Monocle

In 2005 it was voted the safest city in Latin America and shortly before that the best city in the region to do business in. But it would win some very different titles this year. The wave of drug-related violence in Mexico is upsetting life even here in Monterrey.

Mexico’s narrative of violence dates back to 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón launched a war on the country’s drug cartels. In the resulting power struggles these cartels are now battling one another for control of lucrative drug routes to the US. While the very worst situation is in the border town of Juárez, where three US consulate workers were murdered last month, violence has spread across the country.

In the region around Monterrey, three cartels – the Gulf, Sinaloa and La Familia – have been fighting the Gulf’s former paramilitary wing, the Zetas, who are notorious for their beheadings and assassinations. In February giant banners appeared in Monterrey announcing this cartel-alliance against the Zetas.

As a result Monterrey has endured a wave of large-scale roadblocks, kidnappings and killings. And because drug cartels favour assault weapons such as the AK-47 and AR-15, the risk to innocent bystanders is high. In March two scholarship students were killed in crossfire at the Monterrey Institute of Technology & Higher Education, the country’s most prestigious university.

On Tuesday in Monterrey, Carlos Pascual, the US Ambassador to Mexico, said that violence is “perhaps the biggest threat to our shared economic success”. Pascual added that if left “unchecked, violence and instability could cause corporations to rethink their business strategy of locating in Mexico.” Economic forecasters have estimated that the violence reduces Mexico GDP by two to three per cent a year.

Carlos Saenz, an independent political risk consultant, agrees that safety concerns limit Mexico’s competitive edge, but says tourism is most directly affected. “Foreign investors can take necessary precautions for a commercial venture, but not a family wanting a beach vacation.”

Many foreigners have reconsidered their commitments in the face of brutal violence. Michael Pezone, an American working in the city of Torreón until recently, says, “The danger was in your face”. After several brutal murders near his workplace, and being followed on occasion, he finally decided to leave the country. The University of Texas has suspended its study abroad programme in Monterrey until 2011 and has recalled its students.

Meanwhile, people in Monterrey are venting their frustrations with the cartels and with the Calderón government. A recent protest in the city drew over 7,000 people.

Nearly 23,000 people have been killed since 2006 and March alone saw 1,000 deaths, the bloodiest month of the past three years. “For most Mexicans the problem is so endemic,” says Pezone “they feel powerless and just hope it will pass.”