Demonstration of Solidarity with Ciudad Juarez
By Daniel Silvadoray
On January 29, 2011 at noon an event called a Day of Action took place, joining in solidarity with Ciudad Juarez to end violence and militarization. The event happened at Sunland Park, New Mexico few minutes from El Paso, Texas in an area called Anapra where people from Mexico and the U.S. can see each other across the border fence.
A mixed group attended including media. There was a good crowd of men and women. They mostly looked over twenty five years of age. I saw a little kid with his parents and there were also some a few small children in strollers. From just looking at the people there was no way to identify their profession or organization, with the exception of priest Arturo Banuelas, who was dressing in the traditional black pants and shirt with a white collar. For the most part every body was in casual clothes and wearing regular shoes. The priest gave out a long speech about how Ciudad Juarez and El Paso need to “raise up” in peace against the “narcos” in Mexico. He also talked about knowing about people that lost their lives in Ciudad Juarez. There were also a several Professors from UTEP. One of the speakers recited a poem, where he described some of the killings in Juarez. People talked in Spanish and English. At one point a woman amongst the organizers encouraged people to shout “Juarez, El Paso esta contigo.” El Paso is with you Juarez.
There were also several signs hanging on the fence. There were also several papers and stickers going around. The one that catch my attention was a “no mas sangre” that is “no more blood” a sticker that a man passed over the fence. There was a guy walking around with a sign that said “We missed Juaritos, J town”. Juaritos and J town are slang for Ciudad Juarez, so he was basically saying that he missed Ciudad Juarez.
There were several local new channels, filming and interviewing people. Some professional photographers literally sat on top of the fence to take pictures. Another good point to mark is the presence of a lot of Border Patrol personnel and a couple of Sunland Park police officers. Border Patrol was very good at enforcing their job with out using a rude tone of voice or force.
On the Mexican side of the border there was a different kind of crowd. There were some men and women, but also a lot of kids who live in the immediate area were present. There was one kid that for a while he was playing with a man on the other side of the fence by throwing a soccer ball over the fence. There was a variety of clothing patterns, from regular clothing, Mexican cowboys, and an American priest. The priest on the Mexican side of the border spoke good English and fair Spanish. There was a diversity of skin color among the people. They were also two Mexican university students dressing like clowns, to bring some humor and point to the bizarre nature of the situation in Juarez.
Just by looking at the people you could say that they were some low income people who live next to the fence, but also middle class people came for the event. They were also several speeches by the people in Juarez. The two sides would alternate. All of them were sad because they all had lost a family member due to the violence. On the Juarez side all the people were escorted to the event site by heavily armed police officers. Right before they arrived a man shouted “ahí vienen, tómenles fotos a esos cabrones que matan a nuestra gente” that is “here they come, take pictures of these fu* who kill our people.” At the end of the event the police escorted out the people on the Mexico side.
During the event both sides showed a different frame of mind. The people from Juarez were mostly sharing their sad stories and demanded the violence to stop. The El Paso people showed a lot of support by listening and giving words of encouragement to the people in Juarez. At the end of the event the people from Ciudad Juarez looked more relieved probably because they felt the support from the people from El Paso. The people from El Paso left the event with the hope that things would get better for the people in Juarez or at least that is how I felt at the end.
The following are some pictures of the event:
The following picture shows a Border Patrol officer and African American taking pictures.
The next picture shows a family from Ciudad Juarez and the low income houses on the background. There is also a sign on the Juarez side “PRIMERO LA JUSTICIA” which translate to “JUSTICE IS FIRST”.
Man passing out the “no mas sangre” which translate to “no more blood” stickers from the Juarez side of the border.
A mixed group attended including media. There was a good crowd of men and women. They mostly looked over twenty five years of age. I saw a little kid with his parents and there were also some a few small children in strollers. From just looking at the people there was no way to identify their profession or organization, with the exception of priest Arturo Banuelas, who was dressing in the traditional black pants and shirt with a white collar. For the most part every body was in casual clothes and wearing regular shoes. The priest gave out a long speech about how Ciudad Juarez and El Paso need to “raise up” in peace against the “narcos” in Mexico. He also talked about knowing about people that lost their lives in Ciudad Juarez. There were also a several Professors from UTEP. One of the speakers recited a poem, where he described some of the killings in Juarez. People talked in Spanish and English. At one point a woman amongst the organizers encouraged people to shout “Juarez, El Paso esta contigo.” El Paso is with you Juarez.
There were also several signs hanging on the fence. There were also several papers and stickers going around. The one that catch my attention was a “no mas sangre” that is “no more blood” a sticker that a man passed over the fence. There was a guy walking around with a sign that said “We missed Juaritos, J town”. Juaritos and J town are slang for Ciudad Juarez, so he was basically saying that he missed Ciudad Juarez.
There were several local new channels, filming and interviewing people. Some professional photographers literally sat on top of the fence to take pictures. Another good point to mark is the presence of a lot of Border Patrol personnel and a couple of Sunland Park police officers. Border Patrol was very good at enforcing their job with out using a rude tone of voice or force.
On the Mexican side of the border there was a different kind of crowd. There were some men and women, but also a lot of kids who live in the immediate area were present. There was one kid that for a while he was playing with a man on the other side of the fence by throwing a soccer ball over the fence. There was a variety of clothing patterns, from regular clothing, Mexican cowboys, and an American priest. The priest on the Mexican side of the border spoke good English and fair Spanish. There was a diversity of skin color among the people. They were also two Mexican university students dressing like clowns, to bring some humor and point to the bizarre nature of the situation in Juarez.
Just by looking at the people you could say that they were some low income people who live next to the fence, but also middle class people came for the event. They were also several speeches by the people in Juarez. The two sides would alternate. All of them were sad because they all had lost a family member due to the violence. On the Juarez side all the people were escorted to the event site by heavily armed police officers. Right before they arrived a man shouted “ahí vienen, tómenles fotos a esos cabrones que matan a nuestra gente” that is “here they come, take pictures of these fu* who kill our people.” At the end of the event the police escorted out the people on the Mexico side.
During the event both sides showed a different frame of mind. The people from Juarez were mostly sharing their sad stories and demanded the violence to stop. The El Paso people showed a lot of support by listening and giving words of encouragement to the people in Juarez. At the end of the event the people from Ciudad Juarez looked more relieved probably because they felt the support from the people from El Paso. The people from El Paso left the event with the hope that things would get better for the people in Juarez or at least that is how I felt at the end.
The following are some pictures of the event:
The following picture shows a Border Patrol officer and African American taking pictures.
The next picture shows a family from Ciudad Juarez and the low income houses on the background. There is also a sign on the Juarez side “PRIMERO LA JUSTICIA” which translate to “JUSTICE IS FIRST”.
Man passing out the “no mas sangre” which translate to “no more blood” stickers from the Juarez side of the border.
Audio coverage from NPR here and here
