Ciudad Juarez | VivirLatino

Posts Tagged ‘ciudad juarez’

Amnesty International Video About Femicides in Juarez

2:38 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice| Violence| Women| mexico · No Comments

18 Oct 2009

Women raped, murdered and disappeared in Juarez continues to be an ongoing situation. With over 400 cases reported and an unknown number not reported, the issue fades in and out of the public eye.

I would like to know of ways to support local organizations and local families in and around Juarez. Organizations without big budgets so that the mujeres of Juarez can live and rest in peace.

Live From Ciudad Juarez : A Reflection on Voice and Visibility

28 Jul 2009

I came to this post via Hermana Resist’s twitter.

• Five people were murdered at different times throughout the day this morning and into the afternoon…
• Three young men were arrested after crashing a van and fleeing the scene. The men were armed and fired on the police before being arrested…
• One dead body was found floating at the Acequia Madre near the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood. Two others were found injured in that same area…
• One dead body was deposited in the Obrera neighborhood…
• All six members of a family nearly died as they slept. Unknown perpetrators poured gasoline down one of the home’s air ducts and then threw a match to ignite the liquid. The fumes and flames reached every room. Three people sustained 2nd degree burns. The most seriously injured was a 7 year old boy, Héctor Daniel Camacho Esparza…
• Four young men were stabbed last night at the corner of Lázaro Cárdenas and Puerto de Palos; three died and one is in critical condition…
• School was back in session today at the Secundaria Federal. The school had been closed since Friday after two homemade bombs were thrown onto the school grounds…
• The Bancomer bank on the corner of Lara Leos and Paseo Triunfo de la Repbulica was robbed this afternoon…
• A .22 caliber rifle was found abandoned on a public street…
• Three men were detained after having injured several female victims…

The problem in Juarez has spread beyond just homicides. These headlines don’t even include all of the carjackings which are too numerous to report and all the kidnappings which are never reported. There is no one to turn to for help since the police are often the ones orchestrating the kidnappings.

The stories of Juarez aren’t unknown to me pero I do not live them everyday. Yes, I face different kinds of violence daily and maybe it’s because of that perspective I wondered about what wasn’t being said in this article.
Read more…

Visiting the Mami’Hood : Various Reflections on Mothering While Brown

11 May 2009

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all who observed yesterday. The VL team has lots of mami power and yesterday as I spent the day cleaning, working, and yes visiting my own Mami and Titi, I was thinking about Latina mami’hood, the trabajo of raising our children and the lessons in love, struggle, and justice that we learn and impart on our young ones.

In Chile, for example, three Mexican mothers recently testified about the deaths of their daughters. These deaths represent just a tiny fraction of the hundreds of deaths and disappearances of mujeres in Ciudad Juarez.

Between 1993 and 2008 there were 447 registered cases of femicides in and around Juárez that are marked by signs of rape and extreme torture. Apart from the 447 registered cases, there are an estimated 70 young women still missing.

The State of México is accused for failing to confront the femicide phenomenon and in so doing, violating the right to life of its victims. Although only three mothers of the victims came to testify in Santiago, the court signaled that the three cases represent all of the femicides that have taken place in México to date.

The three mothers of the murdered women who testified were Irma Monreal, mother of Esmeralda Herrera, 14, Josefina González, mother of Claudia Ivette Conzález Banda, 20, and Benita Monárrez, mother of Laura Berenice Remos Monárrez, 17. On Tuesday, April 28, the mother’s gave their stories.

Their daughters were found dead in October 2001 along with the bodies of five other women and girls in a zone known as “Campo Algondonero” in Juarez.

The women had been tortured, raped and mutilated.
“I have faith and trust in the judges of this court,” said Monárrez. “I have faith that we will find justice.”

Instead of receiving flowers on Mother’s Day, these mothers are putting flowers on their daughter’s graves.

Speaking of flowers…….
Read more…

Massive Grave in Mexico Linked to Drug Cartels

6:40 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| U.S.-Mexico Border| Violence| mexico| society · 2 Comments

15 Mar 2009

A grave containing 9 bodies was discovered over the weekend in Juarez, Mexico, and all signs point to the fact that this is yet another bloody chapter in Mexico’s on-going drug wars. CNN reports:

Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns.

