The Neighbors Are At It Again

Another good reason to Buy American.

MEXICO CITY - As drug gangs continue fighting a violent turf war in northern Mexico, the U.S. State Department on Tuesday issued a new travel advisory warning Americans about the risks of crossing the Rio Grande.

The advisory, which replaces a three-month warning issued in January, alerts Americans to dangers along the entire border. But it singles out the city of Nuevo Laredo, across the river from Laredo, as a hot spot.

"More than 30 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped and/or murdered in the past eight months (in Nuevo Laredo) and public shootouts have occurred during daylight hours near frequented shopping areas and on streets leading to the international bridges," the warning says.

"One of the shootouts spilled onto the Mexican side of the bridge itself."

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Mexico was working to improve border security and suggested the State Department had overreacted. "Imprecisions and generalizations that hurt the spirit of cooperation in law enforcement and the fight against organized crime should be avoided," the statement said.

The warning, which is in effect until July 29, stops short of advising Americans not to visit Mexico. However, it recommends they take extra precautions, such as visiting only during daylight hours and avoiding red-light districts and neighborhoods where street drug dealing occurs.

"We recognize that thousands of U.S. citizens cross the border each day and have no trouble," said the U.S. consul to the city of Matamoros, John Naland, who helped write the advisory.

The January travel warning hurt businesses in northern Mexico, many of which rely on U.S. customers for a sizable chunk of their income.

In the historic center of Nuevo Laredo, the number of U.S. shoppers has dropped by half in recent months, according to Higinio Ibarra, president of Nuevo Laredo's Shop Owners Association.

In an interview last week, Ibarra said he would be infuriated if the U.S. government re-issued the warning.

"Why doesn't our government warn Mexicans about visiting the United States?" Ibarra said. "There are plenty of murders there. But American businesses rely on Mexican customers."

President Vicente Fox recently vowed to fight "the mother of all battles" against Mexican drug cartels, which analysts estimate make over $40 billion per year smuggling cocaine, marijuana and heroin into the United States.

Under Fox's government, the police have arrested record numbers of high-profile gangsters. But his efforts have sometimes inadvertently helped cause more violence, as rival gangs try to take over smuggling routes controlled by mobsters who have been jailed or killed.

"A power vacuum within criminal organizations resulting from the imprisonment of several of their leaders along the Mexico-U.S. border continues to contribute to a deterioration of public safety in the region," the new advisory states.

In recent months, the government has sent hundreds of federal police and soldiers onto the streets of border cities, including Nuevo Laredo, to bolster security.

However, the extra police presence has failed to stop the bloodshed. There have been nearly 400 drug-related killings in northern Mexico since January, according to Mexico City's El Universal newspaper.

Tuesday's travel advisory warns that In some cases, assailants wore full or partial police uniforms and used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, suggesting that some elements of the police might be involved.

From the Houston Chronicle.