Fears intensify as border violence escalates
UTPA students struggle to reconcile safety with families
By Denisse Salinas


Published: Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Updated: Thursday, August 5, 2010

Don’t talk out loud about organized crime, don’t leave the house after dark, don’t run if you’re in the middle of a shooting and don’t honk at someone if they’re stopped on the middle of the road. In border cities like Reynosa and even in the interior, these are some of pieces of advice people give each other to stay secure in places that once seemed so tranquil.
Organized violence has hit Mexico so hard in the past three years that many Mexican citizens living in the United States are scared to go south, because even on the highways one stands a decent chance of getting a car stolen or worse, face a violent situation. More than 28,000 people have been killed in the drug cartel wars since 2006, and while most of the violence involves the principles in the conflict, innocent citizens have been increasingly affected.
“Before, and I say before which for me is last year, I would go to Monterrey twice a month in a car, now, it is impossible,â€