Austria Galindo. Character, Sensitivity, and an Authentic Vision of Life. By José Martín Rodriguez. We usually see people involved in the arts and politics in photos, videos, on the news, or on stage, but we don't really know who they are. The whirlwind of the artistic and political world doesn't allow people to get to know us beyond what's said about us. In the following lines, we'll try to tell your story. Thank you for being with us. Austria, tell me a little about yourself. I was born in Ciudad Juarez in the old general hospital that later became Like In. My second home. In a fortunate time, many people remember the date of November 20, 1986, because of that parade so well known then and still remembered today. I was supposed to be born that day, but I was so benevolent towards the Pan's democratic cause that I waited five more days. I was due on November 20, and I was born five days later. My mother was out in the tear gas helping my uncles and my father, which is why I say I'm a child of democracy. I was born in a vibrant, thriving Juarez, a city with very active people, committed to the fight for democracy, which later became an icon, a national symbol. So I say I'm definitely a child of democracy, and being born a woman in a city like Juarez makes me feel even more committed. I've always known and felt this way. What were your early years like? For the first three years of my life, we lived in an apartment on 5 Di Mayo Street. My mother is my father's second wife, I have half siblings, and that's where we lived. Then we moved to another house on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, in what we now know as Nuevo Juarez. My mother said it was on the very edge of Ciudad Juarez, very far away. That's where they started building their house. My mother says that when they moved in, they didn't even have windows or a roof, something like that. My parents say they went through some very difficult times in the first years of their marriage. My life has been full of contrasts, and far from what people might think, that I come from a family with a certain tradition. Tradition and money are different things. Yes, no, no, I wasn't born into a wealthy family, quite the opposite. My dad is a writer, and nobody's going to tell me what hunger is, I say it in everywhere, but I hardly ever talk about this part of my life. Tell me about your time at school. I attended Hortensia Suarez Gutierrez Elementary School. It's located in El Granjero, and I have wonderful memories of my teacher Marilena. She taught me third, fifth, and sixth grade, and she taught us important concepts. Of course, I came from a very poor family, but we were very rich in literature and education. In such a humble community, being the daughter of a writer certainly attracted attention. My high school was at Technical School 60. There I suffered discrimination not for being a woman, but because my family were members of the Pan Party. I had very hostile teachers towards me. Because Ramon had just lost the governorship in 98, and I was 12 years old. Imagine how that was for me. It led me to fight for my rights and for what I considered fair. I learned my individual rights in high school. You know, I practically had to carry the constitution around with me from high school onwards to defend myself. I went to night school at Preparatoria 28, which was located at Constitution and Galena. I worked in the morning and then went to school at night from 6 to 10 p.m., so you can imagine, I was surrounded by adults, people who were sometimes just there for their certificate, but were practically doctors. The debates got super intense. When I got to Tecto Juarez, I felt like I was back in middle school. Most of the students are young, but I really enjoyed it. Your family has been involved in the National Action Party Pan for three generations. Your grandfather Ediberto Galindo Martinez, who participated in the founding of Pan, your father Ediberto Pilo Galindo, your uncle Ramon Galindo Noriega, and you. What is having that family tree mean to you? My dad tells me we're all splinters from the same oak tree, just splinters, nothing more. That's all it means. Some people are very pragmatic in politics, and see it as a means to some personal gain. I can't, I can't allow myself to see it that way. I have to follow that same path. I remain affiliated with the pan party that I understand, because no one can dictate what you believe in, what you think. So when people say they don't find values here anymore, well, yes, but we continue to be the resistance against what we don't like. Just because someone made a mistake, doesn't mean I'm going to abandon ship. I stay on that same path and try to be as consistent as possible with what I think, what I say, and what I do. That's the path. And that's why I have to overcome in my own life the years of my father, the wounds of my dad, my uncle, my grandfather. Arriving at a democratic model wasn't easy, it cost lives, it cost blood, it cost sweat, many tragedies. And I can't afford to make any other decision. I'm from the third generation, but I'm the only one in politics from that generation. How did you decide to go into politics? When you are born into a family with a