Femicide Revisited
May 23rd, 2009 | By Michel Marizco | Category: General News, Politics
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THE BORDER REPORT
This story and photos probably should have run with this week’s earlier package but the victim photos tell the story far better than I ever could. They come courtesy of TijuanaPress.com.
The victims were three young women from Mexicali. Nataly Medrano, 17, and her older sister Ivon Denisse Medrano, 20. Both worked at a Mexicali strip club, La Taberna. Laura Gabriela Mejia, 22, was a hairstylist. They disappeared in August 2008; Milenio gives the most detailed account I’ve seen yet of what happened to them.
The three had gone to Tijuana, a party hosted by men working for El Ingeniero, Fernando Sanchez Arellano. Somewhere along the way, they hooked up with Fidel Abraham “Chiricua” Barajas, Antonio “Negro” Grajeda Mendoza and Javier “Javo” Hernández Olguín.
Ivon Denisse and Negro have some type of argument outside a bar and Chiricua steps in, calming things down and offers to take the three back to Mexicali. As he drives them back home, Negro calls him and tells him Javo wants the three taken back to a safe house in Tijuana.
The three men choked the women out then dissolved the bodies in acid. A few weeks ago, the Mexican Army arrested Chiricua and Negro (pictured above left to right) who’ve confessed to the murders (and blamed Javo). Javo is still on the run.
The three murders managed to generate headlines even in Tijuana where three hits in one day is a slow night. But they also create a new dynamic for Baja California that’s wildly open to interpretation. New Mexico State University’s FronteraNorteSur news went for the angle that B.C. has had more women victims, 105 between 2006-2007, than Chihuahua, 84 in the same time period. Of course, missing women don’t enter into the numbers so the stats are skewed.
The University of Guadalajara has one of the best summations of femicides in Mexico, calculating 6,000 murdered women in Mexico between 1999 and 2005.
The best part of their study is in the unknowns. Thirteeen of the country’s 31 states reported they did not track murder by gender.
so who the hell is in charge in tijuana? El Teo, or El Ingenerio?
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T…………..
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Do you have any idea why these three young women were killed?
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In this world, why is not the question………..but rather, why not?
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I wanted to say El Inge was in charge of Tijuana, but this goes to show that his grip on that place is not as tight as it should be. No wonder El Teo is giving him hell, he can’t even control his own men.
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In a conversation the other day with some (ex) Juarez federales the subject came up about the problems with femicides and how women are used and discarded. It was relayed back to me, to reassure me I guess that only ‘deserving’ women meet that fate. That will be my last conversation with that person.
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Driving yesterday in Hayward California, big ol’ goldish color hummer pulls up, dark tinted windows. On the back in Cartel and a pic of a gun, underneath it directed you to a website…is this like….recruiting?
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i guess people always assume “females” are innocent thus their killings are always seen as worse. But females have been used by drug traffickers, kidnappers, etc. in luring competition and gaining vital information. Thus, if these females are “innocent” may never be known.
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There are many ‘innocent’ women of Juarez who have met horrible fates. Statements like that are equivalent to many pedophiles who say the children ;asked; for it…..well that is a great rationalization if your the one with the need to violate others.
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No one is arguing whether killing innocent people is wrong, be it female or male, whether their guilty or innocent for that matter. What were only saying is when you see a female get murdered its seen worse, because we believe females can’t do harm. Moreover, all murder is wrong, whether they deserved it or not? But to assume females can’t be as much as involved in kidnappings, killings, drug trafficking, as their male counterparts, shows your ignorance of the issue.
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You had me till that last statement. I am aware that women are also a part of the drug trade and that it is hard to fathom that a woman can also be violent. We were talking two different issues. I guess I still have that old thinking that women only get involved to please a man. But, things have changed, many hard women out there also.
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Women have been a part of crime since crime started. Keep in mind that the oldest profession is prostitiution & women were the first prostitutes. Remember La Reina Del Sur? She is a high ranking shot caller & is all woman. The killing of innocent women in Juarez is wrong, but some of the other girls who are gettting gunned down are actually competition or part of kidnapping rings. If you get a bullet in the forehead & are left in the street like a dog, you were probably doing something bad. Be it a male or female.
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Prostitution is the oldest profession, not the oldest crime. It was not a crime at one time. Besides that, I am so f……..ing tired of people saying those who are victims of the cartels probably have it coming. It is an excuse to look the other way. When children are victims or other family members just because they are related, does that make them a part of the problem? Or should everyone know how to pick there relatives better?
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Actually based on that theory, 80% of border hispanics are related to SOMEONE in the cartels. Every killing involving a hispanic in that region will turn up SOME relative connected to the drug rade
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Do you guys know who the inspiration was for the movie “Scarface?” It was a Colombian woman named “La Madrina.” But she didn’t work as a stripper.
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Was there ever any more follow up on this story, or the 4 kids from Chula Vista, San Diego that were found tortured and strangled in May of last year? This is the most detailed account I could find. Those guys (El Negro and Javo) were linked with Teo, and not Inge though, right? Interesting that the kids I referenced were also strangled. There was barely any coverage of that either, which is fairly surprising considering they were US citizens, there were small links to organized crime, nothing much was uncovered.
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