Disappeared Women Memorialized in Juarez Murals Monica Ortiz Uribe - Fronteras Desk
go to original June 5, 2015

Juárez muralist Maclovio Macias painted the faces of women who went missing during a period of intense drug violence in neighborhoods throughout the city. (Mónica Ortiz Uribe)

The Mexican border city of Juárez is trying to shake its reputation as one of Mexico's most dangerous cities. Meanwhile, a local artist is working to memorialize a group of young women who were among the victims of the most recent wave of violence.

Maclovio Macias is an artist who honed his craft on the streets of Juárez using the smog-glazed walls as his canvas. His latest inspiration came from marching 200 miles alongside mothers who's daughters went missing as the city buckled under a maelstrom of drug violence.

"You just hear what they say and you just cannot say, 'Well it doesn't exist,' because you see it on their eyes," Macias said.

In a residential neighborhood near a church, Macias painted the faces of those girls and their mothers. His color scheme looks electric against the dull concrete walls. One woman he painted went missing while her son was still in diapers. He's now six-years-old. Evidence collected by family members and police suggests she and dozens more may have been trafficked and later murdered.

Read the rest at Fronteras Desk

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!