Violence in Juárez
Service in the Desert
The greatest sin of political imagination is thinking there in no other way except the filthy rotten system we have today. Jesus for President This billboard says, “Serve your community”. Ambiguous and obnoxious billboards are infecting this already polluted city. Flooding the streets with more assault rifles strengthens the violence, injects more fear, closes more [...]
July 29th, 2009 by mmlindsey
New Desert War
It was hot. Tensions were boiling under the strain of the desert sun. Everyone was gripped, toes dug into the baking sand. The bombs whistled, cutting through the shimmering heat waves like melted butter. They could not out run them. Bombs colliding with flesh, fear on every face. When the dust settled, laughter was rippling [...]
July 4th, 2009 by Matt Lindsey
Boots on the Ground
The operation’s staffing level remains at 7,500 soldiers and 2,300 federal police officers, Torres said… Deaths had dropped to around one or two a day in March but are now averaging about seven homicides daily. More than 130 people have been killed so far this month. More than 2,300 people have been killed since January [...]
June 10th, 2009 by mmlindsey
The Desert Flux
Living on the border of the U.S. and Mexico is like living in a constant state of flux. Leaving Mexico requires a Mexican military checkpoint, then usually after an incredibly long wait, a U.S. checkpoint. Driving into Mexico these days means that you will first be checked by the U.S. Border Patrol, then Mexican Fed/Border [...]
April 24th, 2009 by mmlindsey
War on Drugs?
We came across this super interesting video on El Paso’s online newspaper. It is a commentary about the so-called “War on Drugs” from a veteran reporter who has been working the streets of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. The video is 63 seconds long and worth your time. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtgCTm78eM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnewspapertree%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded]
April 19th, 2009 by Matt Lindsey
Border Land
A world where half of the people live in extreme poverty is neither just nor secure. Our security depends on more than military might; it depends on other people’s security, well-being, and a hope that replaces anger and fear. We simply cannot and will not beat “swords into plowshares” (remove the threats of war) until all people can [...]
January 29th, 2009 by Matt Lindsey
Seven Months in the Desert
The history of Mexico is the history of a man seeking his parentage, his origins. He has been influenced at one time or another by France, Spain, the United States and the militant indigenists of his own country, and he crosses history like a jade comet, now and then giving off flashes of lightning. What [...]
August 30th, 2008 by mmlindsey
Wide-eyed
Between weakness and power, the desert… -Diaz We live in an oasis of violence, a desert town, a border town. Shimmering with blood, Ciudad Juarez, MX, is our sister in misery. This border town is the chalkstone in the cartel’ s business and ground zero of a deadly war. Heavy armored patrols of Mexican and Federal police roll [...]
July 31st, 2009 by Matt Lindsey