More Violence in Juarez: Another Decapitated Head, Report of Car Bomb Unfounded

Another decapitated head was left on the roof of a car in Col. Arroyo de las Víboras; the body was inside, and law enforcement officials at first feared a car bomb had been planted, but these proved to be unfounded. After further investigation it turned out that a natural gas container inside the car contained nothing but natural gas. Diario carried the story on Sunday, October 19 (click here). La Polaka had earlier reported as fact that a bomb had been found and deactivated, and my initial draft of this note, relied on the veracity of that report. All of Juarez has been spooked about car bombs for a couple of months now, since a real car bomb went off, giving rise to multiple rumors, including this one. News media should be extremely careful not to fuel these fears (Juarenses have enough troubles as it is) and I regret my willingness to accept the Polaka story as fact.