TAMIU Partner Garza Robles Announces $100K Gift at International Mariachi Festival; Competition Winners Named

A surprise highlight of the 8^th Annual International Mariachi Festival performance this Saturday at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) was the announcement of a $100,000 gift from Eduardo and Juanita Garza.

Garza Robles was named the Embajador Internacional del Mariachi during the performance featuring the internationally renowned Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán at TAMIU’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.

The performance, “Cultura y Tradición,” capped off the two-day Festival held April 18 – 19 that was attended by over 360 middle and high school mariachi students and over 20 directors from across the state. 

Garza Robles is a longtime supporter of the University’s Mariachi Program and he and his Juanita have created four endowed scholarships at TAMIU and are Silver Society donors.

The $100,000 gift will support students focusing on international trade in the A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business. 

The competition’s winners were also announced.  They were:

TAMIU 1^st Vocal Competition:  Grand Champion, Cristaly Leal from Zapata Middle School, Oscar Martínez, director;  1^st Runner Up – Leylanie Rodríguez of La Grulla High School, Alfonso Rodríguez and Diana Salinas, Directors.

In the United Independent School District’s “Culturas Unidas Mariachi Competition, the Grand Champion was the Mariachi Grulla de Plata from La Grulla High School, Alfonso Rodríguez and Diana Salinas, directors.

Interim department chair of TAMIU’s Fine and Performing Arts, Dr. Colin Campbell, said this year’s International Mariachi Festival was a source of great pride...and firsts.

“The Festival is one of TAMIU’s signature events and we have great pride in presenting it annually. “Our highly competent team organized the festival and its success this year was especially reliant on the expertise and advice of TAMIU Mariachi International Director, Carlos Castañeda’s invaluable contributions. This was the first time the department hosted the Festival and we were able to offer two workshop levels: advanced and masters.  They were led by Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán and assisted by members of TAMIU’s own Mariachi Internacional.  Participants also enjoyed special jam sessions and we saw record attendance at our concluding performance.  As an added treasure, all the schools have received their own copy of the bilingual  Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán history book, autographed by all members of the Mariachi,” Dr. Campbell noted.

“We were especially honored to be able to award our ‘Embajador Internacional del Mariachi’ Award to Eduardo A. Garza Robles, who has been such a generous and kind partner to our program and TAMIU,” he concluded. 

A Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, México native, Garza Robles is a customs broker and visionary businessman.

A graduate of the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Garza Robles entered the foreign trade sector as a Mexican customs broker. He founded the Uni-Trade Group, a leading company in customs brokerage and cargo logistics with a dual presence in both México and the United States.

His business efforts have led him to create companies in various sectors like asset protection, construction, graphic design, hydrocarbons, and real estate, among others. He currently employs approximately 700 employees.

In 2017, Garza Robles led the official announcement of the elimination of the toll on Highway 255 that connects Colombia, Nuevo León with IH-35 in the U.S., made possible through the coordination of an agreement of understanding between the City of Laredo and the State of Jalisco.

He serves in various chairmanship capacities, including First Representative of the American Chamber Mexico Monterrey, President of the Association of Logistics and Forwarding Agents, and Vice President of the Asociación de Agentes Aduanales de Nuevo Laredo A.C.  He holds membership in both the Advisory Council on API Tamaulipas Plan de Detonación, Puerto del Norte, as well as the Consejo Estatal para el desarollo económico y la competitividad de Tamaulipas, among others.

Garza Robles has received the Laredo Icon Award for his outstanding contributions to binational projects and has also been named to the Latin American International Sports Hall of Fame. He has been recognized by various entities, including Universidad Tecmilenio, the Government of Nuevo Laredo, the Laredo Economic Development Corporation, the City of Laredo, the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Direccion de Empresa, and more.

His kind and substantial philanthropic efforts have supported educational initiatives at TAMIU,  Laredo College, Bethany House of Laredo, LULAC Council No. 12, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Special Olympics, and many more.

A longtime partner of the University and past visiting Artists in Residence, Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán was founded in 1965 by brothers Fernando Martínez Barajas and Pepe Martínez Barajas. It has toured extensively through Europe, Latin America, and the United States.  

For more Festival information, contact the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts at 956.326.2654 or email mariachi@tamiu.edu. 

For more about giving opportunities at TAMIU, contact Rosanne Palacios, vice president for Institutional Advancement,  at Rosanne.palacios@tamiu.edu, or call 956.326.2178.

Registration for Maymester, Summer, and Fall 2024 at TAMIU is now underway. To learn more about TAMIU’s Registration processes, visit the dedicated Registration Hub at https://go.tamiu.edu/registration. 

University news and information can also be found online at tamiu.edu and on TAMIU’s social channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter/X , and YouTube.