The Dallas Morning News

ARANDAS, Mexico – Some men will do anything for love – even build a highway to the object of their ardor.

Consider Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, one of Mexico’s most powerful and conservative senators from the state of Queretaro and a past presidential candidate. Locals here credit the senator, said to be smitten with a much younger former beauty queen from the area, with pushing for the completion of a highway that has been dubbed “la carretera del amor,” or “the highway of love.”

For more than 20 years, business leaders, led by tequila producers and immigrants from Texas and other parts of the United States, had lobbied state authorities to expand a two-lane road to a four-lane highway. They said it was necessary to reduce deadly traffic accidents and travel time between this region rich in agave – the plant from which tequila is made – and Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city.

Their pleas apparently fell on deaf ears.

Then love came knocking, and the highway became a reality. Most of the work has been done, and the highway is scheduled for completion in June.

In a nation of 105 million, where needed infrastructure projects often are hampered by cronyism, corruption and poor tax collection, locals think they’ve unlocked the secret to getting things done in Mexico: “Love,” explained Leopoldo Vivanco, director of public works projects in Arandas, “works miracles.”

Residents say their fortunes changed when Fernandez, a 64-year-old and divorced, caught sight of Liliana Leon Maldonado, 27, an Arandas woman from a prominent family. The gray-bearded politico was enthralled, they say. The former beauty queen, also divorced, personifies the striking looks for which the women of Los Altos de Jalisco are known.

Soon after the two met, residents say, the love-struck senator, a lawyer known for his fire-and-brimstone oratory, was lobbying hard for the highway.

Neither Maldonado nor Fernandez, who recently made news worldwide by prematurely announcing the death of Pope John Paul II on the floor of the Mexican Senate, returned calls from The Dallas Morning News. A spokesman for Fernandez said the senator does not discuss his personal life.

According to local residents and members of his own National Action Party, or PAN, Fernandez used his considerable political clout to gain the governor’s ear. And he pushed for completion of the 26.6-mile section of highway, a $30.3 million project that connects Arandas with a toll highway near Guadalajara that links Jalisco state with some of the country’s main arteries.

Fernandez even provided, free of charge, his own machinery – 23 Caterpillars – to finish the job, residents say. A spokesman said Fernandez uses the Caterpillars as part of his extensive ranching interests.

Fernandez’s participation saved the state $10 million, said a spokeswoman for the state of Jalisco. State and city officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the money saved with Fernandez’s participation is the reason the project went through.

In Arandas, local business leaders gush over their new highway, which they say will improve the lives of the more than 111,000 people in the area. They’re proud of their road.

They like the fact that travel time to Guadalajara has been reduced by an hour and that no one can remember any recent traffic fatality. Moreover, tourism is up, as outsiders flock not just to buy bottles of premium tequila, but also to experience firsthand the highway of love.

“This road is a pleasure to drive on,” said Bernardo Benitez, 41, of Guadalajara, who recently traveled the road with his 12-year-old son, Luis Manuel. “I get goose bumps just thinking about the love that went into this work.”

“This is definitely good for business,” said Sergio Vivanco, who with his family owns Vivanco Distillery, which sits just off the highway. “And we’re all very grateful to the senator and especially to Liliana. She’s the secret: a beautiful, intelligent woman who was able to move mountains and build a highway.”

Outside of Arandas, the project has fed cynicism over the way government works.

In nearby San Miguel El Alto, Sandra Ruiz, 18, a clothing saleswoman, offered to date any senator who would build a new highway in her town – “if that’s what it takes to get these fat politicians to do some work – though I’m no beauty queen,” she said.

Joaquin Olvera, 52, a rancher, said, “I’ll throw in a couple of horses, a cow, a donkey and even talk to my beautiful niece if these bums can add more jobs here. Because falling in love with Mexico isn’t enough anymore.”

At the inauguration of the highway in February, Arandas Mayor Jose Luis Magana said, “Some wonder whether it was love, or the agave. We don’t care. What matters is that this region of Los Altos, decades later, now has a vital highway to connect our communities.”

Fernandez, known as “El Jefe Diego” for his boss-man political style, inaugurated the highway like a poet, riding on horseback as the town’s local band followed in lockstep, music blaring.

The senator pledged to lend his machinery to build roads to connect other nearby communities with neighboring Zacatecas state.

Here’s how he ended his remarks:

“… As the poet said: It’s so odd for me to beg fate for love, being already lovesick for the queen and the flowers that line this path.”

The crowd broke into wild applause.

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