Nearly everybody in the Laredo/Nuevo Laredo border area has an opinion on the drug-related violence that has plagued Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, over the past few years.
Some say the media has overblown the situation and unfairly characterized Nuevo Laredo as a war zone. Others say it’s no longer safe to walk around at night due to violence blamed on Mexican crime organizations fighting to monopolize the drug trade.
There have been at least 144 violent deaths in Nuevo Laredo from Jan. 1-July 25, according to the Laredo Morning News. There were at least 176 in 2005, according to the newspaper.
Officials closed the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo for one week starting last Tuesday. More than 500,000 people live there compared with about 200,000 in Laredo.
A very large Mexican flag looms over traffic heading from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into Laredo, Texas. Photo by Andrew Satter.
Juan Carlos Thomas, Jose Juan Reyes and David Rico were discussing the topic at the Taco Thomas restaurant in downtown Laredo Thursday evening. Thomas, 44, the owner of the restaurant, was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo. He says he used to walk into Nuevo Laredo each night after closing his small grocery store and have drinks with friends. But now he hasn’t been over in two years. Thomas has known three people who have been killed in Nuevo Laredo. They were each eating or drinking at restaurants, he said.
“It’s sad because I was born there,” said Thomas. “The (Nuevo Laredo) police used to exist to protect, not now.”
Most seem to agree that competing drug cartels, Las Zetas and Los Chapos, are responsible for the violence. Why it started, though, has become a popular debate here.
Thomas, Reyes and Rico have a theory that the violence started about five years ago when President Vicente Fox decided not to renew a deal that the previous president had with the cartels.
“They don’t let them work, so they start killing people,” Thomas said.
They say that the old cartel that used to run Nuevo Laredo — the busiest port of entry for truck traffic — had absolute control and didn’t bother local businesses, the men said. That changed though when Las Zetas took control, they told us. Today, Las Zetas and Los Chapos battle it out on the streets of Nuevo Laredo.
Across the border in a small shop in Nuevo Laredo, Ana Maria Blanco said the bad press from the killings has caused a 60-80 percent drop in tourism, the prime clientele for her crafts. They’ve painted a false picture of the violence, she told us.
“Have you been killed yet?” she asked us as we interviewed her.
“No,” we said. “But, we’ve only been here 10 minutes.”
She laughed, but reiterated that the violence doesn’t occur near the border at the market where she has her shop. The cartels only target others in drug trafficking, said the 57-year-old Blanco.
Whatever the real truth, the killings have affected every day life on both sides of the border here.
“You never know,” said Thomas, explaining why he no longer visits Nuevo Laredo. “They might confuse me for a mafia who looks like me.”
This brings to mind the Sunni and the Shiites of Iraq.Perhaps we have an Iraq in our own back yard.
Where is George when we need him.
— Ernie Rodriquez 08/04/2006 08:21 AM #
Bravo guys! Just wanted to let you know you are all doing a great job and your vignettes are wonderful. And I promise, I would read them even if I didn’t have to ;). They really capture the atmosphere of people and places along the border with some amazing writing. I’m sure you’re all exhausted both physically and mentally, but you’re almost there! And don’t let the naysayers posting comments get you down, they just don’t appreciate good writing when they see it, and the odds are they wouldn’t like anything that was up here anyways. Hope you all have a great last few days on the road and good luck!!
— Kaitlin 08/04/2006 06:07 PM #
Best yet. great article. This is the type of writing I was hoping for (reading the synopsis). The government has created a crisis in the S.W. that is comparable to a never ending Katrina disaster. And yet, the articles you choose to write about are the fluffy/feel good type. WHY??
Please interview U.S. citizens(any of the hundreds of thousands) who have been oppressed for the last apx. 40 years. It seems the staff, like Ms. Blanco and Kaitlen
are still in denial.
— Mike 08/05/2006 11:48 AM #
Hey Mike, thanks for reading the blog. As I’ve mentioned before, the purpose of the blog is to house all the little side anecdotes we experience on our journey, with an emphasis on the people we meet and the towns we visit. If you notice in the sidebar, we mention that the bulk of our work here (including interviews with plenty of U.S. citizens) will be released in mid-September in a series looking very closely at the border and the issue of immigration. Thanks for reading the blog and we hope our September project satisfies your thirst for more substantive reporting.
— Andrew S. 08/05/2006 09:21 PM #
Hey guys…great blog but we should all sell crack to make money!right?
