TOP STORY OF THE DAY (Updated Every Weekday)
By the FNS Staff
Thurs., August 27: Juárez Monument Completed
Teresa Mireles de Almada, director of the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH), announced that INAH, in coordination with the Municipal Parks and Gardens Works, have completed renovations of the Juárez Monument . The monument underwent a structural renovation, additionally, a new drip water system was installed for the lawn.
Mireles de Almade said that the Juárez monument park had fallen into very poor condition, through a number of municipal administrations, even though the park is one of the most loved landmarks of Juárez. She will request that the next municipal administration continue renovation of the parks and monuments in Juárez in an effort to keep the city beautiful.
Renovation of the historic presidential residence, a project of the Municipal Insitute of Investigation, is, however, still on hold. When complete, this building will serve as the Municipal Palace (City Hall) and will house the offices of the mayor and city council.
Source: El Diario
Wed., August 26: Border Drug Czar Plan Met with Some Skepticism
Barry McCaffrey, White House National Drug Policy Director, and future U.S. drug czar to be based in El Paso, Texas, is visiting the border for two days. McCaffrey will meet with border officials and explain the details of his planned post. Although his plans for unifying policy among the many agencies working in anti-drug trafficking efforts along the border were, for the most part, met with enthusuiasm, there are some critics.
Long time El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego fears that adding a coordinator for existing agencies is not the answer. "To me, the simple solution would be to create one big agency to handle it."
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who chairs the U.S. House immigration subcommittee, also has questions about one drug czar. "The administration should confront drug smugglers with more Border Patrol agents, not an election-year public relations campaign."
McCaffrey is expected to present his plan to President Clinton for approval this fall.
Source: El Paso Times and Las Cruces Sun News
Tue., August 25: Former Druglord Carrillo Fuentes Was CIA Informant
According to EPIC (El Paso Intelligence Center) a group which coordinates various U.S. intelligence and military services, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, former Cartel de Juárez druglord, was an informant for the CIA. The information that he allegedly provided was instrumental in the capture of Carrillo's drug trafficking rivals, Juan García Abrego, former Cartel del Golfo druglord, and the Amezcua brothers, known as the "Kings of Metamphetamines" from Sonora, México.
According to El Norte reporter Rafaél Núñez, one of the surgeons, "the phantom doctor," attending Carrillo's plastic surgery in July 1997, during which Carrillo died, was working for the CIA. Today's article goes on to say that the CIA was the "intellectual author" of Carillo's assassination, using a plastic surgeon to kill the "capo de capos."
For more information on the death of Carillo, please see "Druglord Reported Dead" in the August 1, 1997 edition of Frontera NorteSur.
Source El Norte de la Ciudad Juárez
Mon., August 24: Number of Students Enrolled In Public Schools Increases
The number of students enrolled in pre-school, primary, and secondary education in Ciudad Juárez totals 214,991, according to Victór Rivera, director of the North Zone for Educational Services for the State of Chihuahua (SEECh). The figure represents a slight increase of nearly one percent over last year's total. The student population of Juárez is 36% of the total for the state of Chihuahua.
Rivera said that 80 to 85 percent of secondary-school age students were enrolled in Juárez. The director said that there is "a demand for four or five more schools."
At the primary level, he said, about 90 percent of Juárez children were enrolled. "Here [in Juárez] a minimum of children are not going to school for economic reasons," Rivera said.
Source: El Diario
Sun., August 23: Peso Falls to Ten On The Dollar, But Border Not Deeply Effected
Although the peso has fallen to its lowest level in over a year, Juárez merchants are not concerned about business in the downtown area.
"I am hoping to buy more dollars," said money exchange operator Marco Antonio Guerrero. "Each time the peso falls, I buy more."
Javier Duarte, another casa de cambio manager, said "The people have learned to be more calm [about peso devaluations]. Right now shopping is limited with the rate so low, however the people will wait."
Source: El Diario
Sat., August 22: Mexico, U.S. Needs Unified Effort Against Tuberculosis: Experts
Health experts from the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez and the Texas Department of Health have organized a bi-national symposium to unify Mexican and U.S. efforts to conbat rising levels of cases of tuberculosis along the border.
The organizers say that there are currently "no formal mechanisms" to disseminate information and new techniques for diagnosis and treatment.
