-- by Ana Ley, The McAllen Monitor:

The latest economic boon in the McAllen area — a place that fared well during the global recession — may be partly attributed to a drug war that is luring investment from northern Mexico.

Drawn by McAllen’s large Hispanic population and discouraged by violent cartel attacks in northern Mexico, entrepreneurs south of the Rio Grande are pouring into South Texas.

An average of three new businesses owned by Mexican investors enters the McAllen area market each month, said Javier Martinez, assistant director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Texas-Pan American.

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