Residents cautious as violence takes hold
By Ramon Bracamontes / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/01/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


Related
Juarez Violence
Jun 1:
Tracks of destructive turf war scar JuárezMay 31:
Timeline: A look at violent incidents throughout the area in '08New threat aimed at Juárez policeKillings hurt businesses, fuel anxiety in JuárezNew death list hung at police headquartersMay 30:
18 slayings push death toll in Juárez past 400Richardson urges U.S. on aid package for MexicoJUAREZ -- On the surface, Juárez today looks and feels like Juárez of yesterday -- every intersection has a traffic jam, every stop light has a cigarette vendor and every neighborhood taco stand is standing-room only.
But, amid the routine, Juárez has changed.

Today, even hospitals are not off-limits in the drug war that has taken hold of this city with a population approaching 2 million that has a somewhat distinctive American flavor with stores such as Office Depot, Wal-Mart, Sears, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

Several wounded men seeking medical help have been chased and finished off at hospitals in Juárez, causing frayed nerves among medical professionals. For security reasons, some of the wounded have sought help at Thomason Hospital in El Paso.

"We are seeing things that have never happened before," said Jose Guillermo Dowell Delgado, Juárez's city manager. "Shootings are occurring in the day and in different parts of town. It used to be that these type of shootings occurred in secrecy and in the middle of the night."

Since January, almost 400 people in Juárez have been killed as the drug war between feuding cartels continues. While city officials, police officials and business leaders acknowledge that the violence is targeted and involves only those in drug trafficking, no one denies that violence is something people have to live with and make the appropriate adjustments.

"We do have a problem, but it is not affecting the way



we do business and it is not stopping the city from doing its work," Dowell said. "If the problem was occurring only in Juárez, then we might be concerned."
For more than a year, feuding drug cartels have been killing opposition members along the southern border of Mexico, in Mexico City, the Gulf Coast area, Tijuana and along the Texas border.

Adding to the turmoil is the fact that Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, is trying to eradicate the cartels. The result is that while city workers clean streets and construction workers build new business offices and malls, people are changing their routine.

Juárez residents and University of Texas at El Paso students Ruby Aguilar, 21, and Gisela Aguilar, 22, travel between El Paso and Juárez several times a day as part of their normal routine.

"During the day, nothing is changed, no one is worried and Juárez is the same," Ruby Aguilar said. "But, at night you see a difference. People don't go out, my parents don't want us to go out, and I don't want to go out. It is not worth it."

While Gisela Aguilar said she has not seen any of the violence that is talked about and reported on, she, too, takes precautions at night.

"It is just easier to stay at home at night," she said. "What has changed is that people from El Paso are not coming over anymore."

A review of pedestrian and vehicle traffic numbers at the international bridges in El Paso show that traffic is down. During Memorial Day weekend, 37,908 pedestrians crossed the bridges in El Paso and 34,811 vehicles crossed, according to city records.

Those numbers reflect a decrease from the 2007 Memorial Day weekend when 48,293 pedestrians and 40,904 vehicles crossed.

It is the decrease in crossings that concerns city officials. Dowell said the decrease is being caused by rumors ande-mails that warn of more of rampant shootings and are circulated before the city can counter.

"We asked the federal government to come help us with the problem," Dowell said. "Our police force is not geared or prepared to fight the cartels. We will get through this."

Among the El Pasoans who choose not to travel into Mexico are theater producer and director Hector Serrano. Serrano runs Eden Enterprises, a theater performance organization.

Serrano said he and nine others, including three child performers, were scheduled to perform in Chihuahua this weekend at Mexico's National Children's Theater conference.

On the day before the group was to leave by car to Chihuahua, the parents decided not to risk it because of the violence.

"I understand perfectly why the parents wouldn't want to go," Serrano said. "It was an honor for them to be selected to go represent the United States at this conference, but these are young children."

Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6142.





http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9440815