Murder City_ Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields - Charles Bowden [126]
Frontera Norte Sur, Las Cruces (N.Mex.), March 18, 2008
The unearthing of at least 48 murder victims from three properties in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua City during recent weeks grimly refocused attention on the persistence of torture and forced disappearance in Mexico. Since many—if not most—of the victims were presumably associated with illegal drug trafficking and other criminal activities, the popular wisdom is that common citizens who keep their noses out of trouble shouldn’t be overly concerned by the discovery of mass horrors like the latest narco-graves.
Condemned by all human rights organizations, forced disappearance constitutes the silent side of Mexico’s narco war. Much more visible, of course, are the inner city shoot-outs, streetside body dumpings and public executions that have jarred entire regions of the country. In Ciudad Juárez, for example, 9 people were reported slain gangland style on Monday, March 17, including one man who was shot to death inside the popular Willy’s dance club in the city’s Pronaf district.
Deming (N.Mex.) Headlight, March 19, 2008
COLUMBUS MAYOR EDDIE ESPINOZA WATCHES FROM CHAIR AS DENTIST IS ROBBED AT GUNPOINT
“I went down there to get some dental work done,” Espinoza said. “I was in the chair, the dentist was doing a root canal. A couple of guys came in and robbed the dentist (Felipe Salazar).” That was at about 9:30 A.M., Sunday.
“They’re getting brazen down there,” said Espinoza, whose dental work was not finished, for obvious reasons. “I didn’t have no fear about going to Palomas before. Now, I do.”
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 19, 2008
Juan Manuel Castro Ávila, 35, director of the transit police in Guadalupe, Bravos district, was wounded in an AK-47 attack at the entrance to his office in the Guadalupe Town Hall. The uniformed officer was shot by an armed commando from the inside of a vehicle as he arrived for his evening work shift at about 7:00 P.M. The armed attack caused terror among the residents of Guadalupe who at this hour were getting off work and walking around the central plaza. Castro Ávila was reported in serious but stable condition after being taken to the hospital in Juárez.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 20, 2008
A 30-year-old woman, identified by neighbors as Carolina, was killed by two gunshots when she opened the door to her house last night in the Hacienda de las Torres neighborhood. She was a housewife and mother of three small children, who were present when she was shot. Police report that a man knocked and then shot the woman at point-blank range when she opened the door. After hearing the shots, neighbors arrived to find the victim dead in the entrance to the house with two children crying beside her body. Minutes later, her husband returned from work to the tragic scene.
Also, last night police found an abandoned late-model Mercedes C-230 with broken front and rear windshields. Witnesses said that a woman and her daughter had been taken from the car after trying to escape from a violent situation in their home. Her husband pursued them in another vehicle, broke into the car and took them away to an unknown location.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 20, 2008
ASCENSIÓN—Three people have disappeared from this rural community in the last few hours, abducted by a group of heavily armed men. The identity of the missing is unknown. Another man is reported missing in the small town of Puerto Palomas.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, March 21, 2008
Two men were found dead last night in different areas of the city. Unofficial sources reveal that one of the dead men is a former agent of the Transit Police who resigned about a year ago. The body was found wrapped in a plaid blanket with a plastic bag over the head. Another man was found about 9:30 in the Colonia Cuauhtemoc. Neighbors reported seeing the body thrown from a car and that the man lived for several minutes. He had been severely