JUAREZ, Mexico – Cruz Perez Cuellar has been a fixture at events in El Paso, Texas, promoting the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
The mayor of Juarez often emphasized the strong business ties, unity in facing common problems and, above all, the friendship and family ties between the two cities on opposite sides of the Rio Grande.
Now the former Mexican congressman and senator wants to take the reins of an entire state bordering Texas and New Mexico that is best known for its strong manufacturing base catering to America’s auto, electronics and medical industry.
Perez Cuellar this week notified the Juarez city council he is taking an indefinite leave of absence. The council on Wednesday swore in former city secretary Hector Rafael Ortiz Orpinel as interim mayor.
“I leave in peace because I know we have a strong work team and extraordinary leaders,” Perez Cuellar told the council on Wednesday. “When the years pass and I look back on this stage of my life, I will be able to say I put forth my best effort, all my energy and all my heart to help Juarez move forward.”
The mayor’s path to the Chihuahua governor’s office is not a sure thing. Perez Cuellar’s Morena Party has never won a state where the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) have had a grip on power for decades. And the Juarez mayor is not even a solid favorite to win the Morena nomination.
Depending on the poll, Mexican Sen. Andrea Chavez Trevino either leads Perez Cuellar by double digits or trails him not by much. But the polls give Morena a substantial lead right now over any PAN candidate.
Morena will chose six “precandidates” through a lengthy polling process that starts next week. Internal campaigning will follow until the party names a winner, according to El Finaciero.
In his farewell speech to his council, Perez Cuellar said Juarez still has many shortcomings and is not receiving sufficient funding from other government spheres. He vowed to keep working to change that.
He also mentioned a substantial drop in violent crimes in a city that became a battleground for two Mexican drug cartels in the late 2000s and early 2010s and again from 2019 to 2024.
The city and the state are now positioned to reap new benefits from an ongoing review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. And its next leader will have an opportunity to capitalize on the downward trend in crime to bring in more investment and tourism.
Chihuahua residents will elect their next governor in June 2027.
