The U.S. has invested more than $100 billion on border security over a seven-year period. (Sergio Chapa/Borderzine.com)

New economic opportunities on the U.S.-Mexico border amid the Drug War

Violence in Mexico has reached unprecedented levels, particularly since 2006 when former Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared a “war on drugs” and incorporated the military into the fight against transnational organized crime. Much of the violence, concentrated in the country’s northernmost border with the United States, has been accompanied by the widespread use of visceral, terror-inducing methods such as decapitation, dismemberment, mass kidnappings, public executions, car bombs, grenade attacks, and blockades. To date, Mexico’s drug war has “officially” claimed more than 70,000 lives, with an additional 27,000 disappearances linked to organized crime. In reality, the numbers are likely much higher, with some estimates placing the death toll at more than 100,000. At the same time, thousands of citizens have become internal refugees, displaced within Mexico or forced to move abroad.

cover A War That Cant Be Won

Mexico’s war on drugs continues on its faltering path

EL PASO – An estimated 30,000 Mexicans murdered or missing and widespread institutional corruption are just two aspects of a never-ending war on drugs that the Mexican government continues to fight. “The drug war is more than a justice issue, it is a social issue; a lot of words and not a lot of action,” said Jose Villalobos, assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso’s department of political science, speaking recently at UTEP about the Mexican drug war. Three other political science UTEP professors – Tony Payan, Kathleen Staudt, and Anthony Kruszewski collaborated with multiple scholars in the U.S. and Mexico to compile and publish A War that Can’t Be Won: Bi-national Perspectives on the War on Drugs, which looks into the history of the drug war. A War that Can’t Be Won includes contributions from scholars on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border, providing a unique perspective on the many dimensions of the crisis that has affected residents of both nations, particularly those who live and work in the borderlands. Payan said that organized crime in Mexico has many layers that include drugs and killings, but it is much more than that.

Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez said that 'corruption' was the one single word that describes what is happening in Mexico. (Luis Hernández/Borderzine.com)

Mexican journalist blames the failure of the drug-war on corrupt and inept government policies on both sides of the border

EL PASO – Five unique and experienced voices were heard at the University of Texas at El Paso this week discussing the seemingly eternal drug war and the government policies that fuel it that has plagued the U.S.-Mexico border region in recent years. The participants included UTEP professor and author Dr. Howard Campbell, former DEA agent Gilberto Gonzalez, UTEP Communication professor Andrew Kennis, Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez, and U.S. Representative Beto O’Rouke (D., El Paso). The event, called  “Drug Policy on the Border and Beyond: Dangers Facing Journalists, Obstacles Facing Policy Makers” organized by Kennis, added to the growing discussion by policy makers, law enforcement, public officials and journalists on how to end the war that has claimed thousands of lives in Mexico and led to increased anti-drug enforcement along the U.S. side of the border. Hernandez, an investigative journalist in Mexico who has done some of the best coverage of the drug war and published a book, Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and their Godfathers, in English and Spanish, drew upon her extensive research to discuss the strong connections between the drug cartels and the Mexican government. She also spoke of the importance of the drug economy to the people of Mexico.

border patrol agent

Security gains in the border region seem tenuous at best according to a study by the Woodrow Wilson Center

WASHINGTON – Concerns about global terrorism, potential threats posed by those entering the United States illegally, and fears that skyrocketing violence in Mexico might spillover into the United States have led to dramatic policy shifts and significant efforts to secure the border. Yet gains in areas such as apprehensions of undocumented migrants and reductions in violence in key cities such as Ciudad Juarez seem tenuous at best and beg for more comprehensive, creative and collaborative solutions between these two countries, according to a report released by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. The U.S. and Mexican federal governments have made large investments in staffing, infrastructure and technology and have reorganized and refocused efforts to respond to specific threats and events according to the report by Eric L. Olson and Erik Lee, entitled The State of Security in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region. 

The working paper, which explores these challenges and some potential solutions, will be published in this fall as a chapter in the forthcoming State of the Border Report, which seeks to provide a comprehensive yet accessible look at the state of affairs in border management and the border region. The study will focus on four core areas: trade and economic development, security, sustainability, and quality of life. The State of the Border Report is an initiative of the Border Research Partnership, which is comprised of the, Arizona State University’s North American Center for Transborder Studies, and el Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

The streets of Veracruz, Mexico. (©Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco)

Mexicans pay in blood for America’s war on drugs

By Molly Molloy and Charles Bowden

EL PASO – Children play in the pool, hamburgers and hot dogs sizzle on the grill. The exiles will be here shortly after their year in flight from a house full of dead people. Everyone at the party has dead people murdered in Mexico by the Mexican government with the silent consent of the U.S. government. There are 100,000 slaughtered Mexicans now. These gatherings will grow larger.

