New Sonoran governor promises to expand the state security forces and tackle corruption

The Mexican state of Sonora, Arizona's neighbor, has a new governor.

Alfonso Durazo Montaño was sworn in Monday and held his first news conference Tuesday.

In his inaugural speech, Durazo heavily criticized the performance of past administrations and promised change for the state. He is the second governor breaking the conservative Institutional Revolutionary Party's 92-year run in charge of the state.

“We received a state ravaged by bad administrations; better times are coming and we are not going to let you down," Durazo said. 

Among his campaign priorities, he committed to eradicating extreme poverty in the state by 2024 by expanding welfare programs; doubling the state police within the first year in office; investing in education and affordable housing; expanding and modernizing land and maritime ports, and reactivating local economies.

Durazo emphasized that his administration will be run under principles of austerity to reduce the state's debt.

A second attempt to address cartel violence

His political career started at 19 years of age and he was a founding member of Morena, the leftist political party of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with which he ran under for governor. The fairly new presidential party also won 22 municipalities in this year's elections, closely followed by a coalition of Mexico's three largest parties.

"Durazo has had great political ability to convince other parties they should adopt him," historian Dr. Jose Antonio Crespo said this week in an interview with Mexican media.

"He is a politician that has seized his chances like many do."

Durazo left his position as Security secretary for the current presidential administration to run for governor of Sonora. Critics say his results as Mexico's security secretary were deficient and raise questions about how he will perform as leader of one of the country's most violent states. April set a record as the most violent month in over two decades, with 195 reported murders. 

The new governor will meet Friday with mayors throughout the state to present his security strategy, which he intends to run under the "single command" policies pushed forward by the Mexican president. 

Durazo talked about the possibility of installing permanent military bases in the border municipalities of Caborca and Puerto Peñasco and increasing state police four-fold by the end of his mandate while increasing wages.

At the border: ports of entry expansion and solar energy project 

Durazo toured the Arizona-Sonora border region during the first week of September and announced plans to renovate ports of entry and strengthen business relations with Arizona. 

In addition to renovations to the San Luis Rio Colorado port of entry, he announced plans to enlarge the Sonoyta port of entry to make it easier for U.S. tourists who travel to Puerto Peñasco, a holiday destination also known to Arizonans as Rocky Point.

The new governor also envisions the transformation of Agua Prieta to become a complimentary port of entry to Nogales to speed the processing and inspection of commercial cargo and shorten transit delays, which sometimes are as long as 48 hours. 

Nogales is the largest port of entry for fresh produce imports along the U.S.-Mexico border. In May it saw the highest volume of fresh produce imports in the U.S. ever recorded, valued at $1.5 billion for the second quarter of 2021.

Durazo also is set to lead the construction of a $1,685 million dollars solar energy plant in Puerto Peñasco by 2023, a signature project of López Obrador. If the project comes to fruition, it would be the eighth-largest solar plant in the world.

Have news tips or story ideas about the Arizona-Sonora borderlands? Reach the reporter at cmigoya@arizonarepublic.com or send a direct message on Twitter to @ClaraMigoya.

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