Exodus from TJ to San Diego

Given the crime wave that has catapulted Baja California from a niche resort town and quick getaway from LA’s urban jungles to a desolate sprawl of fish taco stands, tiendas, and college bar hangouts. With the Mexican drug cartels gaining control of all aspects of Mexican society, the Baja today has been jeopordized with crime sprees that have implicated US citizens doubling as drug traffickers and innocent tourists who didn’t get the memo to stay away.

With this, the Baja region, long a site of economic disenfranchisement and identity crisis, has given way to a wasteland of crime dealings. The Mexican government has sent more than 3,000 troops into Tijuana in the last 1 1/2 years, and on several occasions soldiers have shot it out with drug cartel gunmen on residential streets. For many, this disruption will have severe implications on their future, as the poverty rate in the state is far below the national level. Moreover, the region’s economy is dependent on US tourism, as much of the tiendas, restaurants, and attractions cater specifically to them. With the high rate of criminal activity, the gringo tourists and college spring breakers have avoided TJ, Rosarito, and Ensenada at all costs, leaving merchants to board up their financial assets and take cover.

For the rich, the only way to mitigate their livelihood with their commitment to their homeland is to move several miles north, to San Diego. They have the luxury to switch spatial locations, however difficult the transition across the board is, it keeps them away from potential kidnappings and robberies. “San Diego is the only place you can forget the sense of insecurity and fear. There, you can breathe. Psychologically, crossing the border relieves the stress,” said Guillermo Alonso Meneses, a professor of cultural studies at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana.

The LA Times reports that real estate agents, business owners and victims groups estimate that more than 1,000 Tijuana families — including those of doctors, lawyers, law enforcement officials, Lucha Libre wrestlers and business owners — have made this move in recent years as the drug- fueled violence has worsened.

Baja Woes Continue

On Sunday, following one of the bloodiest days in Tijuana’s history, authorities held no news conferences. The death toll in the gangland-style shootings early Saturday between rival drug traffickers increased to 15 from 13, after two men died of their injuries.

Official silence is common in Mexico, where thousands have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. But many analysts believe that Calderon’s decision to send thousands of army troops to Baja California, Veracruz, Michoacan and other states to crack down on the drug trade is reaping a type of dividend.

The government’s efforts have disrupted agreements between trafficking organizations and corrupt officials, setting off turf wars among weakened organizations, analysts and government officials say.

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