Category Archives: El Paso, Ciudad Juarez & Chihuahua
A River of Discontent Runs through Chihuahua
As the June 7 mid-term Congressional elections approach, social grievances of all sorts are flowing like a river of discontent in the capital of Chihuahua state. For instance, five simultaneous but separate demonstrations April 28 brought traffic to a halt near state government offices in downtown Chihuahua City. Seemingly, it’s the marching season in Chihuahua….
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The Rebirth of an Urban “Dead Zone”?
Downtown Ciudad Juarez bustles with a new, unmistakable vibrancy. After years of decay wrought by economic crisis, violence and the disappearance of cross-border tourism, the historic city center sprouts a new look and feel. “Little by little” is perhaps the best phrase to capture the fledgling renaissance, as it described by some workers in the…
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Memorial Planned for Famed Border Writer
Family and friends of Charles Bowden plan a memorial to celebrate the life and words of a noted writer this coming weekend near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 69-year-old journalist and author died at his Las Cruces late last month after suffering an illness.A widely published chronicler of Mexico and the borderlands, Bowden’s works generated…
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A Bad Day or a New Bloodbath?
May 28, 2014 In one of the bloodiest days in the last year or more, nine people were murdered Monday, May 26, in the northern Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez. In separate incidents, guns, knives, hammers and possibly bare hands were the instruments of homicide. A prominent lawyer, Salvador Urbina Quiroz, along with Judge…
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A Big Showdown in El Paso
Community activists and elected officials in El Paso have bought more time in their fight to save a historic Chicano and border cultural center from demolition. El Paso Judge Thomas Spieczny issued a temporary restraining order May 21 that prevents the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) from moving forward with demolishing the Lincoln Center in…
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NAFTA’s Bad Apples
Facing ruin, apple producers in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua are mulling an anti-dumpring complaint against U.S. imports. Ricardo Marquez Prieto, president of the Chihuahua Regional Union of Fruit Growers, charged that unfair competition from Mexico’s partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) threatens the viability of the local apple industry, which…
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The High Cost of Candy: Death Toll Climbs in Factory Disaster
The fatal toll from the October 24 explosion and partial building collapse at a Mexican border candy factory now stands at eight workers. The death of Miguel Armando Reyes Castro was announced this week after the critically injured worker succumbed in a Guadalajara hospital where he had been transferred for treatment of severe burns sustained…
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Literary Bash for Ciudad Juarez
For the third year in a row, Ciudad Juarez will showcase Mexican and Latin American literary talent. Sponsored by public agencies and private businesses, the Third Encounter of Writers for Ciudad Juarez will feature three days of panels, readings and gatherings at different venues in the northern Mexican border city. Scheduled to run from Thursday,…
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New Mexico-Chihuahua Border Brouhaha
Special Report In the aftermath of a media blitz staged by the state governments of New Mexico and Chihuahua to jointly promote the development of the emerging Jeronimo-Santa Teresa borderplex, a sharp polemic over the project has rekindled in Ciudad Juarez. Reinitiated by the Mexican city’s El Diario newspaper, the debate swirls around the possible…
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Defending the History and Culture of Ciudad Juarez
In the crisis-ridden rubble of downtown Ciudad Juarez, a group of citizens is arising to restore the cultural vitality and legacy of the Mexican border city. Called Juaritos de mis Recuerdos, or Juarez of My Memories, the year-old organization staged a demonstration August 4 in front of one of the historic buildings it proposes to…
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