City in Mexico Drug Wars Renames Itself 'Heroic'

Ciudad Juarez celebrating 100th anniversary with a name change
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2011 4:04 PM CDT
Mexican Drug Capital Renames Itself 'Heroic'
Demonstrators hold a banner reading 'Victims day Stop now!' during a protest march against drug violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on May 7, 2011.   (Getty Images/AFP)

When your town is best known as the epicenter of Mexico’s drug war, maybe it’s time for a rebranding. Ciudad Juarez is changing its name to Heroica Ciudad Juarez, meaning “Heroic City of Juarez,” in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of a critical Mexican Revolution battle fought there, Reuters reports. “This is an alternative to the defamatory way the city has been treated,” one state lawmaker explained. It becomes official tomorrow.

But many residents think it’s a pretty lousy time to celebrate. More than 9,000 have been killed in the war between the Juarez and Sinola cartels since 2008, and more than 230,000 have fled the city. “These politicians are trying to manipulate things so that the violence doesn’t see the light of day,” says one electrician. “They want to straighten things out, but they are not going to do it like this.” (More Ciudad Juarez stories.)

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