The first brazen hit since we arrived happened this week. At a busy intersection in broad daylight, 4 young men in at least one car got multiple bullets in an apparent assassination attempt. The news that night said that 2 had survived and 2 had not.
Mexican t.v. coverage of the incident was great, as usual. Press are allowed in the middle of such crime scenes, even when the forensic investigation isn't finished. Or hasn't even started. They show all sorts of dead bodies in situ, even their faces.
Anyone with enough money can hire official Mexican police bodyguards for protection. As we don't go out much at night, (remember, drunk driving here isn't necessarily a crime if the driver can pay cash for whatever damages he/she might cause) I only saw my first bodyguard in action last week, too. Usually, you see them and their clients in the nicer restaurants at night. It is not recommended that you stay in or enter the restaurant if you spot them. This 2-man team was following close behind a fancy Cadillac SUV as it weaved fast through traffic, and dropped off when the SUV got to the border. The Cadillac ended up in front of me in the DCL line to enter the U.S.
It's not uncommon in El Paso to meet Hispanic Americans, even those with family in Mexico or Juarez, who are afraid to go to Juarez. U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly have prices on their heads, so they don't visit. But lots of regular folk confess when they hear I live in Juarez that they never cross the border. Frankly, I wouldn't either if I didn't live here.
Like in Tijuana, there are areas in Juarez that are more tourist-friendly than others. But even there I worry about pickpockets and/or damage to the car. (Remember our hubcaps?) We went downtown once, on a Saturday afternoon. That will do it for us. It was nothing but gridlocked traffic, loitering men, and a main square too tiny to be enjoyed.
Outside the downtown area, there are people who all day loiter or cruise businesses frequented by middle- and upper-class Juarenses. If you leave a bag or a briefcase on the seat of your car while running into a convenience store or dry cleaners' for a few minutes, even if you can still see your car through the plate-glass windows, it wouldn't be uncommon for your window to be smashed and your belongings gone.
© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/
Mexican t.v. coverage of the incident was great, as usual. Press are allowed in the middle of such crime scenes, even when the forensic investigation isn't finished. Or hasn't even started. They show all sorts of dead bodies in situ, even their faces.
Anyone with enough money can hire official Mexican police bodyguards for protection. As we don't go out much at night, (remember, drunk driving here isn't necessarily a crime if the driver can pay cash for whatever damages he/she might cause) I only saw my first bodyguard in action last week, too. Usually, you see them and their clients in the nicer restaurants at night. It is not recommended that you stay in or enter the restaurant if you spot them. This 2-man team was following close behind a fancy Cadillac SUV as it weaved fast through traffic, and dropped off when the SUV got to the border. The Cadillac ended up in front of me in the DCL line to enter the U.S.
It's not uncommon in El Paso to meet Hispanic Americans, even those with family in Mexico or Juarez, who are afraid to go to Juarez. U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly have prices on their heads, so they don't visit. But lots of regular folk confess when they hear I live in Juarez that they never cross the border. Frankly, I wouldn't either if I didn't live here.
Like in Tijuana, there are areas in Juarez that are more tourist-friendly than others. But even there I worry about pickpockets and/or damage to the car. (Remember our hubcaps?) We went downtown once, on a Saturday afternoon. That will do it for us. It was nothing but gridlocked traffic, loitering men, and a main square too tiny to be enjoyed.
Outside the downtown area, there are people who all day loiter or cruise businesses frequented by middle- and upper-class Juarenses. If you leave a bag or a briefcase on the seat of your car while running into a convenience store or dry cleaners' for a few minutes, even if you can still see your car through the plate-glass windows, it wouldn't be uncommon for your window to be smashed and your belongings gone.
© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/
Labels: Crime
posted by cjmex | 7:34 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home