NMSU Library Presents Program on the Women Murdered in Juárez
Date: 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Journalists Adriana Candia, Isabel Velázquez and Rohry Benítez will tell the stories of the women murdered
in Juárez during a presentation on March 10, 2000, at 3:30 p.m. on the second floor east of the New
Mexico State University Library’s Branson Library. Candia, Velázquez and Benítez are the authors of The
Silence that Our Voices Break: Women and Victims in Cuidad Juárez (El Silencio que la voz de todas
Quiebra: Mujeres y Victimas de Cuidad Juárez) (Ediciones del AZAR, 1999). Copies of the book will
be available for purchase at the program. The program is made possible by an American Library Association
Reference & User Services Association Facts on File Grant for current affairs programming.
Candia and Velázquez are members of the NMSU campus community, Candia a Spanish instructor and
Velázquez a graduate student. Benítez is the publications co-editor at the Universidad Autónoma de
Ciudad Juárez. They wrote The Silence that Our Voices Break along with four other women.
In the introduction to The Silence that Our Voices Break, the women note that “We did not want to give a
voice to the murderers or the suspects; we wanted our book to be about life, not death. We wanted in
some way to enable the voices, the images and the dreams of Erendia, Sagrario, Olga, Alicia, Elizabeth,
Adriana, Silvia, Elena and Argelia, at least, to live on in ourselves and in our readers. Cuidad Juárez should
be remembered not only for its murdered women, but for all of the women who live ordinary lives, perhaps
like your own, or that of your mother, your sister, or your daughter.”
The Silence that Our Voices Break was born from a feeling of impotence and frustration. The women
asked themselves how it was possible that the violent murders of children and women could go on and on,
while at the same time the officials charged with providing security for the population could hide behind their
constant repetition of the tired old “blame the victim” myths. They decided that their objective would not be
to find the perpetrator or perpetrators of the murders or to simply provide more in-depth reporting on the
crimes. Instead, they would bring their readers closer to the human drama of the murdered women.
The book is composed of two interlocking themes or patterns. Analysis of the social, economic, and police
climate is based on facts and events gleaned from research in newspaper archives, articles and documents
from diverse organizations and institutions, interviews and other journalistic work. On the other hand, the
victims’ stories are based on interviews with their families and friends. Although they appear as an integral
part of the journalistic accounts, the stories of the women and girls have been recreated to present a clearer
and deeper picture of their lives.
This program is a Special Collections Event of the NMSU Library. For more information, please call
Cheryl Wilson, Special Collections Librarian, at 646-3238.
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