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PERSONAS HAN FIRMADO EL PACTO
Notas de Prensa
El Pacto • Ciudadanía + Gobierno.
Fecha de publicación: 2009-09-30
Fajardo 's challenge to Juarez is going unanswered
Newspaper Tree
Alejandra Gomez
The comparison has been inevitable. Since the visit of Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellin, Colombia, to Ciudad Juarez, the local media has been running stories about the incompetence of Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. Specifically, about his failure to achieve any of the programs and strategies recommended by Fajardo to improve the dynamics of the city.
Fajardo suggested that to lessen the effects of the narco violence, the people of Juarez need social stimulus -- better schools, nicer parks, and new urban attractions like public libraries and museums to unite the community and to create new jobs.
Even though many critics of Fajardo believe that much more is needed to put an end to the current drug war, he is known for being an active hands-on mayor who in Medellin invested in the idea of giving the best to the poor and re-integrating rebels and paramilitary fighters into society as working members.
Ferriz is criticized for being much more passive, and for not living in the city he governs. He has been reproved for not upholding his campaign promises of creating a new metro system that would help the thousands of maquiladora workers who commute to work daily, and the most recent complaint in the long list of disappointments is having the majority of public schools pay for their own private security because of the lack of police officers in the city.
Meanwhile, police are limited by a tight city budget that has had to be shared with the military and the federals.
Ferriz recently announced that in Juarez there are 80,000 teenagers from the ages of 12 to 16 who are not in school and 15,000 gang members who have been or have the potential to become employed by the cartels.
His solution to this situation was to team up with the Inter-American Development Bank, which promised a million dollars for the creation of a new maquiladora in Juarez that would employ some of these teenagers.
This solution was immediately criticized by many citizens since teenagers by law are supposed to have access to a free education and not be exploited by the maquiladora labor force.
Ferriz has said publicly that he plans to follow some of the social programs implemented by Fajardo in Medellin. However, he has yet to provide the scholarships he promised to 20,000 students during his campaign or make any improvements to public transportation. In addition, 37 percent of the streets in Juarez remain unpaved.
From 2004 to 2007 under Fajardo, Medellin shed its reputation as one of the most dangerous cities in the world and became known as an international example of social development. Under his administration, drug related homicides decreased 50 percent and kidnappings were down 63 percent.
From 2007 to 2009 under the Ferriz administration, drug related homicides have increased 577 percent and kidnappings have gone up 2,125 percent.
In 2007, 301 homicides were reported. In 2008, the number increased to 1,607. This year the number has increased to more than 1,770 and counting.
The unemployment rate in Juarez continues to increase as many businesses have closed due to the ongoing violence and have opted to move to El Paso.
With a drug war out of control, the ghost of the femicides has returned to haunt an already stigmatized community. More than 90 women have been killed in 2009 and more than 30 are missing.
Ferriz has many challenges to overcome and his time is running out to prove his critics wrong and to show that he does have leadership and a plan to help Juarez. His term ends in 2010. The challenge of Fajardo is to sustain the multimillion dollar projects during the global financial crisis and to continue to fight the drug violence in Colombia which has not completely disappeared.
Fajardo 's challenge to Juarez is going unanswered
The comparison has been inevitable. Since the visit of Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellin, Colombia, to Ciudad Juarez, the local media has been running stories about the incompetence of Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. Specifically, about his failure to achieve any of the programs and strategies recommended by Fajardo to improve the dynamics of the city.
Fajardo suggested that to lessen the effects of the narco violence, the people of Juarez need social stimulus -- better schools, nicer parks, and new urban attractions like public libraries and museums to unite the community and to create new jobs.
Even though many critics of Fajardo believe that much more is needed to put an end to the current drug war, he is known for being an active hands-on mayor who in Medellin invested in the idea of giving the best to the poor and re-integrating rebels and paramilitary fighters into society as working members.
Ferriz is criticized for being much more passive, and for not living in the city he governs. He has been reproved for not upholding his campaign promises of creating a new metro system that would help the thousands of maquiladora workers who commute to work daily, and the most recent complaint in the long list of disappointments is having the majority of public schools pay for their own private security because of the lack of police officers in the city.
Meanwhile, police are limited by a tight city budget that has had to be shared with the military and the federals.
Ferriz recently announced that in Juarez there are 80,000 teenagers from the ages of 12 to 16 who are not in school and 15,000 gang members who have been or have the potential to become employed by the cartels.
His solution to this situation was to team up with the Inter-American Development Bank, which promised a million dollars for the creation of a new maquiladora in Juarez that would employ some of these teenagers.
This solution was immediately criticized by many citizens since teenagers by law are supposed to have access to a free education and not be exploited by the maquiladora labor force.
Ferriz has said publicly that he plans to follow some of the social programs implemented by Fajardo in Medellin. However, he has yet to provide the scholarships he promised to 20,000 students during his campaign or make any improvements to public transportation. In addition, 37 percent of the streets in Juarez remain unpaved.
From 2004 to 2007 under Fajardo, Medellin shed its reputation as one of the most dangerous cities in the world and became known as an international example of social development. Under his administration, drug related homicides decreased 50 percent and kidnappings were down 63 percent.
From 2007 to 2009 under the Ferriz administration, drug related homicides have increased 577 percent and kidnappings have gone up 2,125 percent.
In 2007, 301 homicides were reported. In 2008, the number increased to 1,607. This year the number has increased to more than 1,770 and counting.
The unemployment rate in Juarez continues to increase as many businesses have closed due to the ongoing violence and have opted to move to El Paso.
With a drug war out of control, the ghost of the femicides has returned to haunt an already stigmatized community. More than 90 women have been killed in 2009 and more than 30 are missing.
Ferriz has many challenges to overcome and his time is running out to prove his critics wrong and to show that he does have leadership and a plan to help Juarez. His term ends in 2010. The challenge of Fajardo is to sustain the multimillion dollar projects during the global financial crisis and to continue to fight the drug violence in Colombia which has not completely disappeared.