Alejandro Hernández Pachecho, a cameraman exiled from Torreón, México. (Victoria A. Perez/Borderzine.com)

Mexican kidnap victim establishes a new life in El Paso

EL PASO – Sitting on the cold hard cement the man was able to remove part of his blindfold and focusing his sight, the dim light revealed a small dirty room covered in blood. Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco, 42, had been kidnapped in Torreon, Mexico, and one of the few who survived to tell the story. He worked as a cameraman for the television station, Televisa, in Torreon. On July 26, 2010 during a regular day of work, Pacheco was sent to cover a news story about killings connected to a prison in his city. Hernandez and two fellow reporters were sent to the prison in Gomez Palacio, Durango, were several murders of guards had taken place that same month.

The lights of Ciudad Juarez can be seen from the UTEP campus. (Danya Hernandez/Borderzine.com)

El Pasoans want their sister city to remain in the family

EL PASO – With an ongoing drug war on the other side of a 10-foot high fence, El Paso’s reputation has taken some hits recently, but locals see the Sun City’s image in a brighter light. “It’s incredibly sad what’s happening across the border,” said Sonya Stokes, senior psychology student at the University of Texas at El Paso. “I think it’s terrible that El Paso’s image has been tarnished by irresponsible comments that people in power have made and the media has made.”

Over the past year, El Paso has made national headlines for a number of reasons. In November 2010, the annual Congressional Quarterly Press City Crime Rankings announced that El Paso had the lowest crime rate of cities with a population of more than 500,000. In August 2011, an El Paso Times article said that El Paso officials were taking “the first steps toward ending its ‘sister city’ relationship with Juárez.” The story said that the city was surveying local business to get their insight on El Paso’s “safe” image with the constant violence occurring in their Mexican “sister city.”  The survey wanted to know if the violence in Mexico was “hurt(ing) El Paso economically by reducing its ability to draw businesses, conventions and conferences.” According to the article, “up to 41,000 surveys were sent to the business community.”

On Sept.

La Casa del Migrante alberga sufrimiento, ofrece esperanza

TIJUANA — Pasa la media noche y una camioneta blanca ahuyenta a los perros callejeros mientras se estaciona a dejar más migrantes que llegan cansados, hambrientos y otros hasta moribundos a la Casa del Migrante en Tijuana, Baja California. “Pedro” es un migrante que vivió por 14 años en Van Nuys, CA y prefirió guardar su identidad. Al tratar de regresar a California por Tecate, Baja California, con un grupo de ocho compañeros sus planes no fueron como planeaba. “Traían pistolas, inclusive me pusieron la pistola en la cabeza, una 3-57… ellos querían que dijera que yo era (el) guía y lo tuve que decir para que no me siguieran golpeando”, afirmó. Al intentar cruzar La Rumorosa, todos fueron secuestrados por un grupo de delincuentes.

Caravan for Peace demands an end to the wave of Mexican violence

EL PASO — The beat of drums and shakers echoed off the buildings of downtown El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza Saturday as matachines danced and a few hundred persons chanted “¡Juárez, Juárez, no es cuartel! Fuera ejército de él.”

The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, led by poet and activist Javier Sicilia settled in at the plaza as the poet told a crowd of several hundred about his son’s killing and stressed once again that the drug-war murders in Mexico are non-discriminatory. If something isn’t done to stop the killings, anyone could be a victim, he said. “It’s a war that no longer distinguishes. Any Mexican can be assassinated, can be a victim of crime or repression,” Sicilia said.

La muerte de la noticia: Muchas crónicas quedan sin publicar debido a los asesinatos de periodistas latinoamericanos

Análisis de Tyler Bridges

Read this story in English

Dos vehículos utilitarios interceptaron el automóvil de Valentín Valdés Espinosa en el centro de Saltillo, México. Unos matones armados obligaron al reportero de asignaciones generales de 29 años de edad a entrar en uno de los autos. Sucedió poco antes de la medianoche del 7 de enero de 2010. En los días precedentes, Valdés Espinosa había informado agresivamente sobre el arresto de varios narcotraficantes en esa ciudad norteña de México para su periódico, El Zócalo de Saltillo, y había cometido el pecado cardinal de identificarlos por nombre. En otro artículo, Valdés Espinosa había identificado a un agente policial que fue arrestado por estar en la nómina de los narcotraficantes.

