Frontera NorteSur April 2000

The bitter war of words between El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez and Juárez business owners--still feuding over who was responsible for a January 21 car accident which killed five young El Pasoans--intensified in early March, El Paso police released toxicology reports that showed the driver of the car, as well as most of his passengers, were not legally drunk. Juárez business owners demanded that Ramirez make a public apology. The El Paso Mayor, however, refused to do so. "Show me where and when I insulted Juárez," Ramirez said March 4. "The only thing that I said--and upon which I placed my emphasis--was that this tragedy was a consequence of the irresponsibility of the bar and disco owners who sell alcohol indiscriminately to North American minors and make money at their expense."

In his first statements regarding the accident, Ramirez accused Juárez authorities and businesses as being "responsible" for the tragedy. According to El Paso police, the body of driver Eric Lozano had a blood alcohol level of 0.04 percent, which is not only below the 0.08 percent  limit required in Texas in order to declare a person legally drunk, but is, said El Diario, the result of drinking "one glass of beer." El Paso police said that "speed and alcohol" were the causes of the fatal crash. Only one of the four passengers was proven to be legally drunk, and one showed no trace of alcohol in her system at all.

A spokesman for the owners of the Copacabana nightclub, which the five El Pasoans visited the night of January 21, said they were consulting with their lawyers about filing a lawsuit against the city of El Paso. Steve Donnelly, spokesman for Vertigo nightclub, said the toxicology results confirmed that Juárez bar owners were "unjustly" criticized. "The mayor has been trying to make an example of us, but the truth is that we don't promote drinking. We sell the dancing and the music and the lights," he said February 26.

Antonio Medina, president of the Alliance of Wine, Liquor, Beer, and Restaurant Businesses in Juárez, said they "regret what happened to those youngsters . . . But a determination has been made in our favor, which shows that (Juárez) businessmen take lots of precaution in their bars and nightclubs so that people don't get drunk."

For his part, the mayor reiterated that his major concern was getting Juárez city officials and bar owners to quit serving alcohol to El Paso minors younger than 21. The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18. In late February, the El Paso Police Department was awarded a $200,000 grant by the governor's office to fund the Underage Drinking Initiative. Among other things, the Initiative would pay overtime for officers patrolling international bridges, in addition to funding media campaigns and a full-time coordinator who would work with officials from Juárez, El Paso, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, to target underage drinking.

Juárez businessmen then demanded a public apology from Ramirez. The first to do so was the leader of the Merchants Association of Avenida Juárez, Recaredo Núñez, who said February 26 that "the mayor must make a public apology to all Juárenses for his offensive declarations which have affected the image of the city." Héctor Carreón, leader of the National Chamber of Commerce (Canaco), agreed, adding that such an apology would "bring an end to the conflict" between the border cities.

However, Ramirez maintained his position, saying that "Sadly, the toxicology reports prove what I suspected: alcohol was involved in this unfortunate accident."

The mayor's refusal to apologize enraged Juárez business leaders, who took out a full-page ad in El Diario demanding that Ramirez and all TV, radio, and print journalism sources in El Paso make "UNA DISCULPA PUBLICA" to the families of the five young El Pasoans and to the Copacabana and businesses in general, "for their lack of professional ethics, their yellow journalism and sensationalism." The ad concluded: "Juárenses demand respect for our sovereignty and our image, and we are are not going to continue to play a political game which will result in seriously damaging thousands of Mexican families!! Enough already!!"

El Diario was more direct in its March 1 editorial, "An Answer to An Infamy," which they published in both Spanish and English. "What is the foundation that explains such vileness?" the editorial said. "It is well known, as the pages of El Diario have fairly reported, that the El Paso Mayor is facing a severe credibility crisis, after all of his incriminations against Ciudad Juárez have fallen apart for being unsustainable. After the tragic and regrettable death of five young El Pasoans in a traffic accident, Ramirez had no problem blaming Juárez for the tragedy . . . In the arrogance of the perfect accuser, there is no sin on the American side, nor a possible guilt, that could have resulted in that tragedy."  The editorial went on to accuse Ramirez of "xenophobia," "slander," "hasty lies," and "calumny." In addition, El Diario denounced the El Paso Times for its "paranoia."

The responses of Chihuahua governor Patricio Martínez and Mayor Gustavo Elizondo, however, were restrained. Elizondo commented that "the El Paso authorities made comments and declrarations which were unsustained."  Martínez said he would intensify his "Zero Tolerance" security program, which includes close monitoring of businesses which sell alcohol and "have a high incidence of problems that affect the community." He said if necessary he would authorize law enforcement agents to cancel the licenses of bars which do not cooperate with the plan. In addition, the governor said he would propose a law which would forbid the sale of alcohol to minors from North America.

The war of words between Ramirez and Juárez businesses disappeared from the headlines with the new wave of execution-style murders in the city March 6. At the same time, the El Paso Times began to cover the murder of an 18-year-old El Paso girl. Some of the business leaders involved, including Héctor Carreon, changed their focus to The Committee For the Dignity of Ciudad Juárez, which was formed out of a group of existing official and private organizations on March 7. The committee will seek to promote a positive image of Juárez at the national and international levels.

Sources: El Diario, El Paso Times, El Norte