JUAREZ VALLE IN RUINS: DRUG VIOLENCE ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY DEVASTATING

A Chihuahua state legislative report paints a grim picture of Valle
de Juarez, a once-thriving agricultural and ranching community that
produced world-class cotton and important grains like wheat, alfalfa,
sorghum and oats.

The legislators of different political parties blamed record violence
in the Juarez region for the economic devastation. Authorities
attributed the violence to warring drug cartels.

State legislator Alex LeBaron Gonzalez said he and nine other
lawmakers signed off on the Feb. 21 report, which they submitted to
the Mexican federal government.

"We are asking the government to include the Valle de Juarez in its
funding for the 'Todos Somos Juarez' (We Are All Juarez) program,"
LeBaron said in a statement.

Money from the program is intended to help rebuild the social fabric of Juarez.

Several villages are located in the Valle de Juarez, including
Guadalupe and Praxedis G. Guerrero, which are across the border from
the West Texas towns of Fabens, Tornillo and Fort Hancock.

El Paso County officials said the new Tornillo-Guadalupe
International Bridge planned for the area will connect the far east
part of the county with the Valle de Juarez. The new bridge is
supposed to replace the existing two-lane Fabens-Caseta bridge.

According to the report, employment in Praxedis G. Guerrero fell by
43.6 percent between 2005 and 2010; in the same period the population
also plummeted, from 8,514 to 4,799.

Five years ago, Guadalupe had 9,148 residents, compared with 6,458 in
2010, or a 30 percent decline.

"Out of 700 established businesses in Guadalupe, 75 percent of them
closed their doors to the public," the report said.

Officials compared Valle de Juarez, an important agricultural
community, to the Mesilla Valley in New Mexico.

"It's impossible to know whether reality has surpassed the official
statistics," the lawmakers' report said. "You have only to travel
through the streets of these villages to see the desolation and abandon."

The report also noted that JEMCO de Mexico, a U.S.-owned maquiladora,
left Guadalupe after operating there for 18 years. A Coca-Cola
company also shut down its office after 25 years in the Valle de
Juarez, along with the Lecheria Zaragoza (dairy) that ceased operating there.