Roberts, in Mexico, Scouts Politics of Border Airport

San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts flew south late last week, carrying a proposal for a binational airport between San Diego and Tijuana to Mexican officialdom.

When he returns today, he will be armed with the knowledge that the road to building a border airport to replace increasingly cramped Lindbergh Field must start in Washington.

The proposal received a cautious reception from Mexican officials who, Roberts said, would make no commitment to the plan until it was formally presented to their government through proper channels.

“Where there’s an interest, there’s also a hesitancy because it’s such a complicated issue,” said Roberts after his two days of meetings with mid- and cabinet-level Mexican authorities. “The process has to be agreed upon by the federal governments first, before anyone will make a commitment.”

Meetings With Officials

During his visit, Roberts met with officials ranging from the secretaries of tourism and communications to the Mexican director of airports, the head of the civil aviation board, U. S. Embassy officers and businessmen.

“The technical problems can be solved; it’s physically feasible,” Roberts said. “The question now is a political issue.”

The reaction to the proposal was mixed, Roberts said. One of the most positive responses to the international airport project came during a meeting with Secretary of Tourism Carlos Hank Gonzalez. The meeting was “very cordial,” according to a spokesman for the secretary. “Mr. Hank Gonzalez looked very favorably on Roberts’ proposal,” he said.

The reaction from the secretary of communications was more acerbic. “The meeting was very brief,” said Gustavo Patino Guerrero, undersecretary of operations for the secretary, who met with Roberts. “I don’t know what the project is really about. It will have to be discussed with the secretary.”

During a visit to Tijuana three weeks ago, Secretary of Communications Andres Lombardo Caso had said of the project: “It is not possible to accept such a proposal because it violates our sovereignty.”

Big Stumbling Block

The issue of national sovereignty is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the proposal, and was a central point in discussion with Mexican authorities, Roberts said. “Because of the whole sovereignty issue, there is a real hesitancy to step out in front too far,” he said. “There were one or two people who were almost afraid to talk . . . because they didn’t know if somebody above them thought this was a good idea or a bad idea.”

Roberts came to town with a letter of introduction and support from Sen. Pete Wilson, which said: “I am very excited about the possibility of such an airport.”

The first-term councilman, whose district includes the airport area, spent a lot of his time explaining his idea and making sure it wasn’t confused with another--Councilman Bruce Henderson’s proposal for simply enlarging the Tijuana airport. Few details were discussed, and the proposal Roberts brought with him was a very tentative plan.

The next step will be moving the project to higher political circles. Roberts plans to go to Washington in March to take his proposal to the State Department. “There has to be a feeling that the process is supported by our government. . . . What we need to do is get a formal proposal through to the State Department,” he said.

“Before things go much further,” Roberts said, San Diego has to decide whether it is “serious about the proposal.”

“What I was trying to do was lay the groundwork and find out if this would be physically and politically possible if we decide to go ahead,” he said.

Roberts also discussed drug-trafficking problems and the controversial Otay Mesa ditch project during the meetings.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry on Monday formally demanded that the plan for the 4-mile-long ditch along the U.S.-Mexican border between San Diego and Tijuana be canceled.