Charles Bowden’s recent book Juarez: The Laboratory
of Our Future chronicled, in vivid words and photographs, the
violent restlessness of sprawling Ciudad Juarez (HCN, 9/14/98).
Among the most horrifying, and unforgettable, images were those of
the bodies of several young women, all murdered on their way home
from low-paying jobs at the U.S.-owned factories on the Mexican
side of the border. At least 200 such women have been murdered in
Juarez since 1993, and similarities among the killings have led
police to suspect that the attacks are related. Now, the Los
Angeles Times reports, there’s been a break in the case. After
hearing testimony from a 14-year-old survivor of an attack, police
believe a convicted killer in a Juarez jail has organized a ring of
murderers-for-hire – some of whom drive the buses intended to
protect factory workers on their way to and from work. But even if
the mastermind of this series of attacks has been pinpointed, say
some, a post-NAFTA backlash of machismo along the border continues
to make life dangerous for all women in Juarez. “Women are
occupying the space of men in a culture of absolute dominance of
men over women,” Esther Chavez, founder of a Juarez feminist group,
told the Times. “This has to provoke misogyny.”
You can access this May 12 story, “The Deaths
that Haunt Juarez,” on the Web for a $1.50 fee at www.latimes.com.
Reprints can be obtained for $5.00 by writing to Times on Demand,
Bradbury Suite, Times-Mirror Square, Los Angeles CA 90053 or
calling 800/788-8804. For more information about Juarez: The
Laboratory of Our Future, call the publisher, Aperture, at
800/929-2323.
* Michelle Nijhuis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Tragedy on the border.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
