Wikileaks Border Takes

Wikileaks and the U.S.-Mexico border: Cable advises against driving, riding city buses in Juárez

By Diana Washington Valdez

Commuters who drive in Juárez do so at their own risk, according to a 2009 U.S. diplomatic dispatch.

 

“Driving in Juárez requires vigilance and a defensive attitude,” the document says. “Local drivers are not uniformly well experienced, and often have poorly maintained cars.”

 

This may not surprise those of us who have experienced driving in Juárez, but it’s still interesting that the topic was worthy of diplomatic correspondence.

 

“Road conditions are poor in most areas outside of downtown. Potholes and trenches can damage your car or cause drivers to swerve into your lane or brake unexpectedly,” says the dispatch leaked by Wikileaks.

 

Coincidentally, Juárez TV station XEPM Channel 2/Time Warner Cable Channel 99 (Televisa) today reported and showed examples of the poor maintenance of the city’s arterial roads. One road is developing a depression that has commuters wondering if it was a sinkhole in the making.

 

“Manhole covers may be removed at anytime, but more often when roads flood, in order to drain an area more quickly. Open manholes are hard to spot.”

 

It gets better.

 

The diplomatic document originating from the U.S. consulate advises to “Avoid public transportation” in Juárez. Under heading for that subject.

 

“In addition to harboring potential pick-pockets, city buses are known for reckless driving,” adding that taxis “are generally safer and more reliable.

 

A caveat for cabs is that “they are usually not metered and may overcharge.” But, taxis from the Juárez airport are paid in advance and are better regulated.

 

Wikileaks and the U.S.-Mexico border: Drug cartels adopted Christmas holiday truce

The warring drug cartels in Juárez apparently had agreed to a truce for the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period, according to a 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable.

The document that was unclassified and originated in the U.S. consulate in Juárez also presented a summary of violence in the city in 2008.

“With regard to violence between the cartels themselves, there was evidence of a temporary truce between the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels that lasted from mid-December 2008 to mid-January 2009,” the diplomatic cable said.

By the time the cable was written on Jan. 23, 2009, the consulate reported that “That truce has now been broken.”

The document also said that vigilante activity had been reported in Juárez and that cartel operatives had diversified their crimes.

“(The) other type of crimes are also often the work of the cartels and their affiliated street gangs,” the cable said. “That the cartels are branching out into racketeering, kidnapping, arson and car theft appears not only to reflect their desire to intimidate their enemies, but also the need to meet payroll and other continuing expenses in the face of a more difficult smuggling environment.”

Under the heading of “vigilantism,” the document said “there have been indications that local businesses are taking a different approach to self-protection, that of vigilantism.”

The cable said that on Nov. 28, 2008, “seven men were shot dead outside a school a few blocks from the consulate, and placards were hung over their bodies claiming that the executions were carried out by the Yonkeros Unidos (United Junkyard owners of Juárez).”

The cable said the fact about the placard attributing the attack to the Yonkeros was not reported to the public.

Wikileaks and the U.S.-Mexico border: Maquila manager rescued by Mexican army

By Diana Washington Valdez

A  maquiladora manager who was kidnapped in Juárez was rescued by the Mexican army, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable that originated in the U.S. consulate in Juárez.

“The kidnapping on January 13 (2009) of a Lear Corporation manager, as he left a Juárez maquila plant at 7:00 a.m., and the subsequent demand for 1.5 million dollars in ransom, appears to have taken this crime to a new level,” the document said.

Then, the consulate added a note updating the account that said “the Lear manager was reported rescued by Mexican army troops on January 19 (2009).”

Previous news accounts about the plant executive’s kidnapping for ransom were sketchy and speculative, and the cable is the first source that provides some details about what happened.

Although violence in Juárez has been widespread since 2008, maquiladora plants or employees are rarely targets for the street gangs and cartel associates.
The U.S. cable dated Jan. 23, 2009, discusses the violence in Juárez during 2008.

“The incidence of violent crime in Ciudad Juárez this past year was high by any standard,” the cable said. “There were 1,633 murders in and around Juárez, a figure that represented more than one quarter of all homicides registered in Mexico during 2008, and five times the number recorded in the city in 2007.”

According to the cable, “despite the federal government’s promise of action as represented by ‘Joint Operation Chihuahua,’ the army and federal police rarely engaged directly with the cartels and street gangs.”

It also said that “Many people who exercise political and economic power in the city, including Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, have moved to El Paso.”

