On 31 January 2010 15 people, mostly students, were killed at a birthday party in the Juárez neighborhood of Villas de Salvárcar. Few days later, President Felipe Calderón and members of his Cabinet visited the border city to establish public policies against organised crime and violence. The Salvárcar victims's relatives were invited to the meeting. Luz María Dávila, who lost her two children Marcos and José Luis, could not remain silent and demanded justice to President Calderón.
Video translation:
"I will not remain silent because this is the truth. Excuse me Mr President, I can not tell you 'welcome' because for me you are not welcome. No one is, because for more than two years murders have been committed here, many things are happening and nobody does anything.
"I want justice, not just for my two children, but for all the other children. I cannot shake hands with you and say 'welcome', because to me you're not welcome. I want this to be done right, that Juárez becomes what it was before.
"Juárez is in mourning. It's not fair that my boys were at a party ... Now I want you to retract what you said, that they were gang members. That's a lie. One of my sons studied at UACH (Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua) and the other one was in high school. They didn't have.. time, no... It cannot be Mr President, you cannot say they were gang members. They had no time to walk in the street. They studied and worked.
"I bet that if someone had killed one of your children, you would look under the rocks for the murderer. As I have no resources, I can't look for the killers.
"You always say the same things Mr President, Ferriz (City Mayor), Baeza (Former Governor of Chihuahua), they all say the same and nothing gets fixed here. Everything is worse, that's the truth.
"In my case we're in the "novenario" (Latin American custom of praying for nine days for the dead). I want justice for my children and for other students, because they were 14 years-old and over, it was a party for a 18 year-old boy!
"Put yourself into my place and see what I feel, now that I don't have my kids, they were my only children.
"You gentlemen, do not say anything? Ah, but how well you applaud the President because he came here, fine.
"I want you to get in my place right now and see what I'm feeling. Do not say "of course" Mr. President, do something for Juárez. That Juárez becomes what Juárez was before! Not as bloody as it's nowadays".
Luz María Dávila, 11 February 2010
You should write also about Marisela Escobedo...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking to open a new section on the blog about abuses against activists and human right defenders... I'll definitely write a post about Marisela. Thanks for your comments Enano.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I first listened to this woman. Her voice, and her words, broke my heart. This is just one common lady who lost her son because of this war. At the same time, we, the rest of Mexicans, slowly loose our freedom and our capacity to be surprised.
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