Families of Disappeared Excluded from Papal Visit in Juarez Paint Black Crosses Patricia Mayorga - Proceso
go to original February 16, 2016

Painted lamp pole in Ciudad Juárez (Especial)

Mothers and fathers of disappeared and/or murdered youths in Ciudad Juárez painted about 50 black crosses on a pink background on street poles lining Tecnológico Avenue, where Pope Francis will pass by.

Frightened and intimidated by local police units and the Presidential Guard [responsible for guarding the Pope], at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, they began painting poles and traffic lights from Tecnológico Avenue to Teófilo Borunda Street, across from the Central Park, with the phrases "Not One More" and "Justice Now" .

Norma Laguna Cabral, mother of Idaly Juache Laguna, regretted that organizers [of the Pope's visit] have not authorized a meeting between Pope Francis and relatives of victims of violence, including femicides.

She said that in Chiapas they certainly achieved a meeting with indigenous people, who had seats in front at the Mass, but in Juárez they favored business people through the "Encounter with the World of Work", and they excluded parents of female victims because they are poor.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Related: Migrant Families Meet and Protest on Both Sides of Mexico-U.S. Border Fence (Mexico Voices)

Related: Kisses and Handshakes at the Border — Through a Fence (The Los Angeles Times)

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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