Juarez murders reach nearly 200 a month as Mexico's next president prepares to face the violence
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his transition team will begin a highly anticipated peace and reconciliation tour Tuesday in this border community, where security is in a tailspin.
Juarez, once lauded for making significant progress in improving longstanding safety problems, has seen a dramatic sea-change back toward violence in 2018, especially during the summer months. June and July each ended with 177 killings. This weekend, more than 35 people were slain, including 11 on Friday — eight men and three women whose tortured bodies were found tied up. Some of the victims were mutilated.
It's the drug wars again. Internal conflicts within a leading cartel, an ongoing fight for the street market and competition for U.S. distribution routes, including Dallas, are spurring the violence.
Experts say the bloodshed also exposes the city's still weak civil society and democratic institutions, underscoring Juarez's reputation as an unruly city of inequalities. Without good paying jobs and education, it's easy to recruit men and women to do the killings, or become victims.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/mexico/2018/08/06/juarez-murders-reach-nearly-200-month-mexicos-new-president-prepares-face-violence