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| Posted: March 26, 2009 |
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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently announced plans to boost personnel and surveillance equipment at the U.S.-Mexico border and coordinate more with Mexican authorities to help contain Mexico's increasingly deadly drug war. |
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| Olivia of Chicago, Ill. asks: |
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| How widespread is the violence and drug situation? I was surprised to hear that violence is spilling over into cities like Guadalajara. What regions are unaffected? Why now has this situation become worse? Who are the people dying?
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| Andrew Selee responds: |
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 Violence has gotten much worse, but it is still primarily among those involved in the drug trade. Life in most cities goes on as usual. About two-thirds of the 6,000 plus killings last year were in three cities: Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, and Culiacan, where violence is much more intense. In other cities, it tends to be far less visible, though higher than it used to be. However, there was at least one incident targeted at civilians last year -- two grenades thrown into an Independence Day celebration on Sept. 15 in Morelia -- and some civilians have been caught in cross-fire or killed together with relatives who were involved in the trade. Overall, I think people's sense of insecurity has gone up throughout most places in the country, but there generally aren't pitched gun battles in the street -- except in the cities mentioned above and a couple smaller border cities, where there have been more public incidents of violence. |
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| Jose Diaz-Briseno responds: |
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 I will always encourage people to go to Mexico. Having said that I will always encourage them to take common sense precautions as any smart traveler would do. There are more than 1 million U.S. citizens living in Mexico and more than 18 million tourists flock down every year. Having reviewed statistics from the U.S. State Department, there is a far greater chance of an American being killed in a car accident because of being drunk in Mexico rather than being killed because of the wave of violence. So, be smart when travelling by staying on main roads, popular places and please do not do be involved in doing drugs. As I said before, most of this gruesome wave of violence occurs along the U.S.-Mexico border. Ciudad Juarez itself has been the epicenter of a drug war among members of the so called Juarez Cartel -- or La Linea -- against the Sinaloa Cartel -- or Gente Nueva. According to officials and news reports, the Sinaloa Cartel is trying to gain control of the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso gateway. Nevertheless, what worries most everyday Mexicans is that because of the pressure upon the drug trade, many of the thugs are turning to other street crime, especially kidnappings -- even when there are exceptions, most of this is not aimed at tourists. The most pressing challenge for the Government: guaranteeing citizens to live without fear. |
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