Wikileaks and the U.S.-Mexico border: Recession reduced train traffic at the El Paso-Juarez border

A U.S. diplomatic cable dated December 2008 provided figures train traffic by the major railroads that operate in the El Paso and Juárez border region.
According to the government document, BNSF (Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway) and Union Pacific had 65 percent and 35 percent respectively of the shares of cross-border train traffic through the corridor.
"Ferrocarril Mexicano (Ferromex) is a monopoly and captures 100 percent of the market share on the Mexican side," the unclassified cable said. "Ferromex is partially owned by Union Pacific, but BNSF and UP ship roughly the same cargo. "2008 rail traffic through the Juarez/El Paso rail corridor is down 30 percent from 2007, according to unpublished reports provided to consular officers by BNSF, UP and Ferromex."
Between January and October 2007, total northbound and southbound traffic was 152,500 car loads. However, during the same period for 2008, train traffic fell to just under 110,000 car loads.
"According to these reports, traffic had been increasing at an annual rate of roughly 15 percent dating back to 2002," the cable said.
A BNSF representative said demand was affected by the downturn in the U.S. economy, which hit manufacturing customers in southern Chihuahua hard, the cable said.
The BNSF representative also said that the railroad was already operating at capacity due to the limited time window in which its trains can transit Juarez.
A representative for competitor Union Pacific said prices for raw materials used in manufacturing and grain had spiked, huring demand in Mexico for southbound freight service. He reiterated previous comments that Union Pacific's north-south traffic along this corridor was a "drop in the bucket" compared to its east-west traffic transiting through El Paso on the U.S. side.
Diana Washington Valdez

Wikileaks and the U.S.-Mexico border: Closing the border during a flu pandemic

Closing the border during a flu pandemic

 Would the U.S. government close the border in case of a flu pandemic or other contagious illness? Perhaps, but only for a short time, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable provided by online whistleblower Wikileaks.
This was one of the topics U.S. and Mexican health officials discussed during a conference in New Mexico July 30-31, 2008, and at other joint conferences. More than 300 government officials from Texas, New Mexico and Chihuahua attended the July gathering, in addition to non-governmental organizations and business representatives.
“Based on past experience, medical experts from all three states and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) agreed that closing the border in the event of a flu outbreak would slow the spread of disease for no more than a month,” according to the cable prepared by the U.S. consulate’s office in Juarez, Mexico. “After that, a closing of the border would serve no medical purpose.”
The cable said that most of the government representatives at the 2008 meeting believed the border would not be closed because of provisions in the 2007 North American Plan for Avian (Bird) and Pandemic Influenza.
         “However, a senior New Mexico official thought the border would be closed early because closure is a critical element in slowing the spread of the disease. He added that no matter what the North American Plan might say, “nationalism will win out. A country will always protect its own citizens first,” according to the cable.
         A Customs and Border Protection official told a consulate officer that smaller ports of entry in this district would close first in the event of a serious threat to U.S. public health.
         “This action would channel traffic into the CDC’s El Paso Quarantine Station,” the cable said. “In view of anticipated staffing shortfalls due to illness, El Paso and Juarez officials would give priority to clearing shipments of critical supplies northward and southward.”
         Speakers at the gathering also addressed concerns over the bird flu.         The U.S. cable said the experts had no idea how a bird flu virus might look like or spread, and how to create a vaccine for it.
         “A Pan American Health Organization officer from El Paso later described any such predictions as futile ‘soap opera,’” according to the cable.
         Other highlights from the cable:
- Texas and New Mexico state officials said their work for a coordinated response to a highly contagious influenza outbreak has been impeded by a lack of funds.
- Chihuahua health authorities have run practice drills on their state’s response to a pandemic, way ahead of their U.S. counterparts.
-  We can expect rapid transmission of the disease among integrated border populations. (Such as El Paso-Juarez).
- Rural communities cannot not expect hospitals to mount an effective response against the first wave of disease due to limited resources.
- Businesses and individuals should prepare their own action plans.
- Closing the border would do little to delay the spread of the disease if the disease first appeared on either side of the border.
- If the disease appeared elsewhere first, then “closing ports of entry quickly would be more effective since border residents would not yet have been exposed to the same degree.”
- Closing the ports would slow the rate of infection for about a month.
- “After that, contagion would be widespread throughout the region, and keeping the border closed would serve no medical purpose.”
         Coincidentally, Hollywood is set to release a movie this fall “Contagion,” which is a thriller about a deadly bird flu pandemic.

- Diana Washington Valdez