Drug War is Fine - Wish You Were Here!

Nuevo Laredo... Heavily armed Mexican army troops and federal police guard the principal street intersections of this popular border town, as the government tries to quell a brutal, bloody battle between warring drug cartels. 75 people were murdered during 2003 in Nuevo Laredo, and the majority of the killings appear to be drug-related. In recent months, the violence has spilled across the Rio Grande to Laredo. Three men were gunned down in Laredo last November in contract killings now linked to the cartel struggle across the river. The battle raging in Nuevo Laredo is for control of one of the Southwest border's most lucrative drug trafficking corridors

We heard about this the instant we talked to the locals in Laredo. We still went across into Nuevo Laredo where we saw the military presence (along with incredible poverty) in the article. Two short trips for dinner and drinks which were very cheap.

Laredo is a town that will never rise above it's alternate economy and/or poverty for geographic reasons alone. Mexican Americans were routinely kind and soft-spoken. Had a nice time, and now a non-stop week of deadlines awaits.