On Friday, May 26, Silvis’ Hero Street will play host to Reyna Torres Mendivil, the consul general of Mexico in Chicago, at 11:30 a.m. for a wreath-laying ceremony that is open to the public.
This marks the first time a consul general of Mexico has ever visited Hero Street, according to a City of Silvis news release. “We are blessed to have her here to honor the fallen 8, a group of Mexican-American patriots from a single tiny street in Silvis who died while serving their country over several wars.
Ms. Torres Mendivil will be joined on the stretch of Second Street by Beatriz Vernon, press attache; Slaudia Castillo, consul for community affairs, and Luis Cedeno and Fidel Gutierrez.
The Mexican ambassador was named consul general of Mexico in Chicago on March 5, 2019, by the secretariat of Foreign Affairs, according to the U.S. Mexico Chamber of Commerce Mid-America chapter.
Before assuming her current position, she served as consul general in San Antonio, Texas, and has held the positions of general director for protection of Mexicans Abroad, consul of Mexico in Fresno, California, and general director for Latin America and the Caribbean. She also was deputy chief of mission at the Mexican Embassy in the Czech Republic, and a political analyst and liaison with Congress, federal authorities, and civil society in the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C., the chamber said.
Ms. Torres Mendivil graduated from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) and holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. She also was a resident fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and represented Mexico in the Hemispheric Security Program at the Inter-American Defense College.