— MexicanMafia 08/07/2006 11:40 PM #
Sunnis and Shiites? Come on!! Lets get our heads out of our fourth points of contact and stop comparing apples and oranges. The warring factions within Islam have been at each others throats since long before this little skirmish was even considered. Since before Mexico was even an independent nation! Instead of becoming alarmist with superinflated thoughts of dangerous terrorist organizations in our backyards, lets consider the facts in this situation. These are not terrorist organizations bent on committing acts of terror to politicize their cause and garner support in the world opinion. They are drug cartels and their associated militias fighting amongst themselves. Although this is a very serious issue, they are NOT and should never be likened to Al Qaeda or the warring factions of Islam in the Middle East. These are nothing more than gangsters
— Rick D 03/07/2008 06:22 PM #
In July, a team of Arizona Daily Star journalists traveled from San Diego to Brownsville for a close-up look at what it would take to secure the border. They used this blog to chronicle their experiences and will present a 4-day series of their findings beginning Sunday, Sept. 24.
Current Location:The journey is over. Stay tuned for our special report on the border beginning September 24.
Meet the Team
James Gregg recently joined the staff of the Arizona Daily Star as a
photojournalist after beginning his career in Colorado. James has lived abroad in Ecuador and Costa Rica, and holds a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas.
Stephanie Innes is the faith and values reporter for the Star. She has worked at the newspaper since 1999 and previously covered crime. She has also been a reporter for the Tucson Citizen and for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.
Border and Immigration reporter Brady McCombs has been with the Star since February. He recently co-authored the Star's four-part investigative series, "Illegal Labor Fix Falls Short." McCombs, who is bilingual, spent three years working in Costa Rica.
Photographer Lindsay Miller joined the Arizona Daily Star in April 2005, relocating toTucson after working at the Napa Valley Register. She has worked on several documentary projects as well as a variety of local news and features..
Online producer Andrew Satter has been with the Star for more than two years. He oversees online news content relating to the border and politics/elections, has produced dozens of videos and audio slide shows and is a co-creator of the award-winning Border Death Database.
Reader Polls
Week 3 Results
Question: Which border state has the most out-of-control border?
- California - 9%
- Arizona - 53%
- New Mexico - 10%
- Texas - 7%
- Minnesota - 21%
Total number of votes - 68
Week 2 Results
Question: What is the top reason the U.S. needs to secure its borders?
- Stop illegal immigrants from coming into the country - 48%
- Crack down on drug smuggling - 14%
- Stop terrorists from being able to get in - 28%
- An open border poses no immediate threat - 9%
- Protect against human sex slave trafficking - 1%
Total number of votes - 79
Week 1 Results
Question: What should be the first priority in solving the illegal immigration problem?
- Secure the border - 48%
- Workplace enforcement - 21%
- Visa enforcement - 3%
- Institute a guest worker program - 17%
- Take care of non-border-related issues first - 11%
Total number of votes - 150
Border gallery
What does the word 'border' mean to you? Be it the U.S./Mexico border, the Brazilian/Argentinian border or the border between you and your neighbor's house, we want to see your images of this ill-defined concept in our gallery. In the Photo Caption field please tell us the subject of the photo. Submit your photo »»
James Gregg recently joined the staff of the Arizona Daily Star as a
photojournalist after beginning his career in Colorado. James has lived abroad in Ecuador and Costa Rica, and holds a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas.
Stephanie Innes is the faith and values reporter for the Star. She has worked at the newspaper since 1999 and previously covered crime. She has also been a reporter for the Tucson Citizen and for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.
Border and Immigration reporter Brady McCombs has been with the Star since February. He recently co-authored the Star's four-part investigative series, "Illegal Labor Fix Falls Short." McCombs, who is bilingual, spent three years working in Costa Rica.
Photographer Lindsay Miller joined the Arizona Daily Star in April 2005, relocating toTucson after working at the Napa Valley Register. She has worked on several documentary projects as well as a variety of local news and features..
Online producer Andrew Satter has been with the Star for more than two years. He oversees online news content relating to the border and politics/elections, has produced dozens of videos and audio slide shows and is a co-creator of the award-winning Border Death Database.
Where is George when we need him.
— Ernie Rodriquez 08/04/2006 08:21 AM #
— Kaitlin 08/04/2006 06:07 PM #
Please interview U.S. citizens(any of the hundreds of thousands) who have been oppressed for the last apx. 40 years. It seems the staff, like Ms. Blanco and Kaitlen
are still in denial.
— Mike 08/05/2006 11:48 AM #
— Andrew S. 08/05/2006 09:21 PM #
— MexicanMafia 08/07/2006 11:40 PM #
— krosty 10/03/2006 10:04 PM #
— Rick D 03/07/2008 06:22 PM #