Agua Prieta, Mexico

Agua Prieta ("dark water") is a town in the Agua Prieta Municipality in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Sonora. It stands on the Mexico–U.S. border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona. The municipality covers an area of 3,631.65 km² (1,402.2 sq mi). In the 2010 census, the town had a population of 79,138 people, making it the seventh-largest community in the state, with a literacy rate of 96.3%.

The city's most important economic activities, in descending order, are industry, commerce and farming. 89% of the homes in the city have electricity, 94% have running water, and 86% are connected to the sewer system. The city is the location of the CFE Agua Prieta power plant. It is connected to the United States by the Douglas, Arizona Port of Entry, and is linked to the rest of Mexico by Federal Highways 2 and 17.

The town's name in Spanish literally means 'dark water', and it is known in the Opata language as .

History

Agua Prieta city began at the end of the 19th century as railroads were built between Douglas, Arizona, and Nacozari, Sonora, to transport minerals and goods. As a result, the first settlers of the city, then just a few blocks, were those employed by the U.S. mining company Phelps Dodge Corporation, which was based in Douglas, Arizona. One can say that the town was "founded" in 1899, but it was not until a "contract" was made in 1903 between officials and private citizens, to the name Camou, that area "pertaining" to those citizens was made a Commissary of Fronteras county. Agua Prieta city did not become an "independent head of municipality", with its current name and location, until August 28, 1916. Rodolfo L. Márquez was the new municipality's first president. It rose to the status of ''villa'' (town) on May 8, 1933, and it was "officially" placed in its current category of city relatively recently, on November 6, 1942.

Geography

Climate

The climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen: ''BSk''). In a latitude over the geographic subtropics, located in a plateau and in the interior of the continent gives a cold winter but at the same time a climatic pattern often dry and with great thermal amplitude during the day. And on the other hand the summer is very hot due to the absence of cloud cover and the air dry with average in the afternoon well above 30 °C. Most of the time there is no precipitation, but a considerable amount of rain falls between July and August.

Culture

Los Apson was one of the most successful musical bands during the second half of the 60s; all original members originated from (A)gua (P)rieta, (Son)ora, hence their name. They led the phenomenon known in Mexico as the "northern invasion". Along with the British influence, Los Apson was one of the main decisive elements that brought new nuances to the Mexican musical movement.

Sports

The main sport in Agua Prieta is baseball, closely followed by soccer and basketball. Agua Prieta's professional baseball team is the Toros de Agua Prieta. In 2012, Agua Prieta had its first ever Olympian when Luis Alberto Rivera represented Mexico in the long jump at the XXX Olympic Games in London, UK.

Economy

Agua Prieta II is the first integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) power plant in Mexico – one of the first power plants of its type in the world – and it is being equipped with the SPPA-E3000 low-voltage switchgear solution from Siemens Mexico Energy. Agua Prieta II is a combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) that has been extended with a solar field and parabolic trough collectors. In this type of power plant, the steam generated by the solar field is fed into the water-steam cycle of the CCPP to increase steam turbine output and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The power plant in Mexico will have an output of approximately 465 Megawatts (MW) with a contribution from the solar field of 12 MW, it will supply electricity to northwest Mexico. The end customer is the Mexican state power provider Comisión Federal de Electricidad, which already operates two plants of the same type in Morocco and Algeria.

Agua Prieta is home to several maquiladoras, including Levolor, Commercial Vehicle Group, Joyson Safety Systems, Velcro, Standex-Meder Electronics, and Alstyle Apparel & Activewear ( Gildan).

Politics

The Plan of Agua Prieta was a political manifesto signed in the city of Agua Prieta on April 23, 1920, by the governor of Sonora, Adolfo de la Huerta, and Plutarco Elías Calles in support of Álvaro Obregón, with the principal objective of bringing an end to the presidency of Venustiano Carranza, who was forced to flee Mexico City and was killed a month later. The Plan of Agua Prieta used as its political banner the 1917 Constitution, with which Carranza had not complied. It also advocated the convening of elections, appointed Huerta as supreme commander of the Constitutionalist Army, and dictated the rules for electing a provisional president, resulting in Huerta being named president by Congress in June.

Agua Prieta played an important role in the Mexican Revolution. Plutarco Elías Calles and Lázaro Cárdenas, two future presidents of Mexico, both lived in the town during its early years. In 1914, the Hotel Central, a now-demolished hotel in the center of the city, was the seat of Carranza's constitutional government. In 1915, Pancho Villa made a night attack on Agua Prieta that was repelled by the forces of Plutarco Elías Calles, assisted by large searchlights (possibly powered by American electricity). The Plan de Agua Prieta, a manifesto which called for the rejection of the government headed by Venustiano Carranza, was signed in a curiosity shop near the international border in 1920. The army headed by Álvaro Obregón eventually deposed Carranza.

List of mayors

* 1952–1954 Don Jesus Siqueiros PRI
* 1964–1967 Antonio B. Loreto Barthelemy PRI
* 1979–1982 Luis Córdova Corrales PAN
* 1982–1985 Leonardo Yáñez Vargas PAN
* 1985–1988 Bernardino Meza Ortíz PRI
* 1988–1991 Baudelio Vildósola Teran PRI
* 1991–1994 Bernardino Ibarrola Serrano PRI
* 1994–1997 Óscar Ochoa Patrón PAN
* 1997–2000 Vicente Terán Uribe PRI
* 2000–2003 Irma Villalobos Rascón PRI
* 2003–2006 David Figueroa Ortega PAN
* 2006–2009 Antonio Cuadras PRI
* 2009–2012 Vicente Terán Uribe PSD
* 2012 (March – September) Francisco Javier Carrera Hernandez PRI
* 2012–2015 Irma Villalobos Rascón PRI
* 2015–2018 Héctor David Rubalcava Gastélum PAN
* 2018–2021 Jesús Alfonso Montaño Durazo Morena
* 2021–2024 Jesús Alfonso Montaño Durazo Morena
* 2024– José Manuel Quijada Lamadrid Morena PVEM PT PNA Sonora PES Sonora

Notable people

* Zarela Martinez, New York City-based Mexican restaurateur and cookbook author
* Los Apson, early 1960s rock band named for the town (Agua Prieta SONora)

See also

* San Bernardino, Sonora

Notes

References

External links

Gobierno Municipal de Agua Prieta
Official website

Sonora
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México.

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2010
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática]

{{Authority control

Populated places in Sonora
Mexico–United States border crossings
1899 establishments in Mexico