If you ask people in Juarez what is causing the terrible violence in their city, almost all of them will tell you it's a war between two rival cartels over control of the drug market, or plaza, as they say. This is the same explanation given by the Mexican government and by nearly every news agency. It's an easy explanation to accept and it implies a solution: eventually one cartel will defeat the other cartel, and the killing will stop.
But if you keep talking to people in Juarez, ask them more questions, you come to realize that when they say 'drug cartel', for them this term also implies the government, the military, big business, small business, the upper, middle, and lower classes, the justice system and the media.
This Hearing Voices series was produced by Julian Cardona, Scott Carrier and Lisa Miller; Edited by Deborah George; Translation and Research by Molly Molloy; Additional assistance from Erin Almeranti, Elaine Clark.
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