In Mexico, what began as a government effort to wipe out drug lords four years ago has turned into a long war with the death toll now at a staggering 23,000. It’s a brutal fight involving massacres, beheadings, bodies hanging from bridges, and the killing of innocents.
Politicians are favorite targets of the cartels. In Mexico’s recent election, one candidate for governor, considered a shoo-in to win, was assassinated. And several mayors have been killed.
We’re going to hear now from two mayors – mayors who live on opposite sides of the border but who are in many respects partners, their cities separated in places by only a few hundred feet and the Rio Grande. Mayor John Cook of El Paso and Mayor Jose Reyes of Juarez are on the line from their respective offices (NPR).
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