Border travelers describe drug war's impact

McALLEN — After several travel warnings and an onslaught of violence in Mexico, there’s no doubt that the violence has disrupted migration, both to and from the country.

Some people are traveling less across the border, while others have quit altogether. But there are still many residents in the Rio Grande Valley who share a deep and personal connection with the country, and it is those who are taking the alleged risks and venturing into Mexico — despite repeated warnings from governmental agencies urging them to do otherwise.

“They’re not traveling for pleasure. They’re traveling because they need to,” Laura Perera, terminal manager for the international bus company Lineas Panamericanas, said in Spanish. “They have businesses and family that they have to keep up with.”

The bus line transports hundreds of people across the border daily, with Monterrey as their most solicited destination, Perera said. But the numbers don’t support a decline in travel. Their clientele has increased by about 30 percent since last year, she said.

“It’s sad but people don’t want to drive,” she said. “We now have clients that never used to travel in buses.”

Assaults on highways during narcobloqueos, or road blocks set up by cartel members, deter people from driving and force them to use other modes of transportation, she said. But buses aren’t exempt from assaults. One of their drivers was stopped about three months ago, she said.

“They stopped the bus, got in and took some purses, but luckily they didn’t hurt anyone,” Perera said.

The incident prompted the company to set guidelines for drivers during risky situations, she added.

“They have to avoid letting the men who are intercepting them get upset,” she said. “They have to keep everyone calm and avoid letting these people lose control.”

Rafael Ramirez, a Bert Ogden employee who commutes over the border almost daily, has been stopped by alleged cartel members several times, he said. The 34-year-old has been crossing the international bridges for more than 16 years because he prefers to live in Reynosa, where his former wife and children live. On one of his drives to drop his children off at their mother’s home, he noticed several trucks heading in their direction.

“From out of nowhere ... six or seven trucks came from behind us and about 30 men got out with weapons and machine guns,” he said. “But when they saw that I was traveling with children they were like, ‘He’s got family. It’s people. Go back and leave.’”

“They sent us to where we couldn’t see anything.”

Ramirez said narcobloqueos are sometimes used to protect those who are not involved in the gun battles. They happen so frequently that people are getting used to them, he said.

“At first people did get scared. But now it’s totally normal,” he said. “Sometimes there are shootings going on and people keep sweeping their streets. They see it as something very normal. You walk by it like nothing.”

While he’s not afraid to commute almost every day, he said he tries to avoid driving at night.

“Not even the thieves want to be out at night,” he said.

Businesses and even churches are closing earlier, and people tend to stay at home more than before, he said.

Maria Garza, an international student at the University of Texas-Pan American, noticed the same thing when she went to Mexico earlier this month. Two years ago, the 23-year-old was driving daily from Reynosa to Edinburg for classes, but that stopped once problems began erupting in the border city. Now she lives in Edinburg and only goes to Reynosa about once every three months. Her parents come to visit her instead, she said.

“When I do go, I mostly stay at home,” she said. “Sometimes I go with my mom to run errands, but that’s it.”

Last month, two American students who lived in Ciudad Juárez were gunned down as they headed home from classes at the University of Texas at El Paso. In September, an 18-year-old freshman, who attended University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College, was killed after the bus he was riding in was highjacked by alleged cartel members near Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas.

Still, Ramirez and Garza said media reports have made it out to be worse than it really is.

“It is ugly,” Ramirez said, “but many are just scaring the people. ‘Don’t go because they’re going to kill you.’ It’s not like that.”

PROGRESO

The ongoing violence, combined with the travel advisories released by the U.S. Department of State and the Texas Department of Public Safety, has really slowed down business for the small Mexican border town that thrives on tourism.

The streets that were once impassible because of the presence of street-side shoppers are now desolate. A few Winter Texans cross, but the decrease in traffic has been significant, said a 24-year-old grocery store worker who declined to give her name. She estimated a decrease of more than 50 percent.

In 2008 about 96 percent of Winter Texans made a trip across the border, according to a study released by the Valley Markets and Tourism Research Center at UTPA. In 2009, that number decreased to 86.5 percent.

“Within the past year and a half, 92 businesses have closed,” said Alfonso Simon Treviño Salinas, president of the city’s chamber of commerce. “It affects us. They generalize the violence in Mexico even though this town has proven to be calm.”

One of the most noteworthy attacks happened a year ago when two men were shot to death during a welcome-back bash for Winter Texans — but the town has been relatively quiet since then.

Clyde and Dora Lopez, who were visiting Nuevo Progreso last month, said they were present during the December 2009 shooting.

“We were just standing there and all of a sudden we heard a shot and everybody just disappeared,” 69-year-old Clyde Lopez said. “They quickly pulled us into the doctor’s office. When everything calmed down we went outside and we started running for the bridge, and by the time we got halfway down there they started shooting again.”

Even though the Winter Texan couple experienced the attack, they say they feel safe in the town again. However, they said they won’t travel to any part of Mexico other than Nuevo Progreso. They make sure to come at least once a month, they said.

“We love it,” Clyde Lopez said. “It’s a tourist town.”

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Naxiely Lopez covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4434.