The symposium will address such subjects as "Tuberculosis As An Emerging Illness Along the U.S.-Mexico Border" and "Implications for the Border in the Control of Tuberculosis."
Source: El Diario
Fri., August 21: Greenpeace Calls Waste Facility "An Act of Desperation"
The international environmental organization Greenpeace responded to the promoters of the Sierra Blanca Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility (proposed to be built near Sierra Blanca, Texas, 16 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border) by saying that the construction of the site "is an act of desperation that is proceeding without any legal authorization."
Alejandro Calvillo, nuclear energy specialist and a representative of Greenpeace in Mexico, instisted that studies of proposed site show that the technology used in waste confinement is not secure.
Calvillo reiterated a call for intervention by President Ernesto Zedillo before the decision to construct the final phase of the project.
Source: El Diario
Thurs., August 20: Catholic Church Does Not Authorize Stigmatized Man
A spokesman for the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez said that the Catholic Church is in not in any way connected to or supporting the visit of an Italian man who claims he received stigmata on his hands, feet, left side, and forehead, in addition to special revelation from the Virgen de Fátima in Lourdes. The man is scheduled to speak at Benito Juárez Auditorium on Friday night.
Hesiquio Trevizo Bencomo, Juárez diocese spokesman, alerted the faithful to beware of false prophets as the year 2000 approaches. He said that the man, Giorgio Bongiovanni, would probably be speaking of the apocalypse and UFOs and other "extraterrestial phenomena."
"What God has wanted to communicate to us was made through the revelation of his son Jesus Christ. The Virgen nor private revelation can not add anything to or said by Jesus," said Trevizo. "For this reason I do not know the famous secret of Lourdes--if it exists."
Trevizo said the rise of cults and sects whose teachings contradict "both high Protestantism and the Catholic Church" is a "true challenge."
"If the Catholic Church does not give to its children the milk of the Word of God then they are going to go look for it somewhere else. We must not be scared of being self-critical," he said.
Source: El Diario
Wed., August 19: "Religious Phenomenon" Visits Ciudad Juárez
An Italian man said to have been stigmatized by the Virgen de Fátima visited Ciudad Juárez to offer private conferences and reveal part of the Virgen's message to the world.
Giorgio Bongiovanni, visiting Juárez and Mexico for the first time, displayed stigmata in his hands, feet, and left side. In addition, according to reports in El Diario, he had bloody thorn marks around the top of his forehead in the shape of a crown, and, finally, a giant cross etched into his forehead, which he said had been bleeding for seven years but without infection.
Bongiovanni said he first accepted the stigmata on his hands from the Virgen de Fátima on September 2, 1989. Two years later, in 1991, he received the stigmata on his feet. On May 28, 1992, in Montevideo, he received the stigmata on his left side, and, finally, on July 26, 1993, in Aurora, Uruguay, he received the bleeding cross in the center of his forehead.
A reporter for El Diario said that "many different specialists have examined him and they have not discovered an explanation for this prodigy."
Among the messages revealed to Bongiovanni by the Virgen de Fátima include that we are not alone in the universe; that angels are working amongst us today; and that it is time for humankind to change before we bring on our self-destruction.
"The stigmatas are there so that we may remember the sufferings and teachings of Christ," Bongiovanni said.
The Italian man, who first visited Peubla and Mexico City before his flight to Juárez, will be offering private conferences in the Hotel María Bonita on Thursday, August 20, for 150 pesos ($18 U.S.). In addition, he will address the general public at the Benito Juárez Auditorium on Friday, August 21, at 8 p.m. The cost of admission ranges from 60 to 80 pesos ($7 to $10 U.S.).
Source: El Diario
Tues., August 18: Juárez Youth Meets President Zedillo
President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León greeted Omar Antolín Camarena in the capital, congratulating this Juárez youth for taking second place in an International Olympic competition in mathematics. Zedillo expressed pride in the achievements demonstrated by this young man.
In his discussions with Zedillo, Antolín Camarena said he was encouraged that he would be a great candidate for grants. Camarena is beginning his studies at the National University of México (UNAM), and he feels he has made a good start and is happy with the professional training he is receiving.
He will not be able to participate in next year's Olympics, however, he hopes to be a team trainer. "It may be difficult to find the time to be a trainer, but I will certainly make the effort."
