Email : Weekend will be 'bloodiest and deadliest'
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/23/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



Related: U.S., Mexico urged to fight cartels

As the death count in Juárez mounts, residents on both sides of the border now are wondering how seriously they should take an e-mail warning predicting that this weekend will be the "bloodiest and deadliest" in the city's history.

The e-mail, which spread on both sides of the border, caused Juárez police officials on Thursday to issue a call for residents to stay calm, and El Pasoans to cancel social plans across the border.

"We ask the community to maintain calm and exercise security measures for themselves and their family, but we ask that they do not panic," public safety secretary Roberto Orduña Cruz said in a statement.

Orduña said that the "threat" was being taken seriously but that residents should go about their regular business.

El Paso police are continuing to monitor the violence in Juárez, but don't think it will spread into El Paso, a department spokesman said.

Several versions of the e-mail were in circulation Thursday, including one with an English translation that warned residents to stay in their homes, stay out of nightclubs and avoid major streets if traveling during the day.

"There will
be shootings and executions throughout the city in what is being called 'La Limpia' (the cleansing) in response to threats by the 'Juárez drug cartel' or 'La Linea,' " the e-mail stated in Spanish.
La Linea is reputed to be a "line" of corrupt police officers protecting drug traffickers. More than a dozen police officers have been among the more than 300 homicides in Juárez this year, killings that have included brazen daytime shootings on busy boulevards.

One e-mail appeared to be at least a week old, as it referred to the "possible naming of a retired military officer" as public safety chief.

In fact, Orduña took office Monday.

West Side resident Elizabeth Wierson was forwarded the e-mail by her son. She and other parents of Loretto Academy graduates had been scheduled to take their daughters to a graduation dance in Juárez tonight, but they changed their plans because of security concerns even after spending hundreds of dollars, she said.

A separate event will take place in El Paso.

"You can't really put a price on safety," Wierson said. "We decided not to go."

The e-mails spread like a standard urban legend. Each recipient was asked to forward it to family and friends for their safety. Juárez news media also did reports on it.

"There is definitely a psychosis in Juárez," said Tony Payan, a Mexico expert at the University of Texas at El Paso.

"People are going about their business," Payan said Thursday after returning from Juárez. "There are construction workers building. People shopping. People eating at restaurants. But everybody at the same time they are talking about his e-mail and this rumor that were will be several killings in Juárez."

Payan theorized that the e-mail could have several origins, such as:


Drug lords wanting to avoid "collateral" casualties.

Police or the military hoping to empty streets for operations.

A civic, church or concerned parents group using fears about violence as a way to urge people to stay home and avoid vices.

A hoax by someone having fun at the expense of residents.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.








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