Close-up | Drug war brings blood, fear to Mexican tourist spot

ROSARITO BEACH, Mexico —

Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres always has pitched his seaside city as a cut-rate paradise. But even this relentless hometown booster is stumped these days: How do you sell the Mexican good life in the midst of a drug war?

The city's bustling main drag, Benito Juárez Boulevard, has been the scene of two shootings since September, one a drive-by slaying of a 15-year-old boy and three other people in a pet store filled with frenzied puppies and canaries.

Gunmen shot down one cop guarding a park. Two other cops were killed after finishing their shift, two more while on patrol. After the seventh cop killing in one month, officers in October marched on City Hall asking Torres for bulletproof vests and more guns. About 30 police have resigned in recent weeks.

Torres, 72, used to visit California regularly to promote Rosarito Beach. There's not much point now, he said.

"I need something to tell the American people, what we have accomplished," Torres said in his exquisitely appointed office. "We have to fix the drug war."

As Mexico's offensive on crime has pushed the death toll in drug-related crime to 4,000 this year, U.S. officials have warned citizens about travel in border areas because of the "increasingly violent fight for control of narcotics-trafficking routes."

Mexican officials, however, say the nation's resort towns are safe, and Mexico's tourism board said the number of travelers to the country increased by about 5 percent in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period last year.

Those travelers don't appear to be showing up much in Rosarito Beach.

Checkpoints and patrols

Once the economic engine of this city of 140,000 people, tourism has declined to such a degree that some hotels are considering closing for the winter. Dozens of curio shops and restaurants are shuttered. And mega-beach clubs that once attracted hordes of college students sit empty.

"It feels as quiet as an Oregon beach town," said Margaret Barr, a visitor from Portland. "It's like: Where are all the people?"

Torres invariably answers concerns with a statistic seldom mentioned in the headlines: No tourists have been killed or targeted in Rosarito Beach, he said. And unless people come to sell or use drugs, they shouldn't encounter problems.

"Tourists are not targeted; citizens are not targeted. But the violence makes it feel dangerous to be around," Torres said. "It's very hard to know who's going to be hit next."

The mayor concedes it is difficult shaping perceptions at a time grim-faced federal agents patrol the town in Hummers, and tourists are stopped at checkpoints by Mexican marines with machine guns.

"I have to change the town"

Torres, who owns the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel, long ago hitched his fortunes to the city, which he helped incorporate in 1995. In its heyday, the hotel, which sits on a pristine stretch of sand, drew stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, and it has remained a favorite of Southern Californians who usually fill the hotel on summer weekends.

After serving as the town's first mayor, Torres returned to managing the hotel. He watched the city double in size and become one of the fastest-growing cities in Mexico.

Rosarito Beach also became known for its corrupt police department, with officers supplementing their $800 monthly salaries by extorting tourists.

Torres said he decided last year to come out of retirement to clean up the corruption. "If I owned a hot-dog stand, I'd probably move," he said. "But I can't move my hotel, so I have to change the town."

It hasn't been easy. Within two weeks of his hiring a reformer as secretary of public security in December, 12 police officers tried to kill the secretary in a shootout at police headquarters. A bodyguard died in the attack.

In September, the gang war in nearby Tijuana spilled over the arid hills, with rival factions of the Arellano Felix drug cartel vying for control of key trafficking corridors through the area's marina and isolated coastline.

Since September, at least 31 people, most with links to organized crime, have been killed in Rosarito Beach, according to the Baja California attorney general's office. Earlier this month, a man's body was found in an empty lot. A loaded .22-caliber handgun was in his belt.

A bright spot ahead

Torres has received threatening phone calls from people claiming to be from a drug cartel. He travels everywhere with a heavily armed security detail. A mild-mannered grandfather of five, he plays down the danger.

"If I don't forget about these things, I wouldn't sleep at night," Torres said. "And I sleep every night."

Many in the expatriate community of about 14,000 say the soft-spoken mayor is putting up a good fight. Few U.S. retirees have been affected by the violence, and most residents don't plan to move from a place where their fixed incomes afford them oceanfront views.

"We're sort of pretty resilient," said Anne Hines, a Canadian married to an American who publishes a local newsletter for expatriates. "We're distressed more for Hugo Torres than our own particular safety."

Torres, who works 12-hour days, veers from routine mayoral duties to warlike crises. He visits poor neighborhoods where residents thank him for paving roads or delivering electricity, and he holds meetings at his City Hall office for parents concerned about rumors that their children will be kidnapped from schools.

On Halloween, the mayor urged children not to wear masks, lest criminals take advantage of the merriment to wreak more havoc. Halloween went off without incident.

Torres also encourages fellow business owners to lower their hotel and restaurant prices. At the Rosarito Beach Hotel, the midweek rate for a standard room is about $29.

There are bright spots. Hollywood is coming to town next year: The sequel to "The Chronicles of Narnia" is scheduled to begin shooting at nearby Baja Studios, which should pump millions of dollars into the local economy.

Torres says he's wrested control of the police department from corrupt officers. And the drug war can't last forever. "I'm an optimist," he said. "My destiny is tied with Rosarito."