Mexican Federal Police officers guard the entrance of the consulate of the United States in Ciudad Juarez, as the national flag flutters at half-mast. (Getty Images)
A high level U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico today. The diplomatic meeting's guest list reads more like a war council – Clinton is accompanied by the Secretary of Defence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and various intelligence officials and follows the death of three people associated with the U.S. Consulate in Mexico's Ciudad Juarez earlier this month.
Journalist Charles Bowden has been reporting on Juarez for fifteen years. He is the author of a new book "Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields."
Listeners who are interested in on developments from along the border can check out The Frontera List, which posts daily news on U.S.-Mexico border issues, with a special focus on Ciudad Juarez. Molly Molloy, Border & Latin American Specialist at the New Mexico State University Library in Las Cruces, New Mexico, manages the list and keeps a tally of violent deaths in Juarez.
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Comments [5]
The US should invade and take over Mexico so the people and violence dont migrate into our homeland.
Charles Bowden is a genius. A great writer and journalist and intellect. He was "on the case" of Juarez, "Juarez, the laboratory of our future," published in 1998, by Aperture", LC 97-75183, as well as "Killing the Hidden Waters" (ground water depletion) 1977 Univ. of Texas Press. Both books astonishingly ahead of any general acknowledgement of the truthful and horrific problems he outlined.at the time.
-George- "Are US manufacturing facilities having second thoughts at moving more work south of the border?"
US manufacturing facilities business practices put people at risk for violence and out of work by moving down there in the first place. (killed the corn industry...which would be like killing the oil industry in Saudi Arabia). It's questions like this, toned with the assumption that US business/practice=always good, that suggests we need to wake up to what's really going on and the violent tolls political decisions like NAFTA have (decisions that make the top 1% richer and keep the poor even poorer and more oppressed).
This is not a new problem...it has been going on for more than a decade.
And forget about the fact that most often these people are dying because they're mixed up in the violent drug trade...working hard every day to keep the US stocked with "party" supplies. People also need to wake up to the fact that every joint they smoke, or line they snort comes at a greater cost than the little dough they spend on it.
It's like, are you serious??? "Wow, I hope the US sees what's going on and does something about this!" Dude, the US caused this!!!
I just listened to the NPR broadcast featuring Charles Bowden and have a strong interest in the topic of discussion. I work for a US / European company that has a manufacturing presence in Acuna Mexico and will be moving more manufacturing from the US to Mexico this year. The current events in Juarez is indeed frightening. Is it noticable that this ultra-violence and anarchy spreading to other border towns? Are US manufacturing facilities having second thoughts at moving more work south of the border?
Charles Bowden's book sounds frightening - what about the contract recently on npr or in The New York Times profiling teenagers from all over the world who are living in Juarez in exchange programs - and their parents let them go. There must be another side to his grim tale.
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