Mexican Drug War Fuels Violence In Juarez

JUAREZ, MEXICO - MARCH 24: The historic Kentucky Club is seen on March 24, 2010 in Juarez, Mexico. The Kentucky Club, once a thriving establishment for Americans including Steve McQueen and Marilyn Monroe, has fallen on hard times due to the lack of tourists in Juarez and a community wide fear of going out after dark. Despite this, The Kentucky Club still keeps regular hours and serves its special margarita, which was supposedly invented here in 1946 by a longtime bartender Lorenzo Garcia. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano all visited Mexico on Tuesday for discussions centered on Mexico's endemic drug-related violence. The border city of Juarez, Mexico has been racked by violent drug related crime recently and has quickly become one of the most dangerous cities in the world to live. As drug cartels have been fighting over ever lucrative drug corridors along the United States border, the murder rate in Juarez has risen to 173 slayings for every 100,000 residents. President Felipe Calderon's strategy of sending 7000 troops to Juarez has not mitigated the situation. With a population of 1.3 million, 2,600 people died in drug-related violence last year and 500 so far this year, including two Americans recently who worked for the U.S. Consulate and were killed as they returned from a children's party. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)