HIST 361: The Mexican Revolution: Birth, Life, Death

updated 7:41 p.m. ET, Mon., Dec. 15, 2008

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Gunmen staged four attacks on police within a half-hour period, killing four officers in a Mexican border city overrun by drug violence, an official said Monday.

Authorities are investigating whether the attacks Sunday night were coordinated, municipal police spokesman Jaime Torres said.

More than 40 Ciudad Juarez police have been killed this year, many of them in attacks blamed on drug gangs trying to consolidate territory. Many officers have quit out of fear for their lives, often after their names have appeared on hit lists left in public.

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The Latin Americanist – Dec. 13, 2008

Millions of Mexicans celebrated the Day of the Virgen de Guadalupe on Friday. Yet as Mexico’s female patron saint was venerated several events brought to light the dangers faced by Mexican women.

Silvia Vargas had gone missing since September 2007 and her kidnapping symbolized the anguish felt by thousands of families throughout Mexico. “I have cried. I have begged… Find my daughter. Find my Silvia,” pleaded her father- Nelson Vargas- last month as he angrily denounced police incompetence in finding his daughter.

On Thursday, Nelson’s worse nightmares came true as prosecutors said to have found Silvia’s remains. “We ask everyone to pray for her and all those people who have suffered the same pain that we have felt” the family said in a written statement. Silvia was buried today at a funeral attended by dignitaries including Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Vargas’ death was tragic but so have the unsolved deaths of nearly 400 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Despite lip service by the federal government, these deaths continue and have gone largely in impunity.
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