveling is essential for human beings for a person’s education and development.

This story originally appeared in the March 2023 edition of the VeloCity newsletter.