Threats To Juarez Mayor And Family Mention El Paso
by Angela Kocherga
JUAREZ, Mexico — The Mexican border state of Chihuahua is on high alert after a series of attacks and threats against top government officials.
Attackers targeted a convoy escorting the governor of Chihuahua Sunday night. Gunmen killed one bodyguard and injured two others seriously. The governor of the Mexican border state was not harmed.
The Chihuahua attorney general said one of the suspected gunmen who was caught is ex-military.
The mayor of Juarez, Jose Reyes Ferriz, has increased his security after death threats.
Anonymous handwritten signs appeared in Juarez threatening to behead the mayor and family members even if they live in El Paso.
In a recent interview, the mayor said he has owned a home in El Paso for several years, but he said he continues to live in Juarez.
ABC-7 is aware that the Juarez mayor has maintained a residencein El Pasofor years. However,ABC-7 will not release information on it in the interest of public safety.
El Paso police detective Carlos Castillo said the “police department is here to serve and protect. We will keep a high profile visibility in the area.”
Several government officials and business owners in Juarez have moved their families to the U.S. side of the border to protect them from escalating violence.
“Terrorist acts” is how Ferriz referred to a commando-style attack last week that killed a city police commander and three officers riding in the same vehicle. Gunmen sprayed the car with 150 rounds.
The Juarez city police chief, a retired army general, resigned after the killings. So far there is no replacement in this border city where drug traffickers fight for control.
There have been more than 200 murders in Juarez in February so far.
In a statement released Monday, the Juarez municipal government said it is not dismissing the clandestine threats, and it stands firm in its decision to maintain control of municipal police and cleanse the department of bad elements.
They also don’t dismiss the possibility that the threats are the work of “evil minds” taking advantage of the difficult situation in Juarez to destabilize and halt the government’s work.
