Six US citizens have been killed by gunmen in separate attacks in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico since last Saturday. An American woman was killed by multiple gunshots inside a tortilla shop on Saturday. Two other victims were shot to death at their car on the same day. On Sunday, one victim was killed along with two Mexican men when gunmen opened fire on a group standing outside a house. The last two victims were students from the University of Texas, who were gunned down as they drove through the city on Tuesday. The attackers are believed to be linked to drug cartels in Mexico. It remains unclear why Americans were targeted. Ciudad Juarez is one of most violent border cities in Mexico. According to the US government data, at least 37 US citizens have been killed in that city since January, compared to 39 in 2008 and 2009 combined.
The article reported the increasing number of killings against US citizens in Ciudad Juarez, which inevitably makes people wonder why Americans were targeted in the attacks. But this may be a result of information asymmetry given by the reporter. Without statistics about all the killings and nationalities of the victims, it is too quick for one to conclude that US citizens are particularly targeted. The recent six killings may be just a co-incidence, as might have applied to the victim who was killed along with the two Mexican men.
However, if the killings against US citizens were not due to coincidence, what could be the reasons behind them? Very likely, it is related to the US ‘war on drugs’ policy in Mexico. As discussed in my last blog, the drug cartels mainly target violence on the police and other drug gangs as a response triggered by police crack-down on drug violence and intense competition over trafficking routes among different drug gangs respectively. But if American citizens and even civilians (students) were also targeted, then the drug cartels must have developed a high level of hatred toward the US as a whole country. This hatred most probably stems from the US intervention to combat drug violence in its ‘war on drugs’ policy.
Still, one may wonder why drug violence is so serious in Ciudad Juarez that even ‘7,500 troops and elite police have failed to end beheading and car bombings’ there. Apart from its unique geographic location which gives rise to higher supply and demand of both drugs and firearms, the high unemployment rate and poor education system in the city are also key factors. Many jobless youths and school fall-outs join the gangs, feeling no hope for their future due to the economic plight and the failure of social support system. It is the high demand and supply of the potential personel for criminal activities that render the social order and control particularly difficult there.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A35AQ20101104
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