Humor:  Bache-Gate in Juaritos

Skateboarders from Las Cruces Take Heed!

The reporter Luis Villagrana, and NorteDigital, the news outlet for which he works, deserve a round of applause for solemn reporting (click here) of what is becoming known as Bache-Gate in Cd. Juárez.  (a "bache" in Spanish is a pothole)  A little background:

Armando Cabada is currently mayor of Juárez.  From Wikipedia (click here):  His father founded a popular television station, XHIJ-TV Canal 44 which began airing in 1980.  Armando began working there in 1988 and ended up anchoring a popular late evening news program. In 2016 he left the station to run successfully for mayor and was eligible, because of a realignment of terms, to run for reelection in 2018 for a three-year term, which he won.  He ran as an independent candidate, and uses a logo for his administration consisting simply of an "i".

During his tenure as mayor citizens have complained about the sorry conditions of streets throughout the city.  Recently a man who calls himself Maquina de Fuego (Fire Machine) has been spray-painting an "i", about two feet long, in red, directly onto some of the thousands of potholes on streets throughout the city, and has called on other citizens to do the same.  "We are not vandalizing," he says.  "We are simply locating the potholes so that the government won't have to take the trouble to find them."  At a demonstration late last week women threw stuff at the entryway of municipal offices, and Cabada's name has become associated with Bache-Gate, for a variety of reasons.

Maquina de Fuego has a following of 15,000 on his Facebook page and 262,000+ subscribers to his You Tube page, "Amigos de la Llanura."

Left:  image in NorteDigital story (here), of Maquina de Fuego at his artistic best.