Ciudad Juarez

Mexican President Felipe Calderón called this border city of 1.3 million people – across from El Paso, Texas – the “tip of the spear” of an effort aimed at extinguishing the dominance of major drug cartels that hold sway over this critical town… smack on one of the main drug trafficking routes from Mexico to the U.S. Two years ago, Calderón sent 10,000 military troops into Juarez to deal with crooked cops and politicians, paid well to look the other way. The U.S. backed these efforts with financial and military aid, from guns and helicopters to money to pay and train the necessary troops.

But so far, these efforts have provided a violent nightmare, while the drug cartels appear stronger than ever. Here are a few disturbing facts about this murderous city as reported in the December 26^th Washington Post:

· Thirty Juarez police officers have been killed this year; most were hunted down in their homes, according to police officials.

· With more than 2,500 homicides, Juarez accounts for more than one-third of the 6,000 drug-related murders in Mexico this year; since April, when a surge of federal troops brought a brief lull in the death toll, the city has resumed a pace of eight to 10 murders a day. The violence has also spilled over into the suburban neighborhoods of El Paso.

· Two-thirds of those killed violently in Juarez are between 14 and 24 years old.

· The city estimates that the violence has created 7,000 orphans and displaced 100,000 people, many of whom have fled across the Rio Grande to Texas. Most of the members of the business and political elite of Juarez, including the mayor, now either sleep or maintain a second home in El Paso. The chief human rights advocate also retreated across the river.

· In a macabre daily ritual, assassins now appear to time their killings so that they get play on the afternoon and evening television news shows, according to Jaime Torres, a spokesman on public security for the Juarez government and former news director.

· Well-known prosecutors, professors, attorneys, doctors, executives and journalists have been assassinated. Victims also include a growing number of small-shop owners because extortion is rampant; [just before Christmas,] an elderly woman selling burritos at a busy intersection near the tourist zone was shot dead. Police counted 36 shell casings at the scene.

In short, this massive military push seems to be a bust. Arms still flow like water south from U.S. border states into Mexico, and U.S. drug users continue to suck the toxic narcotics up and over the border, fattening drug lords and lining their pockets with gold. And the casualties continue to mount.

There are those who call for an even greater concentration of troops, for to fail now would be to acknowledge the hopelessness of defeating the powerful Mexican drug cartels. The recent slaughter of a Mexican marine’s family in retribution for the slaying of a major drug kingpin off the Mexican coast is just a sign as to who really seems to have the upper hand in this contest. Others believe that the battle to stop drugs flowing into the U.S. is not a Mexican priority, and that withdrawing troops from Juarez might vastly reduce the violence. Or this alternative: “The head of the powerful business organization that represents the local assembly factories, or maquiladoras, recently called for the United Nations to send blue-helmeted peacekeeping soldiers to Juarez.” The Post. It really is a civil war – criminal gangs with enough power to threaten the very existence of a democratically elected government.

Many questions are being asked on both side of the border. What would happen if narcotics were controlled the way alcohol sales are dealt with? Are we begging for a “stoner” population with lost ambition, irresponsible ethics and an expansion of the welfare state? Or would we simply be taking the incentive out of a criminal activity that thrives of the high prices generated simply because drugs are illegal?

The Mexican government has begun a major interagency review of this two-year, U.S.-backed Mexican military invasion of Juarez. American and Mexican officials admit that these efforts have simply failed to stem the incredible volume of violence and criminal activity in this border region; if anything, the situation may even be worse than what existed before the military intervention. It’s a period of “serious reassessment.” There clearly are no easy answers, but life in many parts of Mexico has become intolerable for so many… and that violence is now spilling over into American border towns as well.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I thought you might be interested.