Juárez slayings set record as cartels' drug war drags on
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 07/06/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

Deaths fueled in part by the drug cartel war in the Juárez area are approaching 600, and at least one expert says the violence is not likely to end soon.

As the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels battle amid a crackdown by federal forces, more than 560 homicides have occurred so far this year. The total number of homicides for all of 2007 was 304.

"There are at least two reasons why it might get worse," said Tony Payan, a Mexico expert and political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who is closely watching developments.

"One, there seems to be an impasse between the cartels. Neither seems to be winning out," Payan said. "Right now, it seems to be pretty much a tie."

Secondly, Payan said, the Mexican federal government does not appear to be willing to negotiate with the cartels as it is rumored to have done in the past. "The government seems determined to finish them off."

The staggering toll is believed to be the highest in Juárez history. By comparison, in all of 1997, 250 people were slain. Some of those deaths occurred after the July 4 death of reputed drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes caused a power struggle within his cartel.

Nuevo Laredo, population about 350,000, has had about 500 murders since 2003 because of a cartel turf war, according to report by the

Congressional Research Service on Mexico's drug cartels.
"Chihuahua (state) continues to see the most pronounced levels of violence this year despite the deployment of troops and federal police," stated a monthly news report for June by the Justice in Mexico Project of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego.

The project, which studies criminal justice issues in Mexico, reported that the more than 500 "cartel-related deaths" in Chihuahua this year are more than three times the 2007 total.

The bloody attrition among smugglers, drug pushers and their associates, plus raids and multiton marijuana seizures by the military, is apparently crimping traffickers' cash flow.

Earlier this year, a Drug Enforcement Administration official in El Paso predicted that drug traffickers would start hurting financially as authorities began to pinch them.

In response, narcos have apparently found other ways to raise war money, including robbing banks and extorting and holding for ransom business owners, Juárez city officials said.

The kidnappings recently gained international attention with the kidnapping and subsequent release of a Juárez auto glass business owner related to the wife of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

The wave of kidnappings was foreshadowed in early June when La Linea, as the Juárez drug cartel is also known, supposedly posted a message on the popular video-sharing site YouTube.com. The message demanded that prominent Juárez families and entrepreneurs pay a "quota" for protection.

A similar "war tax" was levied by drug traffickers on businesses in Nuevo Laredo during the turf war there.

Last month, several Juárez restaurants, nightclubs and other businesses were torched, and a group of about 300 owners of junk yards, mechanic shops, used-car lots and other auto-related businesses closed because of kidnappings and robberies.

Whether the businesses were linked financially or through other ties to drug traffickers, or were merely innocent victims of blackmail is debatable.

"If you are in doing an illegal business in Juárez, the cartels want you to pay them for protection or derecho de pizo, that is the right to use the plaza, as they call it, to do business," Payan said at recent El Paso Press Club event, describing the trend as "dangerous."

The violence has caused some Juarenses, mostly the wealthy who can afford it, to seek refuge in El Paso, but it is difficult to know how many families have crossed the border. Payan estimated the number to be fewer than 10,000.

"We are certainly seeing an increase of people coming over (from Juárez). People renting, buying and moving. In some cases, they appear to be moving businesses over here," said Dan Olivas, president of the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors.

"The thing we are hearing about more is the fear of the kidnappings than of being caught in the crossfire of the cartels," Olivas said.

Payan said that in some respects, Juárez residents are getting used to the daily death toll apparently targeting those involved in the drug business. Payan maintains the city is safe to visit, though tourists are advised to be cautious and go during the day.

"Something's got to give," Payan said. "One of the cartels will be weakened the government will lick it up."

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


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