El Cruce de Caminos, a series of conferences related to the past, present and future of San Miguel de Allende, will bring over 75 guest speakers from Mexico and around the world to lecture on various themes. The conferences, organized by the Presidencia Municipal, will begin February 21st at the Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez and will be designed to inform the public on San Miguel’s history, its current state and how its leaders envision its future. These conferences will also support San Miguel’s goal of achieving UNESCO World Heritage status. Transcripts of the conferences will eventually be published and submitted as part of the technical expedient that UNESCO requires. The conferences will also share the important mission of supporting and fomenting cultural tourism in our city.

“This is the first time in the 35 years that I have lived in San Miguel where the municipal government has put a lot of energy into informing the public of their plans and activities,” says conference organizer Don Patterson. “This is the primary mission of this cycle of conferences, to inform the people of this municipality of their past, the present condition of their municipality and provide them with information that will help them construct their future. In other words, in order to construct a truly democratic society, with a developed sense of responsibility for the “common good”, that society must become actively involved in their government. The more information they have the better prepared they are to accept this responsibility.”

El Cruce de Caminos will be divided into three phases. Phase I will begin 25 million years ago in San Miguel’s geological history and take us right up to the arrival of the foreigners (nearly present day). Among this phase’s objectives will be instilling a sense of local pride, gaining an amount of worldwide prestige and having these findings eventually published. Phase I will take place during the week of February 21 – 26, and will include such noted scholars as: Dr. Francisco López Morales (the representative for UNESCO for World Heritage in Mexico), Dr. David Carrasco (Harvard Latin American studies professor and recipient of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest decoration the Mexican government can bestow on a foreign national), and Professor Eduardo Matos (Mexico’s preeminent archeologist).

Phase II will inform the citizens of San Miguel on the current state of our municipality, its progress and its setbacks, and will discuss such varied themes as great accomplishments during the twentieth century and the present rehabilitation of the Río Laja. Phase II will take place during the week of March 14 – 18, and will include such noted researchers as: Architect Guadalupe Horta (speaking on urbanization), Engineer Sergio Romero (speaking on Pedestrian Urbanism) and Dr. Yolanda Lastra (speaking on the various languages that have been spoken in San Miguel).

Phase III will give our city’s leaders the opportunity to boldly look towards the future and demonstrate to the community what goals they seek as a municipality, in an effort to create a common vision of the city in which we live. Phase III will take place the week of April 25 – 29, and will include such Municipal leaders as: Mayor Luis Alberto Villarreal García, Armando Rivera (Director of Urban Development) and Gerardo Arteaga (Director of Ecology).

El Cruce de Caminos will be submitted to UNESCO along with Camino Real de Tierra Adentro project among the criteria for achieving World Heritage status. Institutions participating in the conferences will include:

CONACULTA, UNAM, Universidad Politécnica Nacional, INAH, Univ. New Mexico, Univ. De Guanajuato, Univ. De Colima, College of Michoacan, Harvard University, UNESCO, Georgetown Univ., Florida International Univ., Univ. of Texas, CIDE, FAI, U. Autónoma de Querétaro y el Centro de Investigaciones Humanísticas de la U. de Guanajuato.

For more information about El Cruce de Caminos please contact: Don Patterson or María Guadalupe Deanda Carreón at (415) 152-2604, pmexc@pmexc.com