Candidate Plays Up His Border Ties : Mexico: Colosio’s ritual visit to hometown 50 miles from Arizona takes on special meaning. Analysts say he brings perspective to NAFTA problems.

MEXICO CITY — The ruling party’s candidate for president, Luis Donaldo Colosio, who calls himself “a man of the border,” traveled Tuesday to his hometown in northern Sonora state, 50 miles south of Nogales, Ariz.

The visit is part of a structured ritual that presidential hopefuls here observe in the week between their informal nomination and the political convention that officially designates them as candidates of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In Colosio’s case, the social call home takes on special resonance: The trip underscores the rural, northern border origins of the man who is likely to implement the Mexican side of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The accord, which takes effect Jan. 1, 1994, is expected to herald even closer relations between the United States and Mexico--two nations now enjoying their warmest relationship in decades.

As candidate for the PRI, Colosio is the automatic front-runner in next August’s elections, representing a party that has not lost a presidential race in six decades. His formal nomination is scheduled for Dec. 8, kicking off the official PRI presidential campaign.

If elected, Colosio would be the first president born and raised in northern Mexico since the Mexican Revolution, a bloody, decades-long struggle that began in 1910 and was led largely by northern generals.

Colosio could bring the singular perspective of the border to the presidency at a time when U.S.-Mexico relations are becoming more profound due to intensified concerns about immigration, drug-trafficking, the environment and the booming trade that NAFTA represents.

Communities along the 2,000-mile boundary separating the two countries are expected to be the first affected--both economically and environmentally--when NAFTA takes effect. As someone born and raised in such a community--Magdalena de Kino, Sonora--Colosio might be able to avoid the misunderstandings that have sometimes complicated dealings between the two countries.

“Having a northerner as president could greatly benefit U.S.-Mexico relations,” said Sylvia Pinal Calvillo, director of the Mexico-United States-Canada program at the Center for Strategic Studies at the Monterrey Technical Institute.

“People in the north understand the United States better; they are more accepting of U.S. customs,” she added. “You see the difference in something as simple as driving habits.”

The suspicion of U.S. ways that is prevalent elsewhere in Mexico is less marked in the north, where residents have long mingled with their northern neighbors.

“People from the border have a pragmatic view of U.S.-Mexico relations, as opposed to stereotypes,” said Jorge Bustamante, director of the Northern Border Studies Center, a think tank based in Tijuana. “What breaks down stereotypes is day-to-day contact.”

In his speech accepting the nomination, Colosio hinted that the bilateral relationship will be influenced by his background.

“I am a man of the border,” he said. “There, cultures contrast and the richness of our values are deeply regarded.”

His nomination is seen as a plus for an area that historically has been neglected, except as a cause for irritation between neighboring countries.

“He knows the problems of the north, and that is a factor that could be favorable for the border,” said Patricia Fernandez, a researcher at the Northern Border Studies Center’s Nuevo Laredo campus.

Those problems include massive migration from poorer regions of the country, as people are drawn to the explosion of industrial development along the border.

In addition, during his tenure as social development secretary, Colosio has been in charge of addressing the nation’s environmental problems, including those along the border.

“A lot of us are very excited that we have someone who knows the . . . environmental concerns of the border area,” said Elsa Saxod, director of the San Diego-based U.S.-Mexico Border Progress Foundation, which promotes environmental improvement in the region.

Analysts in the center of the country cautioned against placing too much emphasis on Colosio’s origins in trying to predict their effect on bilateral relations.

“Two of Mexico’s most distinguished presidents, (Alvaro) Obregon and (Plutarco Elias) Calles, were northerners,” said Jorge Castaneda, a political science professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in the capital, referring to revolutionary generals.

“It is difficult to find a trace of a different attitude toward the United States in their policies,” he said. “Colosio has become with time a typical Mexico City politician, and that has more influence than where he was born.”

But Pinal Calvillo disagreed: “Colosio lived his formative years 50 miles from the border. His family is still there.”

Northerners are intensely interested in the more fluid commerce between the United States and their country that NAFTA is expected to bring. Even people in the northern industrial city of Monterrey, 150 miles from the border, are used to buying U.S. products and travel across the border frequently, she said.

“I am from Mexico City,” she added, “and I did not fully appreciate the difference until I moved to Monterrey.”