Murder City_ Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields - Charles Bowden [138]
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, April 8, 2008
The army and the State Attorney General’s Office engaged in a “numbers war” concerning the number of deaths resulting from the confrontation between two criminal gangs last Saturday in the southern region of Chihuahua state. General Jorge Juárez Loera, chief of the 11th Military Region, said that all of those killed in the shoot-out were criminals, that the federal forces had suffered no losses. “In addition to the ‘cockroach effect,’ the operation is stimulating more violence because the criminals feel desperate. Before, they could act freely, kidnapping and collecting ransoms, but now they are forced into more violent acts.” When asked whether the cartel leaders had left the state, he said, “Normally the majority leave because they don’t like it much when the army gets here.” He lashed out against the representatives of human rights groups, “And when are they going to issue a recommendation to the cartels not to execute and kill people?” He affirmed that the military is respectful of the human rights of the common people (la gente) of Mexico.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, April 9, 2008
The Secretary of National Defense said yesterday that the Carrillo Fuentes organization is trying to discredit the Mexican army by committing violent and criminal acts disguised in the uniforms and vehicles of the military. It was revealed recently that the cartel had begun a counteroffensive to the Chihuahua operation, paying people to attend protest marches against the military presence.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, April 9, 2008
More than 50 percent of adolescents in Ciudad Juárez between 15 and 17 years of age do not attend preparatory school either because they were rejected by state-funded schools because there was no room for them, or because they needed to work to help support their families. Student Jacqueline Holguin said that for students who finish their education with secondary school, their only future is to become maquiladora workers.
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, April 9, 2008
The Honor and Justice Commission will review today the desertion and dismissal of 19 officers of the municipal police who have not shown up for work in recent days and have not turned in their voluntary resignations. The firing of these officers includes some elements considered “dark cases.” “The recent turnover is very high and it is part of the filtering process that will continue until the purification of the police is complete.”
El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, April 9, 2008
Dozens of soldiers interrupted the service at the municipal cemetery in Villa Ahumada, where Gerardo Gallegos, 19, killed in Sunday’s shoot-out in Parral, was going to be buried. Military vehicles interrupted the funeral procession and blocked entrances to the cemetery as two helicopters flew over the area. The order came from one of the helicopters to hit the ground, causing panic to break out. Soldiers forced about 200 people to the ground, including women and children, and detained an undetermined number of men. The municipal police on duty at the time did not want to make any comment about what had happened, for fear of reprisals, and the mayor of Villa Ahumada could not be found. Unofficially, it was determined that a military commando was looking for several members of a criminal organization. Residents, who asked not to be identified for fear of the military, said that the soldiers began to search the vehicles with no respect for the mourners and also opened the casket and searched it. Witnesses said that once the military forces had secured the area, they freed the children, who stayed outside the cemetery crying for their parents. The body of Gallegos was finally buried at about 7:30 in the evening. His mother’s neighbors were worried about her safety as soldiers had entered and searched her house; it was left empty, with the lights on, doors open and contents