Tuesday, February 9, 2010

President Calderon to Visit Juarez Tomorrow

The Minister of the Interior (Gobernacion, in charge of internal affairs), Fernando Gomez Mont, has been in Juarez for the past few days meeting with the families of the massacred high school students and with local officials. He announced today that President Calderon will come to Cd. Juarez on Thursday to announce a new strategy for the security of the city.

There has been a good deal of criticism of the President in recent days, some directed at the President's seeming reluctance to come to Juarez, the most violent city in the world, and some at the strategies his administration has promoted for the security of Juarez, which have not prevented the homicide rate to escalate dramatically in the past year.

The is a good deal of speculation about the President's message when he arrives tomorrow. There has been talk of a $230 million (US) aid package to help Juarez get back on it's feet, and even more speculation about how that money would be spent: who would receive the money, and what decision making process would decide on priorities. Distrust of government runs extremely high in Juarez, and this is an election year, so there has been a lot of concern that any aid package would be used strictly for election purposes, with little accountability.

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