Killing the news: Stories go untold as Latin American journalists die

Analysis by Tyler Bridges

Lea esta historia en español

Two SUVs intercepted Valentín Valdés Espinosa’s car in downtown Saltillo, Mexico. Gun-wielding thugs forced the 29-year-old general assignment reporter into a vehicle. It was shortly before midnight on Jan. 7, 2010. In the preceding days, Valdés Espinosa had aggressively reported the arrest of several drug traffickers in the northern Mexico city — and had committed the cardinal sin of identifying them by name — for his newspaper, the Zócalo de Saltillo.

La violencia ha robado el alma del pueblo

NOGALES, Ariz. — I remember what it was like all the days when I was ten, mi mama dijo, “Mijo vete a comprar unas tortillas.” So I walked out the door to the Morley Street garita, crossed the line and went to the tortillería. Regresé con una docena. One day, in 1973, mi tia Meli decided to get a job at department store right at the line on the American side. She went to the Morley Street garita and told the U.S. migra man, “I’m just going over to Bracker’s to ask for job.” He said, “OK, go ahead, they have all the papers you’ll need.”

In 1976 we walked from Nogales to Nogales from the movie theater at 12 o’clock at night.

Juarez devastated by violence

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México.- Nearly every day,  news reports record at least two to three deaths in Juarez. “In 2007 we counted 353 deaths, in 2008 1067, in 2009 2620 and in 2010 until Monday 19, 1611” says Fernando Quintana, a broadcast journalist with Channel 44 TV. “El Norte, every night reports eight to fifteen deaths on its website” adds Ismael Ruvalcaba, a reporter with El Norte newspaper. President Calderón arrived in Juárez on March 16, 2010, to attend a conference entitled Todos somos Juárez. Reconstruyamos nuestra ciudad.

La narcoguerrra sigue matando periodistas y la libertad de prensa mexicana

EL PASO, Texas — Siempre disfrutó el olor de los burritos. Los prefiere de nopales con huevo, de carne deshebrada, de chile rojo y verde. Jamás imaginó que tendría que dejar el periodismo para confeccionar platillos mexicanos. “Después de casi 30 años como reportero nunca pensé que los burritos salvarían mí vida”, dijo. Y agregó: “Aquí me vez, vendiéndolos entre mis amigos y viejos colegas”.

Living in constant fear, Mexicans long for the good life they lost

EL PASO, Texas —Little is known about the truth behind the Cartel Wars, but one thing is certain, they must end. They are a constant plague on our way of life, the borderway.  For more than four decades, the citizens of the borderland have been subject to a war that brewed and heated until it erupted only four years ago. Frankly, the people here do not care who is in charge, to them the only person they call “boss” is Bruce Springstein, and maybe Pedro Infante. Regardless, we the people say screw these bastards who are endangering our Juarense brothers and sisters. We demand to be protected and we will not accept the current standard.

Juarez Drug War Criminals Even Shake Down the Street Vendors

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México — Daytime here displays a busy city, alive and full of productive energy. Street vendors hawk their products, restaurants await the rush hour crowds and mechanics do tune-ups out of their homes. These images of a normalcy, however, are deceptive. More than 5,000 of Juarez businesses have closed their doors permanently during the past four years of drug war violence, according to Cámara de Comercio de Juárez, which has infected every aspect of Juarenses’ life. Nighttime is a different creature altogether, according to Martín, the owner of a few very profitable food stands in Juárez and no stranger to the cartels.

Hundreds Mourn Pregnant Mother and Husband Murdered in Juárez

EL PASO, Texas — More than 800 persons attended funeral services for the U.S. consular employee and her husband gunned down March 14 in Ciudad Juárez, México. Family, friends, and co-workers paid their last respects to Lesley Enriquez, 35, and Arthur Redelfs, 34, a detention officer in the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department, to the solemn lament of a trumpet playing Taps on a windy afternoon at Memorial Pines Cemetery in Sunland Park on March 20th. The couple was murdered after a car chase through Juárez after leaving a children’s birthday party with their baby daughter. “When they were brutally murdered, seven-month-old Rebecca was left in the back seat orphaned but thankfully unharmed. Also tragically, Lesley was pregnant at the time and we just now found out that baby Rebecca will never get to know her little brother,” said Michael Redelfs, Arthur’s uncle.

D.C. Scholars to Propose Solutions for U.S.-Mexico Cooperation on Organized Crime

EL PASO — A team of experts sent by the Mexico Institute in Washington, D.C. spent three days interviewing persons in Juarez to see if a lack of cross-border cooperation between U.S. and Mexican government agencies hinders efforts to quell the out-of-control consumption of illegal narcotics by Americans and the drug-cartel wars in Mexico. Andrew Selee, director of the Institute and an adjunct professor of government at John Hopkins University said the drug violence goes beyond the normal definitions of terrorism. “Seeing how some of these murders have played out in recent years has made us pay close attention to the growing violence along the borderland.”

