Horacio Duarte does not rule out fighting for Edomex, but is focused on the Customs agency

Although he assured that for the moment he is focused on the integration of the new National Customs Agency of Mexico ( ANAM ), Horacio Duarte affirmed that he does not rule out seeking the candidacy to run for the State of Mexico in 2023.

The current general administrator of Customs of the Tax Administration Service ( SAT ) added that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will have the last word on whether he remains in charge of customs, although at the moment he does not see signs that he could remove him, as he has the task of agency creation and start-up.

However, although he said that for the moment he is not distracted by other issues, he considered it registered to say that he does not aspire to succeed Governor Alfredo del Mazo in the electoral process that will begin in October next year.

“I believe that to all of us who are dedicated to political activity it would be hypocritical to say no, we will always have the intention (to be) in front of the executive (powers) of our states,” said Duarte in an interview for Milenio Televisión.

However, he assured that it will be within a year and a half when he makes the decision whether to seek to run or continue to lead the newly created agency.

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On the other hand, regarding the integration of ANAM, Duarte stressed that it will integrate SAT workers, the Secretariat of National Defense ( Sedena ) and the Secretariat of the Armed Navy of Mexico ( Semar ) who currently work in customs.

He added that one of the main functions of this will be to strengthen the fight against corruption in customs, as well as tax collection, as he assured that even before his arrival there was an evasion of up to 200 billion pesos.

In this sense, he stressed that inside customs he found very strong interests that border on complicity with organized crime, which is why he considered the continuity in the participation of Sedena and Semar to be important.

While, regarding the need to create an agency, he stressed that, while in Mexico customs were under the control of the SAT of the Ministry of Finance, in other countries they are part of other branches, since it is about national security, hence that the new body will be made up of officials from the three agencies.