COMMUNITY PROBLEM BORDER DRUG WAR IN JUAREZ Pamela

COMMUNITY PROBLEM: BORDER DRUG WAR IN JUAREZ Pamela Rothenbucher October 8, 2010

Interest � The community problem I am focusing on and have an interest on searching, is the problem that is going on with our neighbor, Juarez, according to the drug war, but also how it affects the people not only from Juarez, but from El Paso as well, meaning the families that live there.

How it Began? � � � The problem started in the year of 2006 when Mexico’s new president Felipe Calderon declared war to the drug cartels. The conflict started in January 2008 when the Sinaloa Cartel, led by Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman went to war with its old partners in the Juarez Cartel, led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, for control of the city. To fight this war, the Juarez mob recruited a street and prison gang called the Barrio Azteca, while the Sinaloa Cartel recruited a rival gang called the Artist Assassins, or Double A’s. The alignment of these thousands of street gang members backed by the money and armed with weapons smuggled from the United States, has led to a major proliferation of the violence. The main bounty of Juarez is its position for smuggling narcotics into the United States. Located in the center of the 2, 000 -mile U. S. -Mexico border, Juarez has long been a strategic treasure for moving cocaine, heroin, marijuana and crystal methamphetamine toward American users.

Continued… The gangsters who control this “plaza” can not only move their own drugs, but also tax other smugglers 20 percent to move their goods through the passage. � Furthermore, the Juarez plaza includes both the international bridges in the city itself and the ports and open desert that stretch out into the Juarez Valley. In total, it is worth billions of dollars. �

The Meditative Plan The Merida Initiative, which was signed in 2007 by President George W. Bush and Calderon, has led to the militarization of law enforcement, which has intensified the battle between the state and the drug cartels. � The plan known as plan Mexico has increased the incidents of gang-related crime and murder by many orders of magnitude. Today, there about 40, 000 troops to fight the cartels. �

Results of the violence towards the people in Juarez � Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz of Juarez reported an estimate of 20, 000 homes have been abandoned since 2008, with the estimates of those who fled, and continue leaving the city, ranging from 100, 000 to half a million or 38% of the city's total population. � Many wealthy citizens of Juarez have purchased property across the border in El Paso to protect their families, helping El Paso avoid the real estate slump affecting most of the United States. � Most residents are afraid to talk about what is going on. Their suspicions are based on what they see, and what they live. � The people of Juarez live in fear knowing that the next attack might appear in front of them, and even hurting them.

Impact on El Paso � � � Drug-related violence across the border in Ciudad Juárez is having a growing impact in El Paso. As Juarez continues to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world, El Paso, TX, has yet to suffer from violence spilling over the border. In fact, El Paso has been seemed as one of the safest cities in the country. Furthermore, as the US has suffered from the economic and real estate crises, the El Paso economy and real estate sector have been prospering as people and businesses from Juarez migrate to El Paso for safety. The community of El Paso is truly affected by what is going on next door, meaning by those who have families over there and worrying for their safety.

Overall The security of our people is the most important objective many have to consider, and for their safety there have to be more solutions and ideas to be established to protect them and give them back their city again, and stop the drug cartels of not harming the officers, the city, but most the lives of innocent people. � The war that is going on in Juarez has caused the deaths of many people, mostly innocent people. �