In Juárez, pontiff will find a city in midst of recovery
Pope Francis will find in Juárez a community that is struggling to heal from its recent blood-soaked past.
His visit Wednesday will mark the first time a pope has visited the city of 1.5 million that sits in the middle of the 2,000-mile border that Mexico shares with the United States. A majority of the residents consider themselves Roman Catholic.
“The pope will encounter a city in recovery from horrendous violence, but lingering inequality with about half its people living in poverty, yet earning near slave wages,” said Kathleen Staudt, a political science professor at the University of Texas-El Paso. “People are full of hope and excitement about the pope's visit.”
Mexican authorities, including Chihuahua Gov. César Duarte and Juárez Mayor Gonzalez Mocken, said that because of efforts by law enforcement and elected officials, the city is safe and no longer to be considered the “murder capital of the world.”
Human rights organizations counter that it’s too soon to turn the page, because the resolutions to dozens of serious matters, some of which have languished for years, are pending. The complaints include human rights violations, disappearances linked to soldiers and police, repression against journalists, torture of people in custody and thousands of unsolved slayings.
Two hundred organizations and individuals, including two from Juárez, sent the pope an open letter before his trip to Mexico, asking him to expose what’s going on and to meet with a contingent representing the groups.
“There may be fewer murders in Juárez compared to the years of the drug cartel wars, but it does not mean that the city is safe and peaceful for everyone,” said Jose Alfredo Holguin, president of the El Paso-based Mexi- canos en Exilio (Mexicans in Exile). “I fled to save myself after my son was murdered because we tried to resist paying extortion fees. We’ve had as many as 400 people join the organization because they lost relatives to the violence and received death threats.”
Juárez reported 3,057 homi- cides, about 254 a month, in 2010. The city ended last year with 311 homicides and January with 33 homicides. Authorities attributed most of the deaths to drug-trafficking organizations and other forms of organized crime.
Whether the pope will meet with any of the aggrieved organizations in Mexico remains to be seen.
During his visit to Juárez, the pope plans to celebrate Mass at the border. About 1,200 migrants were invited to attend, as were parents of slain women and other victims of violence.
For the pope’s visit, 5,000 additional uniformed officers, including federal, state and municipal police from other parts of Chihuahua state, will be on the ground to ensure that pilgrims, tourists and others will have a safe time.
The U.S. State Department has not lifted its travel warning for several regions of Mexico, including for the northeastern end of Juárez.