Travel to Juárez has been declared off-limits for U.S. military personnel, Fort Bliss officials announced Saturday in the wake of a rash of drug-related violence that is now taking a toll on both sides of the border.

A Fort Bliss official said Saturday that an unacceptable risk to the health, safety, welfare and morale to military personnel prompted the decision to temporarily discontinue issuing passes to soldiers who want to travel to Juárez.

“This is only for a short term until things settle down and there’s no perceived danger to any soldier or anyone going to Juárez,” Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said. “I think it’s just based on the events that are going on in Juárez at this time.”

Other developments occurred Saturday as Mexican and U.S. authorities sought to reduce tensions in the aftermath of a January killing spree in Juárez:

In Juárez, police continued to receive threats despite the arrival of Mexican federal police officers armed with assault rifles and wearing ski masks and flak jackets. Police on Saturday morning found a poster fastened to a monument to fallen police in Juárez that identified officers slain during the past year and named about a dozen current officers who could be targets of organized crime.

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At Thomason Hospital, officials sought ways to calm the fears of patients and visitors as the hospital remained under a lockdown as heavily armed deputies from El Paso County Sheriff’s Office continued to guard Chihuahua police Cmdr. 

Fernando Lozano Sandoval, who is recovering from an assassination attempt on his life in Juárez. “Things are getting back to normal, but we’re still under security measures,” Jim Valenti, Thomason chief executive officer, said. “The big thing is that he’s going to continue to be hospitalized, and that’s where we are.”

Offutt said the disruption for military personnel who are now restricted from entering Juárez to visit family or travel may only be temporary. The decision will be reviewed in two weeks.

Fort Bliss has on occasion temporarily prohibited soldiers from crossing into Juárez, she said.

“For a short time, it would be to the advantage to the soldier to protect him and put this into effect,” Offutt said.

Juárez already has recorded more than 30 homicides since the beginning of the year, and the poster discovered Saturday morning promised more to come.

Jaime Torres, spokesman for the Juárez Municipal Police, said the poster was turned over to the Chihuahua State Investigative Police and the officers named are working as usual.

“We take this anonymous message like many that we have received, and we have taken extreme precautions to evade an attack,” Torres said.

Thomason Hospital officials said Saturday that staff and patients were beginning to feel more confident that violence in Juárez would not spill over into El Paso.

Valenti said hospital officials are working with security and have now expanded the number of doors patients can use to enter and exit the hospital from one to three.

He said he expects a heavy security presence by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for the duration of Lozano’s stay at the hospital, but could not say whether that would be a matter of weeks or months.

Lozano was ambushed by gunmen Monday night as he drove his SUV in Juárez. He was shot twice in the chest, and one bullet tore his left lung, authorities said.

Valenti said that Lozano, a U.S. citizen with dual nationality, has made arrangements to pay for his medical bills through insurance or cash.

Hospital officials said in a statement this week that Lozano was admitted to Thomason based on a decision by emergency responders to transport the police commander after responding to an international bridge after a 911 call.

In addition to the assassination attempt of Lozano, municipal police Lt. Julián Cháirez Hernández was found last week, shot to death inside his patrol car, and Francisco Ledezma Salazar, operations coordinator for the municipal police, was fatally shot inside his SUV by men traveling in a minivan.

Link: Elpasotimes.com

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