Thread: UTEP, NMSU students urged avoid Juárez

UTEP, NMSU students urged avoid Juárez
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 08/21/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



More: UTEP Juarez travel advisory
EL PASO -- UTEP and NMSU have issued warnings about visiting Juárez as the death toll continues to rise at an alarming rate in the city whose nightlife had a reputation for luring college-age partyers.

The travel warnings come as government officials and residents are asking the Mexican federal government to do more to stop a wave of killings across the state of Chihuahua believed to be linked to a raging drug cartel war.

More than 850 homicides have occurred in Juárez so far this year, including four killed in a shootout Wednesday afternoon and four men killed execution-style late Tuesday when they were handcuffed to each other, lined up and shot.

"We've always cautioned students during orientation," said NMSU Police Chief Jaime Chavez, who last week sent out a campus e-mail warning students of the danger of visiting Juárez. "But in the past it was the dangers involved in the actual driving to and from, street-level crimes and also the dangers of (sedative) Rohypnol. This is just another level because of the absolute violence."

NMSU students and other young adults have traditionally visited Juárez on Thursday nights for "drink and drown" and other specials at bars and dance clubs.

Classes begin Thursday at New Mexico State University and Monday at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Last month, UTEP

President Diana Natalicio sent an e-mail to faculty and staff asking that they check with the school's Office of International Programs or the Office of Legal Affairs before making any university-related trips into Mexico.
"We must also recognize that current conditions in Mexico, and particularly in Ciudad Juárez, require us to take special precautions to ensure the safety and well being of UTEP students, faculty and staff members who participate in UTEP programs and activities in Mexico," Natalicio stated in the e-mail.

Juárez officials and Chihuahua Gov. José Reyes Baeza criticized Joint Operation Chihuahua, which sent thousands of soldiers and federal police officers to the state, with not doing enough to stop the crime wave after massacres last week at a Juárez drug rehab center and at a race in the town of Creel.

A major problem has been corruption in police agencies that authorities have been trying to clean up. The latest tactic, launched Wednesday, aims to recruit Mexican soldiers to join the Juárez police force.

Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz told Channel 26-KINT (cable Channel 2) that if something isn't done, the death toll could top 2,000 before the year ends. The violence is increasingly being felt beyond police and drug traffickers.

The death of Mexican motocross champion Rene Tercero Reyes Aguirre, 24, who was fatally shot Monday in a house in Juárez with two other racers, sent shock waves through motorsport circles.

Reyes, who was sponsored by Edge Motorsports Ka wasaki in El Paso, was five-time Mexico national supercross champion and also raced in the United States. Reyes, who took part Sunday in a race in Samalayuca, was part of a motocross racing family in Chihuahua City.

"He was a super-competitive guy. He loved to do his best," said Jorge Almanza, 28, a fellow racer, friend and employee at Edge Motorsports. "I still can't believe it. We are really surprised. It sucks, all this that is happening."

The Mexican Federation of Motorcycling condemned the violence that claimed the lives of Reyes and racers Jose Refugio Ontiveros Arsaga, 24, and Fernando Mora Sanchez, 32.

"It's indignant what is occurring. Crime has now touched sports," federation president Victor Hugo Vieyra told the Mexico sports confederation.

"We want to tell the president that we feel the war against crime is being lost. It is taking the lives of families, communities, the religious and now those in sports," Vieyra said. "Crime is planting terror at all social levels."


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

Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Ashley Meeks contributed to this report.


http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_10259779

ABSOLUTE VIOLENCE ABSOLUTELY!
JUAREZ STINKS ANYWAY!