The DeConcini port of entry in downtown Nogales closed for much of Sunday afternoon after demonstrations in Mexico turned violent and police fired numerous gunshots in the air.
Mexican police reported that two officers were injured as some demonstrators threw rocks on the fifth day of protests against gasoline-price increases in Mexico. Police responded to the rock-throwing by firing shots in the air just south of the port of entry, El Diario de Sonora reported. Thatโs when American officials closed the port of entry.
Nogales is one of many cities around Mexico where protesters have blocked traffic in protest against the so-called โgasolinazo,โ a price increase resulting from federal government price controls on gasoline. The San Ysidro port of entry was closed to southbound traffic for hours Saturday and Sunday.
Demonstrators have blocked both ports of entries at times in Nogales, and for days they blocked the train tracks that run through the downtown crossing until police took the area back in an action earlier Sunday morning.
Customs and Border Protection allowed northbound traffic to resume in downtown Nogales about 6 p.m. Sunday. Southbound traffic into Mexico remained closed downtown, but the Mariposa port of entry on the west side of Nogales remained open all day.
