JUAREZ VIOLENCE UNABATED WHILE SEN. JOHN CORNYN MEETS WITH AGENCIES

JUAREZ -- In spite of three presidential visits and promises of
improving society, scenes of violence continue at a pace that is
causing some people to lose faith in Mexico's fight against drug cartels.

Officials said the murder rate has dropped and the city is beginning
to recover from the grasp of a turf war that has been blamed for the
deaths of nearly 5,000 people.

But the demilitarization of the city and the influx of thousands of
federal agents in early April has had a slight impact on the violence.

Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz recently praised the change of
strategy and said it gave hope to his city of 1.3 million.

So far this year, Juarez has had about 750 murders, a significant
increase from the 530 at the same time last year.

People in Juarez said they are now skeptical about any government action.

The violence will be the topic of a meeting between U.S.
law-enforcement officials and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today in El Paso.

He is expected to discuss spillover from the violence with officials
of the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and El Paso police.

Cornyn will be briefed on the turf war between the Juarez and the
Sinaloa drug cartels that has plagued the city, considered the most
dangerous in North America.

That violence drew the attention of Mexican President Felipe
Calderon, who visited Juarez three times in February and March. He
promised to build schools, increase health coverage, give more credit
to small businesses and create jobs.

"I feel that we're working well," said Antonio Vivanco Casamadrid,
presidential Cabinet coordinator, at a news briefing this week.

At the moment he was leaving the Hotel Camino Real on Wednesday, a
deadly drive-by shooting took place nearby.

Luis Arturo Dominguez Decena, 24, was gunned down near the hotel
while he was driving a 2005 Nissan Frontier on Mexican Highway 54.

It was one of several murders that day to which federal police responded.

In addition to investigating slayings and other crimes, federal
agents also set up checkpoints on roads looking for guns and drugs.
It is a new responsibility for the agents. Before April, soldiers
were checking vehicles.

The soldiers had been in the city for about two years and had become
common on streets. Now, they are mostly gone, and federal agents have
taken over.

When soldiers were in the city, they were accused of human-rights abuses.

Last week, 12 federal police officers were arrested and booked into
the Cereso prison. Nine of them are accused of extortion and breaking
into private property. Chihuahua state is accusing other three
officers for letting another police man escape detention.

Vivanco Casamadrid said it was too soon to judge the federal police work.

In the outskirts of Juarez, the situation is just as dramatic.

Many people have fled farming communities that stretch 50 miles
southeast of the city, better known as the Valley of Juarez. Families
from towns such as El Porvenir, Guadalupe and Praxedis Guerrero are
establishing themselves in U.S. towns like Fort Hancock.

Since March, arsonists have destroyed houses and shops on the Mexican
side, and gang members have forced residents out with murder threats.
The death toll is higher in those rural areas that were once had
about 18,000 people.

In Juarez, residents are as scared as at the time Calderon first
visited. Two key attacks in the city put Calderon under enormous
pressure from both his Mexican constituents and U.S. officials.

The night of Jan. 30 gunmen killed 15 people, mostly teenagers, at a
birthday party in a southeast Juarez neighborhood known as Villas de Salvarcar.

In March 13, two U.S. citizens, with ties to the U.S. Consulate and
El Paso County Sheriff's Office were slain feet away from the
downtown international bridge after leaving a children's party.

Meanwhile, people in Juarez have become desensitized to violent attacks.

Cruz Perez Sandoval owns a liquor store in front of the Juarez
mercado. He said there are days when he does not sell even one
bottle. He feels fortunate enough because he is not being extorted.

"We have lost our way," Perez Sandoval said. "The things that are
happening, people perceive them as normal. Many people are not
touched any more."

For instance, Perez Sandoval has seen parents take out their children
to see dead bodies when an attack takes place.

Extortions and assaults have caused many businesses to close in
Juarez. Since 2008, 10,670 of the businesses, or 40 percent, have closed.

In the once vibrant downtown the effects are more devastating.
Two-thirds of the 180 businesses in Juarez Avenue have closed, said
restaurateur Recaredo Nunez.

"It is unfortunate because the avenue is the entrance door of
international tourism," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, two hit men arrived and shot five times at a
man before he fell on the sidewalk outside Nunez's restaurant, Viva Juarez.

Sergio Arturo Saenz Rodriguez, between 35 and 40, was standing in
line to use an ATM when the attack occurred.

At least four people were standing in front of him in the
well-trafficked avenue, Nunez said.

As soon as people in the area heard the shots, they ran into Nunez's
restaurant and hid under the tables, he said. Many of them watched as
the hit men finished Saenz Rodriguez off on the ground by shooting
him in the head.