Source: Norte de Ciudad Juárez
Mon., August 17: Drug Czar Campaigns to Come to Border
Barry McCaffrey, federal drug fighter, will visit El Paso this month as part of his campaign to convince President Clinton, Congress and administration that the southwest border needs a drug czar. His El Paso visit will be a follow-up to last August's drug strategy meeting.
"This is something I believe will ... make the various agencies involved with drug trafficking control work better," McCaffrey said as he believes the system along the border needs organization. Most of the cocaine and marijuana smuggled into the U.S. comes across the southern border.
Should this border czar position be approved, McCaffrey would be stationed in El Paso.
Source: El Paso Times
Sun., August 16: Construction Work Makes Juárez Street Dangerous
Because of the construction work being performed on a major Juárez thoroughfare, Juárez Avenue, pedestrians and street vendors, particularly the elderly, are finding it dangerious to travel. The street's surface is uneven, full of ditches, and there are no warning signs indicating the danger.
Alfredo Benítez, a local businessman, says that not only are the street repairs way behind schedule, but they have created a great danger to pedestrians, particularly the temporary passageways over ditches, which have been built too narrowly for safe crossing.
It has been recommended that area police place officers on the street guiding traffic, especially at rush hour, until the construction is complete. It has also been recommended that the street be closed entirely until it is safe for pedestrians.
Source: El Diario
Sat. August 15: U.S. Citizen Sentenced to Five Years on Weapons Charges
Following three other firearms related arrests of U.S. Citizens at the border in Juárez this week, a Mexican Judge sentenced a Louisiana man, Johnny Manuel, to five years in prison. Manuel's family and Juárez lawyers expected an acquittal and were disappointed in the decision.
In March of this year, 49-year-old Manuel had weapons charges filed against him when he and his fianceé were caught in traffic and accidentally entered Juárez. The U.S. State Department estimates that 80 to 100 U.S. citizens are being held on weapons charges in Mexican jails, and many cases are believed to be similar to Manuel's and the recent arrests in Juárez.
The State Department has recently issued a warning about Mexico's strictly enforced firearms restriction. Alicia Buenrostro, Mexican Embassy press attache, says "The important thing to remember here is you can't enter into Mexican territory with a gun; it's a law which is very tough, and we have to respect that."
Source: El Paso Times/El Diario
Fri., August 14: Juárez Leads the Nation in Drug Addiction
Juárez is the number one Mexican city in drug addiction according to the World Organizations Fighting Drug Addiction (WOFDA), which will conduct a forum in the border city. This forum will discuss drug awareness and prevention issues with non-government drug rehabilitation associations.
Pedro Alvarez, coordinator for the event, noted that the main goal for this meeting between the different organizations, dedicated to drug awareness and prevention, is to discuss the different experiences they have shared in their effort to rehabilitate young people with drug addiction. He pointed out that because Juárez is a border city with the US, it has a different lifestyle which allows too great an opportunity to drug trafficking.
According to Alvarez, the highest risk for drug addiction exists among young adults and children, which is the main reason for the forum. This event will start in Juarez, and later move on to different states.
Source: Norte de Ciudad Juárez
Thurs., August 13: PJE Accuses Fortac Group of Kidnapping Youth
The Chihuahua State Police (PJE) accused the Special Eastern Zone Task Force (Fortac) of the Juárez Municipal Police yesterday of kidnapping the son of an attorney from the Federal District (DF).
According to witnesses, between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, an armed commando wearing Fortac uniforms took the youth and held him captive for the day. Witnesses reported the case to the the Assistant Attorney General's office of the North Zone who transferred the case to the Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (Grupo Anti-Secuestros) for further investigation. This investigation will be headed by Jorge Minjáres at the State level.
José Ulises Guerrero Bardillo, son of the attorney, was allegedly being held for $10,000 US.
Source El Diario
Wed., August 12: State Agency Proposes That Parents Participate in Sex Education
Employees of the Chihuahua Education Services Primary Education Office (SEECh) agreed yesterday that the new edition of a fifth-year textbook, that includes a section on sexual education, conforms to the needs of most students at this age since puberty begins during the last two years of elementary school. Additionally, they propose organizing forums with families that encourage parents as the best teachers of sex education.
