Superintendent Aaron Mahr and Juárez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar shake hands at Sister Park signing ceremony/NPS, Mj Rey
Chamizal National Memorial in Texas and Parque Chamizal in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, have become sister parks.
Chamizal Superintendent Aaron Mahr and Ciudad Juárez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar signed an arrangement on February 14 to formally recognize their respective Chamizal parks as “sister parks.”
Born from the same history, Parque Chamizal in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso, Texas, were each established by their respective country to commemorate the historic 1963 Chamizal Treaty. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz met in 1967 at a new commemorative monument in Parque Chamizal to celebrate the formal exchange of land that would return the long-disputed Chamizal area to Mexico. In 1966, on a portion of Mexican land transferred to the United States under the treaty, the U.S. Congress established Chamizal National Memorial under management of the National Park Service.
Today, the NPS Office of International Affairs works to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world by engaging in cooperative projects, such as connecting U.S. national parks with related parks in other countries through a non-binding agreement called a Sister Park Arrangement. Chamizal National Memorial has worked throughout the years with the Archeology and History Museum, which functions under the Ciudad Juárez Institute for Culture (IPACULT). Having an official “sister park” designation serves to strengthen their connection and allows the Park Service to identify opportunities for enhanced, ongoing collaboration.
The Chamizal Sister Park Arrangement has received support at multiple levels of government in both countries. The February 14th signing ceremony was witnessed by dignitaries including U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar; U.S. Consul General in Ciudad Juárez, Eric Cohan; Mexican Consul General in El Paso, Mauricio Ibarra; commissioners from US and Mexican sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission; representatives from Texas and Chihuahua; and our counterparts from IPACULT, the Museum of Archeology and History in Parque Chamizal, and the director of Parks and Gardens for Ciudad Juárez.