The discovery coincides with the arrival of some 5,000 Mexican troops dispatched to Ciudad Juarez in an effort to put a stop the the heightening violence in the city.

To get a sense for what drug violence is doing to Ciudad Juarez (incidentally also infamous for the mysterious murders of hundreds of women over the past several years), have a look at the above video from the YouTube and Pulitzer Center “Project: Report” project.

Via / CNN

Gael and Diego bring attention to impunity in Chihuahua

7:48 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Celebrities| Justice| mexico · Comments Off

13 Aug 2007

Mexican heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal has joined forces with his buddy actor Diego Luna in a crusade to bring attention to human rights offenses and impunity in Mexico, namely in Ciudad Juarez and the Mexican state it calls home, Chihuahua.

Gael and Diego have been working on a documentary called “Doble injusticia: feminicidio y tortura en Ciudad Juárez y Chihuahua” (”Double injustice: feminicide and torture in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua”), and say it’s time to “stand up to impunity”.

The documentary was produced with the help of the Mexican Commision for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights and the international non-profit Witness. According to Mexico’s Milenio, the film

“narrates the story of Nerya Cervantes, who disappeared in 2003 and that of David Meza, her cousin, who was tortured so that he would implicate himself of Neyra’s murder, one the many that occur in Chihuahua.”

Diego and Gael shared the film with a select group of people in Mexico City this weekend — at a dinner which cost about $300 per head – but left out invites to politicians. According to the actors, only one public official was invited (the head of the Human Rights Commission) and snubbed the others because the event “wasn’t to see them but to share with socially responsible people the state of human rights.”

Via / Milenio

JLo to be honored for human rights work

2:30 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Celebrities| Women · 1 Comment

8 Feb 2007

JLo will receive a human rights award from Amnesty International for her work in bringing attention to the strange disappearances and murders of hundreds of women in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez:

Lopez will receive the Artists for Amnesty award Feb. 14 at the Berlin Film Festival from Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta. The film “Bordertown” will make its debut Feb. 15 at the festival.

In “Bordertown,” Lopez plays an investigative journalist reporting on the serial killings of women in the border city of Juarez, Mexico. Directed by Gregory Nava, the film also stars Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen.

Is it just me, or does JLo seem to have gotten more “deep” since she married Marc Anthony?

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment

Image: JLo on the set of Bordertown – Credit Grosby Group

Mexico passes landmark domestic violence law

3:14 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Justice| Women| mexico · 2 Comments

2 Feb 2007

K.Rape_illus.jpg Mexican president Felipe Calderón announced yesterday that he will be “unstoppable before the issue of gender violence”, as he declared the passage of the first federal domestic violence legislation for the country:

The law — enacted with its publication in the federal register — does not drastically change how violators are currently punished. But it symbolically underscores the government’s recognition of a scourge that is widespread but often ignored in this traditionally macho society.

Officially, the law is the first federal measure combatting domestic violence and other abuse against women, though similar statues were already on the books in many cities and states.

Possible Juarez killer detained?

12:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Justice| Women| mexico · Comments Off

18 Aug 2006

The Denver Post is reporting that officials in Denver have picked up a suspect that is believed to have been involved in the killings of hundreds of women in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (Mexico). Details are still sketchy, but Mexican officials are also saying that there is reason to believe that the suspect is part of a group of criminals responsible for the crimes:

Edgar Alvarez-Cruz was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Denver for being in the country illegally after Mexican authorities asked the U.S. Marshals Service to help locate him in the city.

Mexican authorities believe Alvarez-Cruz is part of a gang of men who raped and murdered at least 10 women in Ciudad Juarez from 1993 to 2003, U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza Jr. said.

The suspect apparently has an arrest record in the state of Colorado dating back to 2002, and was apprehended on an immigration violation. No warrant was issued for the murders but:

Mexican authorities made a specific request that they wanted Alvarez-Cruz in custody.

Mexico Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca told reporters Alvarez-Cruz had been under investigation but fled the country.

“We don’t exactly know how many homicides he may have been responsible for, but there is solid evidence in several cases we know of,” Cabeza de Vaca said.

Here’s hoping this is a breakthrough, but pressure on the Mexican government to put a stop to this should not subside. If this man is involved, he is but one piece of the puzzle and we should all continue to make noise about this cause.

Via / The Denver Post

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