The group of 16 scholars spent three days in February interviewing various Juarez officials including the Aduana, military commanders, the different levels of law enforcement, and others to get a real sense of how to combat the organized crime that plagues the borderland. “We recognize that the problem [bilateral cooperation] is not just in one part of the borderland, but all across it,” Selee said. The group has traveled to various drug violence hot spots such as Tijuana/San Diego, San Luis Potosi, and to El Paso/Juarez.

Voces del narcotráfico salen de las sombras en el libro Drug War Zone

EL PASO — Las voces humanas y los elementos insólitos del narcotráfico se entretejen en las historias del libro Drug War Zone, el más reciente proyecto literario de Howard Campbell, profesor de antropología de la Universidad de Texas en El Paso (UTEP). El proyecto literario comenzó en el 2005 antes de que comenzara la conocida guerra entre carteles en Ciudad Juárez — “Si vi venir la situación de Juárez porque varios conocidos me advirtieron de ella. Creo que lo más impactante de esto es ver que esta guerra parece no tener fin, yo solía creer en la idea de Vicente Fox, pero ahora ¿cuál es la solución” dijo Campbell. Las escenas presentadas introducen al lector con testimonios y sus historias personales en el sórdido mundo del narcotráfico, escenas que muestran la cara oculta y desapercibida: la cara humana de las drogas. “Seis aviones más arribaron, de uno de ellos emergió El Chapo, vestido en sus tradicionales jeans, chaleco, gorra de baseball, un rifle cuerno de chivo AK-47 pegado a su pecho  y una pistola que le combinaba a su atuendo en su cinto”  (Campbell).

Expertos colombianos comparan experiencias en Colombia y México con el narcotráfico

EL PASO — Dos politólogos que estudian el fenómeno del narcotráfico en Colombia exploraron posibles nexos entre las experiencias colombiana y mexicana con el narcotráfico durante dos conferencias que ocurrieron en octubre en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso (UTEP). Manuel Ernesto Salamanca y Edgar Mauricio Solano Calderón, académicos provenientes de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, participaron en las conferencias tituladas, “Drug Trade Issues: The Colombian Experience” y “Colombian Experiences With el narcotráfico,” auspiciadas por el Centro de Estudios Interamericanos y Fronterizos de UTEP. Los investigadores examinaron las particularidades que entraña el narcotráfico colombiano y brindaron completa y compleja información sobre la historia y estado actual del narcotráfico en Colombia. En respuesta a las inquietudes del público local sobre la creciente violencia que acecha a Ciudad Juárez por disputas entre narcotraficantes, ellos trazaron algunas similitudes entre los dos fenómenos, como la inicial permisividad estatal y la escalada de violencia indiscriminada y por otra, la preocupación de la población en general por encontrar soluciones a este fenómeno. En ambos casos, ni las autoridades mexicanas ni las colombianas combatieron el narcotráfico desde sus inicios, según los investigadores.

Reporting on the Drug War, a Dangerous Business

EL PASO — As the drug cartel violence in Ciudad Juárez continues to escalate, the news media on both sides of the border has continued to cover it. But now, the violence has spread to the newsrooms —getting the story is a job and a danger.

The Failure of The War on Drugs

EL PASO — President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1969 with a stepped up campaign targeting the production, distribution and consumption of illegal drugs. Forty years later many consider that war a complete failure.

War On Drugs: Exporting the Drug War

According to Anthony Placido, leader of the Drug Enforcement Administrator’s Intelligence Program, the solution to the drug problem is not going to be possible if authorities and the government pretend or believe that the consumption and trafficking of these substances will be solved with only one policy, instead, institutions need to face the idea that the problem will continue to grow.

La narcoguerra desmiente la “Guerra Contra las Drogas”

Tras 40 años de que el presidente Nixon proclamara que Estados Unidos se encontraba en una guerra contra las drogas, actualmente la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México vive en un grito desesperado por el descontrol del uso de drogas y la ineficacia de la política actual.

War on Drugs Conference at UTEP

With violence at an all time high, a two-day conference that starts at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) will reevaluate this “war” the nation has been fighting.

Drug War

People are scared to speak, scared to have their picture taken or to even give their name. When I ask people what they think about the drug war, most of them say: “It’s like hearing the weather reports. It happens everyday…”