Frontera NorteSur September-October 2003

Two of Chihuahua's most important business organizations are angry at the way non-governmental organizations portray the state and Ciudad Juárez in relation to the Ciudad Juárez serial rape-murders. 

Carlos Reyes López, local president of Coparmex, Mexico's largest business owner's association, told Chihuahua City's El Heraldo that groups trying to end the serial killings are magnifying the extent of the murders. He also said that attacks against Chihuahua are well aimed and represent a "dark interest."

Reyes continued by saying , "there should be the ability to identify and sanction" groups that are purposefully tarnishing the image of Cd. Juárez and the state of Chihuahua. Reyes states that he will contact authorities to see what sorts of action can be taken toward the groups that allegedly malign Cd. Juárez. This will also include an inquiry into what legal actions can be taken against the organizations, he said. 

Reyes believes that although the murders are a disagreeable and delicate subject, other cities have higher crime rates and similar crimes, perhaps worse than Cd. Juárez. 

Regionally at least, Reyes' suggestion that other cities have similar crimes and crime rates would not appear to be true. The Pan American Health Organization's 2000 study, "Mortality Profiles of the Sister Communities of the U.S. Mexico Border," shows that the rate of female homicide per 100,000 women of all ages is approximately 4 times higher in Cd. Juárez than it is in El Paso and Tijuana. 

For girls and young women ages 5-14, Cd. Juárez has a homicide mortality rate 3 times that of El Paso and more than 12 times higher than Tijuana, according to the study. For young women 15-24 years old, the Cd. Juárez homicide mortality rate is 12 times that of El Paso and 3 times that of Tijuana. 

Víctor Silva Chacón, local president of the chamber of commerce, Canaco, said that organizations seeking to end the serial-killings are trying to mar the image of Cd. Juárez. He also stated that Chihuahua has hard-working, capable people and that it is unfair that only the negative side of Chihuahua is publicized. 

In the article, neither Reyes nor Silva identified by name the groups they were accusing. 

Source: El Heraldo (Chihuahua City), September 19, 2003. 

Body Found in Chihuahua City is that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano

The body found near Chihuahua City on Sunday, September 7, 2003 has been identified through preliminary police studies as that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano. García disappeared on May 27, 2003 on her way to the BC&T school in Chihuahua City. 

According to the Chihuahua City newspaper El Heraldo, García's relatives confirmed that the young woman's glasses, shirt, and rings were found at the crime scene. However, García's mother, Hilda Medrano, wanted DNA testing to be performed. Later, police said that they took blood from members of García's family to perform the desired testing. 

Police officials are saying that García possibly died from stab wounds. This is based on the fact that dried blood was found at the scene of the crime. 

In previous serial-murder cases in the state, the cause of death has frequently been strangulation or a broken neck. In García's case, there was no sign of either, police told El Heraldo. 

Previously, El Heraldo noted that the skull found at the crime scene had had dental work done on it. García's family said that their daughter never had any dental work done. 

The Chihuahua City-based group Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, an organization that supports the families of serial-killing victims and the disappeared, tried to accompany García's mother into the police building when she went to identify the clothing found at the crime scene. However, group members were not permitted to go inside with her, Justicia reported in a press release. Four hours later, when Medrano left the building, she was accompanied by police and members of Justicia could not speak with her then either. 

Source: El Heraldo (Chihuahua City), September 10 & 11, 2003. Article by Jose Ernesto Topete Bernal.

Another Body Found in Chihuahua City

While walking through the hills near Chihuahua City on Sunday afternoon, September 7, Omar Tabárez Anaya came across the body of an unidentified young woman. This is the third confirmed young woman found dead in the outskirts of Chihuahua City since May 28, 2003. Another body was rumored to have been found earlier in the summer but authorities would not confirm or deny the recovery of the fourth body. 

The Ciudad Juárez newspaper El Diario suggested that the body might be that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano who disappeared on May 27, 2003. García was wearing glasses at the time of her disappearance and glasses were found near the body that was discovered on Sunday. Clothing found at the scene also seemed to match what García was wearing at the time of her disappearance. 

In contrast to El Diario's conclusions, the Chihuahua City newspaper El Heraldo quoted a state police official as saying that the victim's body had had dental work done throughout her life. García's parents told El Heraldo that their daughter had never had any dental work. 

Given the degree of the body's decomposition, authorities estimate that the young woman died approximately three months ago. 

   Related crimes

What is allegedly the body of Viviana Rayas was found in the outskirts of Chihuahua City on May 28, 2003. Rayas had been missing since March 16 of this year. However, Raya's parents doubt that the body they were given was actually their daughter's. So far, law enforcement officials have not allowed the DNA testing that the family wants. 

