A DECADE ago, economists hailed Tijuana as a place where cheap Mexican labour and US financing could meet, attracting Asian firms eager to set up manufacturing plants to export to North America.
Now, that vision is slipping away, a victim of drug violence that has been exploding near the US-Mexico border for the past three years.
Once a freewheeling city that has served Americans cheap tequila since the US prohibition era, Tijuana is at t
he centre of a three-way drug war between rival gangs and Mexico's military. Drug-related murders are a daily occurrence.
A few years ago, central Tijuana was bustling and the main drag, Revolution Avenue, was a busy thoroughfare. But today it is deserted, lined with "for sale" and "for rent" signs.
"Many big companies are pulling out and many small companies are going bankrupt. Business isn't enough to even pay the rent for the shops and factory space," said Manuel Cesena, 57, who has owned a shoe shop in Revolution Avenue for 30 years, but is now considering closing.
Mr Cesena, who has seen his sales fall fivefold since 2005, said it was crucial for him to end his working day before nightfall or run the risk of being robbed or kidnapped.
More than 1,000 people have died this year across Mexico in battles between drug gangs and security forces, the highest murder rate since bloodshed escalated in 2006.
Tijuana is one of the most violent cities in Mexico. A group of gangs from the Pacific state of Sinaloa led by Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman have set out to destroy the Arellano Felix cartel and to take over lucrative smuggling routes into California.
Business people face daily telephone threats of extortion. Kidnappings to finance drug gangs have jumped this year.
"We are very afraid and have to be careful not to get kidnapped," said Andres Mendez, 46, who runs an arts and crafts business in downtown Tijuana.
In the city this year, drug gangs have killed more than 200 people. Seventeen drug hit-men were killed in a shooting in April. Even children have been murdered.
In March, a plant in Tijuana assembling Panasonic electrical goods for export closed with the loss of 3,000 jobs. Managers declined to comment on the closure, but a city official said insecurity was a big factor.
Mexico's federal government says it is doing everything it can to restore security to Tijuana and other cities in Baja California, one of the most violent states.
Since January last year, thousands of troops patrol Tijuana's streets and highways, and are engaged in a daily battle to destroy the Arellano Felix and Sinaloa drug cartels and clean up the corrupt police forces that ally with them.
But winning the fight will not be easy. When closed-circuit televisions were introduced, gangs sabotaged them and corrupt police switched them off to allow crimes to be committed.
The full article contains 492 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
