By Froma Harrop Source: Jewish World Review MATAMOROS, Mexico - Garcia's is where Americans go for a quick taste of Mexico. Or did. Garcia's is a vast emporium here in Matamoros, selling leather purses, silver jewelry and other Mexicana. Just a 10-minute walk across the bridge from Brownsville, Texas, its shelves groan with merchandise. And the store's attractive restaurant stands ready to serve its fajita specials. But the mariachi bands play for almost no one. Few Americans are patronizing Garcia's, or other businesses that cater to day-trippers. They're too afraid to cross the Rio Grande River. When something goes wrong at the border, it goes wrong for a lot of people. Violence in Mexico hurts business on both sides of the border. Ask who's to blame, and most American fingers automatically point southward. But it's not entirely - or even mostly - Mexico's fault, for reasons to follow. Here is the situation. Mexico's drug cartels are battling to fill a vacuum for control of the market. The fighting is vicious. Corpses turn up at the sides of roads, some showing signs of torture. Last month, Mexico had to send armed convoys to restore order in Matamoros: Six prison employees had been murdered outside a maximum-security prison holding drug bosses. Most distressing to the tourism industry, the mayhem goes beyond drug traffickers' killing one another. Apparent innocents, including Americans, are being kidnapped and held for ransom. In December, gunmen abducted Brownsville doctor Charles Rogers at the cancer clinic he ran in Matamoros. Rogers was released after his wife paid an $88,000 ransom. At least 27 Americans have simply vanished. The missing includes Brenda Cisneros, a community-college student in Laredo, Texas, and her best friend, Yvette Martinez. Last September, the two had crossed over to Nuevo Laredo to celebrate Brenda's 23rd birthday. They haven't been heard from since. So this is not a situation where an ordinary tourist with average street smarts can feel completely safe. The U.S. consulate is warning Americans to use considerable caution when visiting Mexican border towns. Obviously, none of this is good for tourism. Over the last two years, about 50 businesses have closed in Nuevo Laredo's lively entertainment district. Your writer and three friends were about the only recognizable Americans walking Matamoros' main tourist drag, Alvaro Obregon Avenue. Here was a street once crowded with retirees, Texans out to party and other American day visitors. We couldn't go five steps without an underemployed cab driver offering to take us to the market. The tourism drought on the Mexican side is sorely felt in American border towns, as well. Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville all do business as gateways to their Mexican twins: Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros. The border crossings are a mere day's drive from San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. Who's at fault for this state of affairs? Americans should not portray themselves as simple victims of Mexican chaos. Sure, Mexico has failed to contain its criminal drug cartels - and the corrupt officials who work with them. But the lucrative market in illicit drugs is totally made in America. It is the product of our own failings. Our ludicrous war on drugs has done nothing more than create fabulous prices for cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances. The United States can't stop its own drug traffickers from taking big risks in the drug trade. How could Mexico, with far fewer opportunities for legally obtained wealth, contain the lust for immense profits? The American remedy should be to abandon this war on drugs. The United States should consider the enlightened policies already tried in Europe, which medically treats addicts and provides drugs for those stuck in their habit. Close out the market for illicit drugs, and the Mexican cartels are out of business. The same goes for Afghan drug lords amassing funds for terrorist operations. And imagine the money Americans could save abandoning their $69-billion-a-year domestic war on drugs. The towns along the Mexican-U.S. border, meanwhile, are praying the problem will somehow go away. Several have sponsored public-relations campaigns aimed at minimizing American fears. The immediate hope is that college students on spring break - not normally a cautious group - will shrug at the warnings and head for the bars across the border. They may not be the prime market for leather briefcases, but they'll do. Link to article: http://jewishworldreview.com/0205/harrop021605.asp