Maria Dolores Carrasco, assistant director of Primary Education, and Maria Dolores Portillo, state coordinator of the Sexual Education Program, say that education authorities have worked since 1981 towards developing a text that encompasses the lifetime of a person's sexuality and can be used broadly in the system.
The curriculum will include an emphasis on psychological and social issues such as responsibility, feelings, love, respect, control, moderation, and understanding. In addition, educators will discuss the rights of children, health and hygiene, self-esteem and equality.
Source: El Diario
Tues., August 11: Evangelical Christian Commission Plans Letter Writing Campaign
Several members of the State Evangelical Christian Commission on Human Rights met with several Non-Governmental Organizations (ONGs) in Ciudad Juárez yesterday to discuss the proposed Sierra Blanca Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility. The evangelical group has set a goal of sending 10,000 letters protesting the waste dump.
The group said they will send letters to Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, U.S. President Bill Clinton, and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.
"It is most important that we unite and not just look at it from one perspective or another, especially if we decide to go to Washington to take our protest there," said José Compean Rodríguez.
Source: El Diario
Mon., August 10: Attorney General's Office Silent on Executions
The Office of the Attorney General of the State of Chihuahua (PGJE) is maintaining total silence regarding all information related to the case of four men who were executed August 7, according to a report in El Diario. However, the state police (PJE) informed the newspaper that the investigation has gone beyond the deaths of the four Motorola employees and now includes "other assassinations that have occured in Ciudad Juárez."
The four communications specialists were installing equipment which would have protected PGJE communication frequencies from being intercepted by outside sources. El Diario said the four men were "engineers and technicians." Oscar Sandoval Prieto was a resident of Chihuahua City, and the others--Leopoldo García Zarco, 53; Heriberto Rodgriguez Escobar, 44; and Héctor González Gómez, 52--were from the Federal District. The three from the D.F. "worked directly for Motorola Corporation in Mexico City," according to police.
The men were identified by their Mexico City employers.
Source: El Diario
Sun., August 9: Executed Men Identified As Motorola Employees
The four men executed August 7 were identified as Oscar Sandoval Prieto, Heriberto Rodgriguez, Leopoldo García, and Héctor González--all of whom were employees of Motorola Corporation. They had been commissioned to install communication equipment along the border by the Attorney General's Office of the State of Chihuahua (PGJE).
A spokesman for the Motorola Corporation in Ciudad Chihuahua said only that the company condemns the killings and demands that a "special group" be appointed to investigate the executions.
Enrique Silva Pérez, assistant director of the Department of Legal Medicine for the state, said that autopsies revealed that the four men had died of strangulation, and were strangled by a belt or cord.
Source: El Diario
Sat., August 8: Four Men Found Executed On East Side of Juárez
Four men were found executed last night, August 7, in two distinct places of the east side of Ciudad Juárez. Two were found by a dirt roadside in Senecú commons and the others inside a pickup truck near Escudero Road.
All four men were blindfolded by gray adhesive tape.
Arturo Tovar, commander of the Homicide Group for the Chihuahua State Police (PJE), said that the first two bodies were found at 10:55 p.m., and the second two bodies were discovered at 11:30 p.m.
Source: El Diario
Fri., August 7: New Coalition Created To Attack Chronic Border Problems
Several community leaders along the U.S.-Mexico
border have concentrated efforts to create a coalition. The alliance of
fifty leaders from the eleven largest border communities, will keep lawmakers'
concentration on the problems of the border.
Lieutenant governor candidates Rick Perry and John Sharp confirmed that
the border will get more consideration and attention next year. According
to Senate Economic Development Chairman David Sibley, a Marshall Plan approach
will help to treat the actual border problems of poverty, high unemployment
and low skilled labor resources.
The coalition's priorities are:
-To establish an Office of Border Advocacy to follow the international
trade between Mexico and Canada.
-To increase of high-skill, better wage positions.
-To relieve the traffic in the border bridge, and highway congestion through
state funds for transportation budget.
-To improve water development and health care needs.
"The group will have to be tolerant of individual initiatives by communities along the border. They will have to be tolerant of El Paso willing to take a lead in health care initiatives, and we'll have to be tolerant of Laredo's need for more water development," said El Paso city lobbyist Hector Gutierrez.
