Reply #2: The cartels are now systematically emptying Mexican border towns [View All]

[niceypoo]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1kxKdVNumtUaRoAZB_xf1XzxDfgD9F494JG4">AP Enterprise: Mexico cartels empty border towns

They have burned down homes in Esperanza ("Hope") and torched a church on Good Friday in El Porvenir ("The Future"). Wherever they strike, they leave notes ordering residents to leave.
"They were typewritten, and they said, 'You have just a few hours to get out,'" Christian, the 14-year-old, said as he set off for a new life in Texas. Like others cited in this story, he would give only his first name for fear of reprisal. Some were so afraid they wouldn't even give that.
In El Porvenir, which normally has about 3,000 residents, only a couple hundred appear to remain. During Easter Week, when schools were closed and the plaza would normally bustle, the only things moving in the center of town were a few stray dogs.
The exodus appears to be the work of the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful drug organization. The Associated Press, citing U.S. intelligence, reported last week that the group has seized control of smuggling corridors through the region after a bloody, two-year battle with the Juarez cartel.