Life after the drug war

June 1, 2016 10:44 AM

"From 2008 to 2012, the city of 1.3 million people was widely deemed the most dangerous place on Earth." And now Juárez is a thriving city with parks where children can play. (SL National Geographic, some graphic imagery)
posted by Melismata (10 comments total)

I wonder what Bolano would think about this.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:06 AM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Where there are kids skateboarding, there are good things happening behind the scenes.
posted by Annika Cicada at 11:30 AM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

(that mountain in the background is on the north side of El Paso, for reference on where exactly Juarez is situated along the border)
posted by Annika Cicada at 11:32 AM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

If I sat on the Ciudad Juárez Chamber of Commerce, I would seriously consider suing the producers of Sicario.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:33 AM on June 1, 2016

It is good to hear. I travelled through El Paso in the spring of 2011. Coming in from the West, El Paso seems to be wedged between the Rio Grande and the mountains. Across the river is this massive sprawling city of Cuidad Juarez. The way it was portrayed in the press I halfway expected the city to be filled with columns of smoke and explosions.
posted by Badgermann at 1:17 PM on June 1, 2016

Very interesting and hopeful. I wonder, though: the article mentions that the violence was related to a war between criminal gangs. Does the improvement reflect better policing (the thrust of the article) or the end of hostilities between the gangs? (Or, of course, both!) My understanding is that most homicides are the result of gang conflict rather than gang activity per se.

(Or was lead in petrol banned sixteen years ago in Mexico?)
posted by alasdair at 2:13 PM on June 1, 2016

This article is too hard to read. I've made three attempts now and keep having to take a crying break. Mexico is the most beautiful place in the entire world, and it has been devastating to watch what all the good people living there have gone through. I really want to believe that things are actually this much better in Juarez. I hope to visit the city very soon.
posted by 256 at 4:53 PM on June 1, 2016 [3 favorites]

looking around for more info i cam across this article [s] by luis chaparro (interview [s]), who has more articles here. there's nothing very recent (first link argues that the peace is largely due to the end of the drug fued and could be coming to an end, but was written two years ago), but lots is interesting - seems to be good reporting.

[links not marked [s] are in english]
posted by andrewcooke at 9:28 PM on June 1, 2016

feud!
posted by andrewcooke at 9:39 PM on June 1, 2016

alasdair: (Or was lead in petrol banned sixteen years ago in Mexico?)

Close. Leaded gasoline was banned in Mexico in 1998. 18 years.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:42 AM on June 2, 2016