Arrested for Raya's death was US citizen Cynthia Kiecker and her Mexican husband Ulises Perzábal. Kiecker and Perzábal say they were tortured into confessing to Raya's death. Also, two of the three government witnesses in the case admitted that they were tortured into framing Kiecker and Perzábal. Kiecker's trial is currently underway in Chihuahua City. 

On July 14, 2003, the body of Neyra Azucena Cervantes was found outside Chihuahua City. Azucena disappeared on May 13, 2003. Both her stepfather and his nephew say they were detained and tortured by police in relation to her death. The nephew, David Meza, who was in Chiapas at the time of Azucena's disappearance and was active in the search for her, has now been charged with her death. 

Sources: El Heraldo de Chihuahua (Chihuahua City), September 9, 2003. El Diario (Ciudad Juárez), September 9, 2003. 

West Nile Virus Infects El Paso and Ciudad Juárez

On September 3, 2003, El Paso's Department of Health confirmed 19 cases of West Nile virus in the city, said Jorge Magaña, director of El Paso's Department of Health. Magaña also noted that another 14 people may have the disease but West Nile virus has not yet been confirmed in their cases. 

A few days earlier, an 84-year old man that had the disease died in El Paso. However, the exact cause of death in the case has not been determined as the man had other medical conditions besides West Nile virus. 

An eleven-year old boy who recently had a kidney transplant is also reporting symptoms of the disease. However, Magaña stated that his case had not yet been confirmed. 

From a public health standpoint, Magaña is worried about extracurricular activities at local schools. He says that mosquitoes are most active in the hours after school. "We've already put this situation before the schools," he said. 

So far in 2003, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control, 21 people across the US have died from West Nile virus and an estimated 1,400 people have been infected. 

Two Ciudad Juárez residents have also been confirmed with the disease. One lives in the city center and the other in the Club Campestre neighborhood, a very wealthy part of Cd. Juárez. Both people work in El Paso and have been receiving treatment there. 

A third case in Cd. Juárez that seemed similar to West Nile virus was confirmed as Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Guillain-Barré is a disease of unknown origin that causes paralysis. However, Cd. Juárez health officials are examining the case closely to see if it is not perhaps West Nile virus. 

Source: El Diario (Ciudad Juárez), September 4, 2003. Article by María Clara Valencia.

Chihuahua: Second Highest Female Murder Rate in Mexico

During a time when state law enforcement officials have been accusing women's activist groups of exaggerating the number of murdered women in the state, a new federal study found Chihuahua to be the Mexican state with the second highest murder rate for women in 2001. In that year, the average murder rate for women in Mexico was 2.6 per 100,000 women, according to a Secretariat of Health study entitled "Muertes por violencia en las mujeres de México" (Death by Violence among Mexican Women).

Although the state of Mexico had the highest murder rate (5.3) of all Mexico's states, Chihuahua was second with 4.7 murders per 100,000 women.  

Nationwide, nearly 33% of murdered Mexican women were killed by gunshots, the leading cause of violent death. Stab wounds killed 15.7% of female violent-crime victims in 2001 and were the second-leading cause of violent death among women. Strangulation and suffocation accounted for 15.0% of female violent deaths. 

The Mexican state of Quintana Roo had the highest rate of domestic abuse against women (30%) in 2001 while Aguascalientes had the lowest (12%). 

Blanca Rico Galindo, general director of the Secretariat's Women and Health Program, stated that dental cavities are the only health problem more common among Mexican women than physical abuse. 

Sources: El Diario, August 4, 2003. Article by Pablo Hernández Batista. 
"Muertes por violencia en las mujeres de México," Secretaría de Salud. 

Five percent of reported domestic abuse victims in Nuevo Laredo are men, thirty percent are children and the remainder are women, according to José Rafael Pérez Escobar, an official with Tamaulipas' sex crimes and family-violence unit. Pérez says he receives between four and six cases of abused men per month. 

In most cases, abused men file charges related to their injuries, threats of violence and illegal entry, Pérez said. 

Pérez believes that only half of all men report partner abuse of which they are they victim. He says this is because men are embarrassed to report such a crime. 

"When a husband is assaulted by his wife, he prefers to put up with it and not file charges out of embarrassment that other men will laugh at him because in the north men are characterized as being very macho . . ." Pérez stated. 

In cases where a man files charges against his partner, the police open an investigation to obtain information and evidence from the victim and the aggressor. Later, they evaluate their findings to see if someone can be found responsible for the abuse. 

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), September 29, 2003. Article by Marco Antonio Martínez.