Pubdate: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2010 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/townhall/ci_14227323 Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 MEXICAN RESOLVE: STAND FIRM FOR PEACE Here's an instance where the average citizens in Mexico are beginning to use resolve to fight back against the heavily armed drug cartels. Without bullets. The small town of Praxedis G. Guerrero, just south of eastern El Paso County, has nine women on a 13-person police force, and the new chief of police is a 20-year-old female university student. Marisol Valles Garcia, who took office Wednesday, said, "People trust women more. They are more sensitive ... Fear is always there. I think we are all scared." Praxedis G. Guerrero is a town of about 8,000 residents near the Texas communities Fort Hancock and Tornillo. It is a town of alfalfa and cotton farmers mainly. And, as with many small, rural border towns in Mexico, people are afraid of a complete drug-cartel takeover. Thus, people flee to other areas. So far this year, some 2,500 people have been murdered in Juarez and surrounding rural towns. In nearby Porvenir, drug cartels seek a refuge for easier access to the U.S. border across from Fort Hancock. They have threatened to burn the town down. Fast action by citizens doused a fire at a church. Last weekend, a Porvenir official and his son were murdered in Juarez. And citizens of Ascension, located south of the New Mexico bootheel, went to the unlawful extreme last month when they chased down two presumed kidnappers and beat them to death. From early reports, Valles has a demeanor that may be quiet and even shy. But it is also firm. And definitely, there is resolve. "I trust my team," she said. Marisol Valles Garcia, petite and soft-spoken, just might be the new face of Mexico. "It is my community, she said. "We all dream about peace." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D