Tragedy In Juarez Spurs El Paso Economy
By Brandi Grissom / Texas Tribune
This is the first in a series examining life in three pairs of sister cities along the Texas-Mexico border and how residents on both sides of the line are affected by the bloody drug war.
Three twentysomethings sway on stage, belting out a spirited, if off-key, version of Abba?s ?Dancing Queen.? A packed crowd sings along, sipping beer and cocktails as the lyrics scroll by on TV screens across the bar.
It?s a Thursday night during Holy Week, and this El Paso karaoke bar, Il Cant, is one of several new nightclubs and restaurants hopping with patrons from both sides of the Rio Grande. El Paso never used to be so hip; the nightlife in Jurez, just across the border, had always outshined that of its comparatively plain sister city. But as the savage drug war rages on there, both the fun and the business have fled ? following the customers. Juarenses don?t go out at night. Tourists don?t come at all. With the streets empty and their cash registers quiet, many restaurant, nightclub and small-business owners have moved to El Paso, bringing the sleepy city a vibrant new culture and an economic boost. In a tragic irony, a measure of El Paso?s recent fortune results directly from the suffering of its sister city.
The economic jolt from Jurez refugees comes as El Paso reaps the payoff from years of planning and pleading for recognition. Some 24,000 new soldiers are moving to Fort Bliss, and a massive new medical complex is sprouting, along with billions in infrastructure to accommodate the unprecedented growth. ?While the rest of the country is calling this the ?Great Recession,? we?re calling it the ?recession that?s making us great,?? says El Paso Mayor John Cook.
But experts warn that El Paso leaders rely on Jurez?s demise at their own peril. Ultimately, as Jurez goes, so goes El Paso, they say. If the Mexican city?s expansive maquila industry collapses, it could bury a significant portion of El Paso?s newfound prosperity. ?El Paso had better be looking at a potential resolution of the problems in Jurez,? says Tony Payan, a political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, ?because El Paso is dependent on Jurez ? not the other way around.?
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