Source: Austin Bureau, El Paso Times
Thurs., August 6: Man Executed in Desert Southeast of Juárez
The body of a man was found the morning of August 5 near the Pantheon Hills in the desert, located southeast of Juárez. The man had been shot in the head twice. Police recovered two shells from a 9mm weapon at the scene where the body was discovered, and concluded the man had been killed at the scene.
The man had been tied by his feet and hands, and his head covered by a plastic bag. The assistant director of the Department of Criminal Identification and Legal Medicine, Enrique Silva Pérez, said that the victim died as consequence of consecutive encephalic laceration to wounds produced by bullets.
Source: El Diario
Wed., August 5: Police Chief Says Agents Who Rape Damage The Image Of The Force
The woman who was raped and sexually abused in the Cárcel de Piedra repeated her accusations August 4 and gave detailed physical descriptions of the four city police guards who attacked her.
María Antonieta Esparza, head of the Special Unit for the Attention of Sex Offenses said that the descriptions helped in arresting the four suspects, three men and one woman.
Juárez police chief said that the actions of the four agents--all graduates of the police academy--have greatly damaged the image of the city police.
Source: El Diario
Tues., August 4: Investigators Allege That Four Guards Raped Woman Detained In Jail
The Department of Previous Investigations confirmed yesterday, August 3, that a woman detained at the old jail, Cárcel de Piedra, was sexually assaulted by four guards employed by the Municipal Police.
The violation and sexual abuse was committed, apparently, by three men and a woman, all of whom has the responsibility of keeping watch over the cells in the jail.
The leader of the Special Unit for the Attention of Sex Offenses, María Antonieta Esparza, indicated that the woman suffered severe psychological damage. Also, she said it is known that the victim was infected with a veneral disease.
State authorities have also investigated another case of rape committed by police officers at the same Cárcel de Piedra.
Source: El Diario
Mon., August 3: State Human Rights Commission Demands Dismissal of PGR Agents
The Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission (CEDH) has demanded the dismissal of federal police agents involved in cases of brutality and abuse of authority.
Eustacio Gutiérrez Corona of the Commission will present this measure before the CEDH council in Ciudad Chihuahua. The new list with the names of agents from the local, state and federal police, would be presented to the incoming Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) administration.
The National Action Party (PAN ) government had shown "tolerance and protection" toward these officers, explained Gutiérrez Corona. A few months ago, the number of police abuses decreased, but this number had increased within state and federal police, reported Gutiérrez Corona. The CEDH will also investigate the ten people arrested and beat last July 27, because of their alleged involvement in kidnapping cases.
"There was an evidence of lack of investigation from the authorities," claimed Gutíerrez.
Source: El Diario
Sun., August 2: McCaffrey Proposes "Border Drug Czar" Position
According to The Dallas Morning News, U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey has proposed the creation of an El Paso-based coordinator to deal with the flow of illegal drugs and immigration along the US-Mexico border. The new position would be appointed by the President and would be based in El Paso. The new coordinator would be responsible for increasing efficiency within the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, and other federal, state and local corporations.
The new coordinator would also take charge of the El Paso Anti-Drug Intelligence Center (EPIC) and the Join Task Force 6 (or, JTF-6), which oversee military operations in the region.
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), will seek to obtain support for the proposal from other federal agencies along the border states. He said that he hopes President Clinton will approve the plan this fall and send the initiative to Congress by 1999.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, El Diario, El Paso Times
Sat., August 1: Families Demand Their Park Back
Residents from the Felipe Angeles and Las Moras neighborhoods of Ciudad Juárez are uniting to oppose the construction of a new gas station which would be built on the neighborhood park. Neighbors asked federal legislator Carlos Camacho Alcáza, to represent them before the authorities.
Neighbors' committees from sector 2, 3 and 4 also asked to Camacho to question the land located at Boulevard Fronterizo which should be incorporated as public park. This action would nullify the illegal business done between the State Government and the company Inmuebles Beres, S.A. de C.V. according to the representatives of the committee, said the neighbor groups.
The legislator promised to speak to representatives of the Urban State Government Development, city government, and subattorney Jorge López Molinar about the case. Even when local authorities had suspended the construction, neighbors have stayed to watch that no more advances are made in the construction.
Dozens of children and adults protested the gas station's construction because there is already one not from the proposed site, and there is not another alternative park for them.
Source: El Diario