United States revokes visas of two Mexican governors

The United States government has revoked the visas of two governors from Mexico’s ruling Morena party — Sonora’s Alfonso Durazo and Tamaulipas’s Américo Villarreal — according to an exclusive report by the Los Angeles Times, based on multiple sources familiar with the cases. The same report states that both politicians have entered the country under a “special parole typically reserved for cooperating witnesses.” Durazo and Villarreal are being investigated for alleged links to organized crime, according to the newspaper. Both officials, currently in office, have not commented on the matter.

The opening of these investigations represents a new setback for the Mexican government, which has been under scrutiny since late April, when U.S. authorities charged 10 other officials from the state of Sinaloa with links to organized crime. Among them is the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya.

The accusations brought by a New York prosecutor against the other 10 Morena officials sparked strong backlash from the Mexican executive branch, which has maintained that the allegations are not backed by solid evidence. In the days following the reports, Rocha Moya requested a leave of absence to be investigated by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR), and later two of the accused surrendered to U.S. authorities.

Mexico and the United States have been locked in ongoing tensions since Donald Trump’s return to the White House at the beginning of last year. The Republican has repeatedly claimed in his speeches that the southern neighbor is controlled by cartels — a stance that has clashed with repeated denials from Sheinbaum’s administration, which has pointed to declining homicide figures and high-profile arrests in an effort to ease tensions.

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