View of El Paso from Juarez,
April 25, 2011 by Bruce Berman
Juarez –You keep hearing that “Juarez is dead.” Juarez is not dead. It’s stripped, diminished, bruised and humbled but is it is not dead.
Most small business commercial strips are shuttered or just smashed and abandoned.
The streets are amazingly empty, the bustle and sheer madness of the traffic that was Juarez is gone. That Petromex smell of burning diesel that always hung in the air, along with the smell of fresh tortillas and dust, lessened.
But it is not dead.
The people who remain, the average working Juarense, goes on as best he or she can.
The funeral parlor, in this case the Capillas de Juarez, follows the basic rules of capitalism and stacks their storefront to the ceiling with coffins.
The late light is sweet.
The people keep their heads down, their eyes open and wait for the better day.
This is not death it is life suspended, everything is on hold.
