Ciudad Juarez Cartel Murders

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In a period of four years one metropolitan city experienced a 1,000 percent increase in homicides. Steven Dudley and Elyssa Pachico report that there was an astounding 3,000 murders reported in 2010 compared to only 300 murders in 2006. The statistics dubbed Ciudad Juarez as the murder capital of the world during these years. The ongoing war between the once dominant Juarez Cartel and the current reigning rival Sinaloa Cartel spurred the homicide rate in this crucial drug trafficking route. Recent speculations are that the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera has surpassed the waning Juarez Cartel and taken control of Ciudad Juarez’s territory (Shoichet). Just like both groups are to blame for the colossal amount of murders …show more content…

Citizens of Ciudad Juarez were directly affected by the waging war amongst the cartels and the Mexican government, and nations on both hemispheres of the globe proclaimed the city to be the murder capital of the world. Many of the lives taken were those of members of either cartel or others who had affiliations to the cartels, while other deaths were those of corrupt members of the government and the municipal law enforcement agencies. Relationships with members of any of these two organized groups proved to be fatal, as family members and friends of those with affiliations to the cartels would be exterminated just as well. In 2009 federal troops and federal police arrived in Ciudad Juarez to bring “peace” to the city and take control of municipal police operations after threats from the cartels to kill a municipal police officer per day forced the chief of police to resign to his rank (Grinberg). According to Charlie Minn that only contributed to the number of deaths in the border city. Along with those deaths, many others were of innocent bystanders, local businessmen and citizens, including children that have no influence in the sway of the ongoing drug war. When carrying out assassination missions either cartel made sure that no witnesses were left behind and if encountered or confronted by federal troops they will engage in shoot offs that would leave several corpses …show more content…

Fifteen promising students and athletes were murdered by a couple dozen of hitmen at a teen party on January 30th, 2010 (Ellingwood). Ken Ellingwood reports for the Los Angeles Times that initially former Mexican president Felipe Calderon referred to the victims of the massacre as gang members with affiliations to the cartels. This raged the fury of Ciudad Juarez citizens as well as set off national outrage. On February 11, 2011, Luz Maria Davila, mother of two of the fifteen young-adults killed 12 days earlier, gathered the courage to confront President Felipe Calderon and condemn the president and his so called “war against drugs” (Hernandez). Daniel Hernandez reported for the Los Angeles Times, that Luz Maria Davila rejected the visit of the Mexican president to Ciudad Juarez by saying:
Excuse me, Mr. President. I cannot say you are welcome here, because for me, you are not. No one is. No one is doing anything! I want justice, not just for my children, but for all of the children. Juarez is mourning! I bet if they killed one of your children, you’d lift every stone and you’d find the killer, but since I don’t have the resources, I can’t find them. Put yourself in my shoes and try to feel what I feel. I don’t have my sons. They were my only

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