Ciudad Juárez: Caught in the Crossfire

A panel will discuss the wave of violence that has affected Ciudad Juárez and the impact it has for citizen security on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border. Joining the panel is special guest Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz, who has been brought into the international spotlight as drug cartel-related violence on the border has escalated. Last year, about 2,660 people were murdered in Juárez, which is directly across the border from El Paso, Texas, and has been called "The Most Dangerous City in the Americas." John Burnett, National Public Radio (NPR) correspondent and University of Texas alumnus (Journalism '78) joins the panel, having provided investigative reporting of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and award-winning coverage on the drug war in the Americas. His reports are heard regularly on NPR's news magazines "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "Weekend Edition." University of Texas at Austin panelists include: educational psychologist Ricardo Ainslie and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Cecilia Balli. Ainslie's work includes the documentary film "Ya Basta! Kidnapped in Mexico" (2007). He is working on "Calderón's War: Mexico at the Crossroads," a book about Mexico's war against the drug cartels, and has made six visits to Juárez in the past year as part of his work. Balli's research focuses on U.S.-Mexican borderlands, gender and violence, and Latino expressive culture. She is a contributing writer for Texas Monthly and is working on a nonfiction book about the murder of young women in Juárez. This event is sponsored by the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact: Michelle Bryant, College of Liberal Arts, 512-232-4730; Paloma Diaz, Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, 512-232-2415.