By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The 64th Annual “Abrazo” ceremony took place Friday morning at the Amistad Dam.
The ceremony is part of the Fiesta de Amistad events hosted by the International Good Neighbor Council. Delegates from Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico, attended the annual event, which commemorates an agreement between the United States and Mexico to construct Amistad Dam in 1960.
annual “Abrazo” Ceremony on Friday morning. The ceremony was an annual celebration of the
friendship between the sister cities Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico. (Photo
by Louis Zylka)
The annual ceremony celebrates the friendship between the sister cities of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña. The relationship between both cities also represents the friendship between the United States and Mexico.
The ceremony was hosted by English speaker, Michelle Gonzalez, and Spanish speaker, Cristela Atilano Gonzalez, who started the event by introducing the entertainment.
Dance performances were presented by a folklorico ballet group from Ciudad Acuña, the Del Rio High School color guard, and the DRHS Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps drill team.
After a brief history of the Amistad Dam, the hosts started the “presentation of the national flags.” The presentation honors the flags of each nation, and the Mexican flag was presented first for this year’s ceremony.
The posting of the Mexican flag was by the Honor Guard of the Tecnologico Superior De Ciudad Acuña y Su Banda De Guerra. The Mexican National Anthem was then performed by La Banda de Musica Municipal.
The American flag was posted by the DRHS Air Force Junior
“Abrazo” ceremony. The ceremony was held on Friday morning, and additional performances
were provided by students from Del Rio High School and a folklorico ballet group from
Ciudad Acuña.
ROTC Color Guard. The national anthem was played by the Del Rio Middle School band, with a vocal performance by Del Rio’s Robert Wade.
After the posting of the two countries’ flags and the playing of their national anthems, the hosts presented Del Rio’s 2024 Mr. Amistad, County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez; Mrs. Amistad, Diana Stern; and the Amistad Parade Marshal, Claudia Lopez Cruz.
Paloma Villaseñor Vargas, Consul of Mexico in Del Rio, was also introduced as Ciudad Acuña’s Mrs. Amistad.
The final part of the ceremony was the traditional “abrazo,” which involved the delegates of each nation shaking hands or embracing
annual “Abrazo” ceremony at the Amistad Dam. The ceremony was held on Friday morning at
the dam, and delegates from both cities attended to exchange handshakes and embrace their
cross-border counterparts.
their cross-border counterpart. The first “abrazos” were exchanged between the Del Rio Mayor Al Arreola and his wife, Myrella Arreola, shaking hands with Ciudad Acuña Presidente Municipal Emilio de Hoyos Montemayor and his wife, Yahaira Romero.
More than 17 delegates from each country stepped forward in front of the bronze statue of the two eagles at the dam’s center to shake hands and/or embrace each other. All the delegates then posed for a picture to conclude the ceremony.
