Vanguard | October 04, 2010 | 7 comments

Juarez Narco War Killings: Scenes From Vanguard

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In this scene from Vanguard's "Narco War Next Door," correspondent Laura Ling revisits some of the many murder scenes in Juarez, Mexico, where in 2008 there were almost 1400 drug-related killings.

"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Mondays at 9/8c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.

For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.
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    Current Video,   Best of TV US,   Vanguard,   Vanguard Weekly Special,   1 more
  2. tags:
    Lisa Ling,  Scenes from Vanguard,  Narco War Next Door
  3. credits:
    lauraling Correspondent, BenitaSills Editor, jolivar Producer, more
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7 comments // Juarez Narco War Killings: Scenes From Vanguard // Video

  • mija51
    • 0
      mija51  

    • Breaking news from Artesia PD.
      Last night, about 9:15pm several calls came in to the Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority saying there were shots fired in the area of 1100 South Second Street in Artesia. Officers arrived and found a 30 year old Artesia man, Juan Sifuentes who was suffering from several gunshot wounds as well as other injuries. He was transported by ambulance and later died at the Artesia General Hospital. Another 29 year old Artesia man was identified as having been moderately injured as a result of the incident.
      A 35 year old Artesia man, Osmond Viernes was in the area when officers arrived. He ultimately contacted the officers and later was interviewed by APD detectives. Osmond Viernes was then charged with an open count of murder connected with the death of Juan Sifuentes.
      An Artesia Police Department officer who was in the area at the time of the incident was involved by way of attempting to stop a deadly confrontation. He operated a weapon at least one time from a position adjacent to the confrontation. This part of the incident will be handled by criminal investigators and by department administrators. The officer is not charged with any crimes and is on paid administrative leave as a matter of department policy.
      Physical and testimonial evidence will continue to be gathered and further charges may develop from the investigation of the incident. The New Mexico State Police criminal investigations division will work closely in conjunction with APD detectives on this case.
      Osmond Viernes remains jailed on the murder charge. He has not been arraigned and a court date has not been set. His bond has been set at no bond.

      This is just some of the things that happen on our surroundings they say there will be an investigation and then it is left like that families here in the United states are suffering with these kin ds of acts also coverups by the police wheres the investigation here??

    • 21 days ago
  • mija51
    • 0
      mija51  

    • Hey there Laura I saw your documantary ,you made on the cartels from Mexico it was disturbing although its so true what we are now living due to high volume of drugs but we not only see that going on in Mexico we had to experiment that in real life my brother was killed here in the U.S almost 7yrs ago and there was a cover up by the police and no investigation was done I really wish that one day somebody could take the time to ask questiones as you did in Mexico because like I said its on going here in the United States also not only in Mexico Thank You so much for your time..

    • 24 days ago
  • frogman123
    • 0
      frogman123  

    • Hey Ling, your documentory is weak as hell I could have got the same violence here in Chicago on camera if Current would like to hire me I would have your job girl. just saying!!!!

    • 3 months ago
  • steev
    • 0
      steev  

    • csmonaut: yes, true. it's complicated. thank you. i did refer to NAFTA when i mentioned trade policy. but i oversimplified it when i said Americans love their drugs. sometimes time necessitates a sort of shorthand. of course if drug consumption was dealt with in a different way, the situation would be quite different. and dealing with it differently is not in the economic interests of many who profit off the current situation: the prison industry, arms manufacturers, the rehab industry, the banks that the money gets laundered through, etc. etc. the corruption extends north of the border. it's very complicated. but i can't help thinking, still, that what it all boils down to is the question: why do people (not just americans, as you point out) like to get high so much? of course if it were treated as simply a health problem and not a criminal problem we'd be better off, but there would still be that question. it's really interesting to me. what it says to me is, life sucks for so many people that recreational drugs and all their side-effects are a valid escape/solution for them. of course i might also say that about many perfectly legal addictions, like alcohol, sugar, shopping, sex, and caffeine. So then the next questions are: why does life suck so much that people need to medicate themselves with these things, and how can their lives be improved so they don't have (or want) to?

    • 1 year ago
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  
    • steev:

      This "war on drugs" is very profitable for some. In a study that was done in 2000, with the willing help of 45 states, the analysts found that only 4 cents on the dollar goes toward prevention of drug addiction. The rest goes toward dealing with the problems after an arrest has been made.
      The larger picture, as you state, is why? I don't think it's because life sucks so much as it just seems like the thing to do...then addiction sets in.
      Yes, a very complicated problem with no easy answers.

    • 1 year ago
  • steev
    • +1
      steev  

    • nice work, this is the most promising clip i've seen so far from this episode of Vanguard. it's great that you gave lots of attention to the fact that the drug violence is all about the fact that Americans love their drugs. Of course, there's also the fact that most of those drugs are illegal, so any business disputes between narcos must be resolved via violence, rather than the courts. This, along with U.S. trade policy, is why Mexico is in so much trouble lately. But it's been building for 40 years.

      i've uploaded here the trailer to a doc i made in 2006 about Juarez and the femicide there.

    • 1 year ago
  • csmonut
    • +1
      csmonut  
    • steev:

      It's not just about Americans loving their drugs. Part of it is about the "War on Drugs", which began in the 1980s, during the Reagan Admin. Federal dollars flowed to into states to combat drugs. Federal funds were severely cut or no longer available to state and local groups that had been trying to help drug addicts get off drugs. Funds were also cut to mental facilities, and the majority of those people were put out on the street.
      (And...NAFTA came along, destroying local economies whose farmers and manufacturers could not compete with cheap , federally funded foodstuffs from the US.
      That was the Mexican and South American governments working in conjunction with American agri-business and the US government.)
      Prison populations rose dramatically throughout the 80s and into the 90s, when all of a sudden, those federal dollars were cut. States were left holding prison populations they could not afford to keep. They had to "restructure" the way they kept people in prison. The damage was already done. The drug addicts who had been put away were now "real criminals" and acted as such when let back out on the street.

      It is easy to blame American drug addicts for the problems south of the border. Why not? America is still a rich country, and people still afford to pay 5+ dollars for a pack of cigarettes and buy illegal drugs.
      Drug addiction is not indigenous to the US. All countries have their problems. The difference is the reporting systems. America has a reasonably good reporting system in place for arrests for drug crimes. Many other countries only keep track of violent crimes, so their reporting can be spotty at best when it comes to drug addict populations, thus making the US look the worst per capita in the world.
      And yes, American laws on illegal drugs are archaic and need to be revisited, as many states are already doing.

      But, the fact remains that if the local, state and federal governments of Mexico remain corrupt, due to lack of funding, lack of pay and benefits, etc. illegal drugs will continue to flow north, and many more thousands will die and/or be kidnapped.
      With the escalation of violence spreading so fast and so harsh from the drug cartels, even to the peoples such as the Tarahumara Indians who only wish to remain as they have always been, it is time to quit pointing fingers.

      The Mexican and American federal, state and local governments need to be working closely with one another on this issue, because seperately, what they are doing is not helping.

    • 1 year ago

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