Freedom and (In)Security in Juarez, Mexico
(The Associated Press, 7/10)
Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city near the United States border, is largely considered to be the most dangerous city in the world. In 2008, this border city was home to 1,605 homicides, including the murders of federal, state, and city police officers. The majority of these murders are committed by members of rival drug cartels fighting over control of drug trade routes between Mexico and the United States.
Despite the fact that over 10,000 national troops and elite police units are stationed in Ciudad Juarez, the city is currently averaging 250 murders per month. On September 1st, 2009, four men were arrested for the murders of 211 people. On August 28th, 2009, eight people were murdered in the city’s streets including a prosecutor, a lawyer, two policewomen, a clown performer and a gardener. Dozens of murders take places in a time span of a few hours while armed groups terrorize the citizens of Juarez in broad daylight.
The problem Juarez is experiencing reaches beyond drug cartels, smugglers, and the police into the lives of the citizens of Juarez. This summer, children did not celebrate a break from school on playgrounds because parents feared that their children would become innocent victims in the violent drug war. Drug cartels are “taxing” business and restaurant owners to keep the businesses safe from rival gangs. Owners who do not agree to the tax often watch their businesses go up in flames. This war continues to intensify as violence spills into all sectors of the community.
1. Who benefits from the current situation in Juarez, Mexico? Who does not benefit from the current situation in Juarez, Mexico?
2. For whom did security increase in Juarez? For whom did security decrease in Juarez?
3. Whose freedom has increased because of the situation in Juarez? Whose freedom has decreased because of the situation in Juarez?
