Nogales, Sonora

Mural on the Nogales, Sonora side of the US-Mexico border. It depicts the harsh realities of undocumented travel through the Sonoran desert. The wall itself, at this location, is constructed of Korean War-era tin sheets used as makeshift airplane landing strips.

Picture of the border between Arizona, on the left, and Sonora, on the right.

Heroica Nogales, more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and its surrounding municipality on the northern border of the Mexican State of Sonora. The municipality covers an area of 1,675 km², and borders to the north the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States, across the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2000, the census reported that Nogales had a population of 159,103 people, representing approximately 50% growth from 1990. According to some sources, the real population was then about 290,000^{citation needed}. By the 2005 census the official population of the city was 189,759, and that of the municipality was 193,517. The city and the municipality both rank third in the state in population, after Hermosillo and Ciudad Obregón. The municipality includes many outlying but small rural communities. Nogales is served by Nogales International Airport.

The population growth is in part due to the influx of industry that has come since the opening of the maquiladora industry through the National Industrialization Program, decades before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Manufacturing now accounts for 55% of the city's gross domestic product, and services are growing as well.

Nogales officially became a municipality on July 11, 1884, date of the publication of Law No. 29, which had been signed the previous day by the then Governor of Sonora, Luis Emeterio Torres. Nogales was declared a city on January 1, 1920.

Nogales is known for its recent enormous population growth which covers the hills along the central narrow valley that extends from South to North. Dispersed among the houses, the visitor will find a mixture of factories, stores, etc. However, recently, the southern half of the city has experienced a modern urbanization development which includes shopping malls, wide avenues, and modern housing conglomerations.

Economy

Tourism

Due to its location, Nogales is one of the most important ports of entry for American tourism. The down area the tourist first encounters consists of bars, hotels, restaurants, and a large amount of curios stores. Curios stores sell a large amount of artesanias (handicrafts, leather art, hand-made flowers, clothes) brought from the deeper central and southern states of Mexico. Local dishes commonly available in restaurants include all kind of antojitos (Mexican food) such as enchiladas, tacos, burritos with carne machaca (dried meat), menudo and tamales.¹

Medical and dental care for U.S. citizens

Because of its proximity to Tucson, AZ, Nogales has become one of the largest providers of health care in Mexico for US patients. The medical and dental community has succeeded in providing care that is comparable to the USA in professionalism, equipment, and competency at a price that is 40% to 60% cheaper than in the USA.

The Nogales Doctors and Dentists Directory [1] lists over 200 providers, many proudly show their credentials, experience, and photos of their offices, equipment, and staff. The free directory is handy in that it shows contact information that allows patients to communicate with the doctors about their specific care and pricing before committing to an appointment.

Municipal government

Nogales has been governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party for its entire history until the 2006 elections when power shifted to the National Action Party. After more than 10 decades of being in power PRI lost office against PAN when long time successful business man and recognized altruist Marco Antonio Martinez Dabdoub ran for presidency of this municipality. With a victory of about 30,000 votes over his PRI opponent, Martinez had now marked history for PAN and Nogales. Currently, Martinez's government has been ranked one of the top three in the nation by Mexican president Felipe Calderon along with Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and Guadalajara Jalisco (all of them members of Calderon's party). The city's web page shows that in his first term as mayor, Martinez was able to receive a larger budget for the city than the previous administration all together. Current efforts are now posted at http://www.nogalessonora.gob.mx. Although Nogales suffers from great scarcity from its previous administrations, its new government has now shown vast improvement and wise decisions for the future of its infrastructure and its economic growth.

Production and export

Approximately 92 establishments are dedicated to the production of various products for foreign export. Sixty five of these establishments are located in seven industrial parks. These plants employ approximately 25,400 workers, around the 50 percent of the total employed population of the municipality.¹

Other

The primary commercial artery is Mexico Federal Highway 15 which links the state with the U.S. as well as major cities in Mexico. Also important to the economy is Livestock for both foreign export and cattle breeding.

Escobarista’s rebellion

On March 1929, Escobarista’s rebellion exploded, sponsored by an old Obregonistas. At the beginning of the month, General Manuel Aguirre, commanding the 64th regiment, got the power without firing a shot. In revenge the federal powers from Naco sent an airplane to attack the rebels and with that action create the revolution dropping a few bombs over Nogales without any damage. The people who empowered the town answered with some machine guns from the roofs, without any damage to the airplanes. There was only one casualty caused by a heart attack, scared by the bomb explosion. That same month, a hooded man appeared at night driving a tank on the Morley street of the neighbour population, entering Mexico in the exit of the border. The next day this man began helping the federals in Naco. It seems that the tank was bought in 1927 for fighting the Yanquis, but the officials of the USA border prohibited its exit of United States, and it was kept in a warehouse in Nogales Arizona.²

Famous people from Nogales

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