very defined vocation, and the you live it from a very young age, it's as natural as breathing, I mean it's not. It's not something you do by thinking, it's something that happens naturally. Learning to differentiate between fiction and reality, between what is right and wrong, through hours of rehearsal in theaters with my dad's plays, because his plays speak of urban realities in Juarez. From a very young age, I understood that it was my passion. However, I know how difficult politics is. I understood that from a young age, and I sometimes regretted it. I thought, damn, why wasn't I a singer? Why didn't I do something else? I didn't have any other calling. Maybe I did reject it in my teens, but here I am, I've accepted it. I always say truthfully that, from whatever position I find myself in, I always think about how I can help Juarez. I am a woman, it is not something accidental. It seems to me like something that commits you to your own city. Regarding what you were saying about how to improve the city, you've been tasked with the Undersecretariat of Human Development and the Common Good. How big or complicated is this challenge for you? I always say I'm afraid, but there's no courage without fear. Maybe you never feel up to the task, but that's precisely the point. To give all your passion, heart, and love to what you do. The challenge isn't small, it's huge because you touch people's lives, you change people's lives. I feel very fortunate because it had to be a woman, Governor Maru Campos, who gave me this opportunity. She genuinely gave it to me, not to my last name, not to my father, not to my uncle, not to my grandfather. I am very grateful to her for the opportunity she has given me to lead the Undersecretariat. Public officials are legally limited to what the law allows. But it doesn't prohibit you from being kind, that's part of your calling. I try to instill this sensitivity in the team that works with me in the Undersecretariat. We don't do it for a job, we do it because we truly change people's lives. How do you see Juarez in the future? What is your dream for Juarez? I feel like Juarez is perched on a volcano about to erupt. Eruption? In the good sense of harnessing all their talent and all their potential. But it hasn't quite taken off. I think it lacks vision, the leaders in Ciudad Juarez lack vision. What are we going to do with Ciudad Juarez? There are issues that are getting out of hand. There's no road infrastructure planning. The number of vehicles in Ciudad Juarez is growing uncontrollably. One news report states there are more than 800,000 vehicles in Ciudad Juarez. Do they know what that is? There are alarming figures like the fact that all of London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Manhattan could fit within the urban area of Ciudad Juarez, and they don't understand how costly that has been. There's an impressive backlog, but if you want to start fighting that lag, then you have to stop what you're doing. You're not going to correct in three years the 20-year backlog in this area. Infrastructure, but you have to start doing things right from today onwards. They keep receiving poorly finished projects without guarantees. The medians of an avenue are remodeled and soon the grass is overgrown, wires are loose, budgets are fragmented, a little here, a little there, and managing a city is like managing your house. If we want to do major projects, we have to prioritize what's most important because if we're just doing a little here, a little there, we're really not accomplishing anything. The budget isn't focused on tackling the problem, on establishing an agenda that transcends three-year and six-year terms, so that Juarez can truly become the city it deserves. Tires, clothing, and a lot of waste from the United States come to Juarez. Far from being a problem, this could be a great opportunity to make Juarez a leader in waste management, to manage materials, to become an exporter, and to comply with regulations to truly contribute to the circular economy. Sometimes I reflect that we suddenly talk to the people of Juarez, and who are they? Are they from Juarez? We have to welcome the people who come from elsewhere, who arrive in Juarez thinking it's always cheap to return and say, Juarez is ugly. And then they arrive in Juarez but give them 10 years and then they realize it's the city they love most, the city that has given them the most. But we have to welcome them culturally, and talk to them too. A very large community arrives from Venezuela, Torrean, Durango. We have to integrate them. They come here to work, to generate money, wealth, well, we also have to involve them, because I think they don't feel a sense of belonging. Did we also cause this lack of roots from within Juarez? Probably so. And besides, let me tell you, politically speaking, in terms of communication, discourse, and narrative, we're not addressing this topic. We're speaking to the people of Juarez in general terms. Anything else you'd like to add? Thank you so much for the opportunity and the invitation. It's an honor and a privilege to share this with you all, and I'd like to thank your readers, who I think will get to know me better after this interview.