Violence Returns to Juarez One Year After the Pope's Historic Visit Meghan Lopez - KFOX
go to original February 20, 2017

Tom Wainwright, author of "Narconomics," explains the reason why people are warned to stay inside at 5:45 p.m. in Juárez, Mexico (Business Insider)

Violence is on the rise once again in Ciudad Juarez, a year after Pope Francis’ visit to the Borderland.

The director of the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies, Josiah Heyman, says 2016 was the most violent year for the city since 2012 in terms of homicides. More than 540 people were killed in 2016 in Juarez. The violence is still significantly lower than it was during the height of the drug war, but Heyman says it is concerning.

“Just because it went away from one place in 2012 doesn't mean it can't come back because the conditions are still there,” Heyman said.

There have been more than 40 murders in the city during February alone, according to the Chihuahua attorney general’s office.

One of those, who was killed execution-style, was a UTEP student. Adrian Moreno Quinonez and two others were killed in bar on Feb. 5 along with two Mexican university students.

Heyman believes there may be a number of reasons for the spike in violence, including a power struggle with the weakening of the Sinaloa after Chapo Guzman was arrested and extradited.

The more fundamental living conditions in the city may be playing a bigger role, however. Heyman pointed to three factors that are still affecting Juarez: the unrestrained weapons trade from the U.S., the high demand for illegal drugs such as opioids and the economic inequality in Mexico.

Read the rest at KFOX

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