VIOLENCE CAN'T ERASE THE PROMISE THAT JUAREZ HOLDS

CIUDAD JUAREZ -- Federico De la Vega is sitting in the back seat of
the SUV, pointing out the various maquilas that dot the industrial
landscape of Ciudad Juarez, when the conversation turns to the murder
rate that haunts El Paso's sister city.

"I have never seen Juarez the way it's been this past year and I
never dreamed it could be this way," De la Vega says. The answer? "If
I knew, I sure would shout it out loud."

De la Vega clearly loves Juarez. He's lived there pretty much his
entire 78 years, and is among the influential businessmen who make
the border region go.

People like him are bullish on the border. There's hope and
excitement for future industrial growth through manufacturing and
assembly operations, and possibly even stem cell research.

There are signs everywhere, in El Paso and Juarez, that this region
will continue to boom and the violent wave in Juarez won't unhinge or
derail the ongoing economic and population growth of the region.

No question. The close to 1,700 homicides committed in Juarez so far
this year and the 1,607 homicides in 2008 are troubling. Our own
polling, which we reflect on today's front page, indicates El Pasoans
are unnerved by what they read and hear about Juarez's crime problem.

The notion that it's unsafe to venture into Juarez and the state of
Chihuahua had me itching to go in myself to get a better view and
more perspective on the city. The perception of danger is based
largely on how we in the media report on the rising murder rate of
narcotic traffickers, and the U.S. State Department's own warnings
not to travel into Mexico.

With De la Vega as my guide and his own private security in tow, I
got my first extensive look at the city in the 11 months I've been on
the border. Frankly, I'd drive myself if I were knowledgeable about
the roadways in Juarez. But I'm not, and so I rely on people who are.

Over the course of four hours, we made a visit to the Hospital de la
Familia, looked at how the city has been demolishing the old
honky-tonks near the westside bridges, traveled east to see maquilas
and the new U.S. Consulate headquarters, and then took a break for lunch.

It's not so much the killings of narcotic traffickers that bother
Juarez residents and businessmen like De la Vega. Rather, it's the
idea of a random carjacking or mugging, or an attempted kidnapping,
or extortion by drug addicts looking for a payday that leaves people uneasy.

De la Vega says he's never seen military patrolling the streets of
Juarez before. Rather than contend with safety issues, he'd rather be
devoting time to getting more of Juarez's kids into college and
working on impressing Chihuahua's state government to invest more
money in the city's infrastructure.

We dropped him off at his home in Juarez, and I was driven back into El Paso.

We agreed that I would come back. We can't let the thugs keep us away.