Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Dec 3 (EFE).- With 70 murals along 500 meters in the Rio Grande channel, the natural border between Mexico and the United States, activists and artists demonstrated Sunday against femicides, violence, abuse and other rights issues affecting migrants in the area.
Activists paint a mural to denounce gender-based violence and the mistreatment of migrants, next to the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juárez, state of Chihuahua, Mexico, on Dec. 3, 2023. EFE/Luis Torres
The activity was part of the third edition of the Under The Bridge project, an event carried out by more than 100 foreign and Mexican artists who used the river’s containment walls as a canvas.
“It is the last part of Mexico where there are a lot of problems due to political, social and migration issues, and we carry out this protest in a peaceful, cultural and social way,” said activist Jorge Pérez, coordinator of Colectivo Reziste, and creator of this event.
In this edition of the event, artists ranging from amateurs, called upon through social media networks, to renowned urban muralists from Spain and Mexico City, participated to the causes of migrants in Ciudad Juárez.
Sara Álvarez, a local artist, told EFE that she ed the project when she saw a call on social media and took the opportunity to express her feelings on the gender-based violence in Juárez, where just this year there have been 140 femicides.
“I live with my mother and my sister … It’s complicated sometimes – the fact that simply going out in a skirt is taking a risk, that’s not right. We wanted to express that and that’s why we included women in our murals, that’s why we included these symbols, the footprints, the blood,” said Sara, who painted a mural with her sister.
“I wanted to give it a more romantic touch. The city is not to blame for so much violence and so many things that happen to women,” added Victoria Álvarez, Sara’s sister.
Muralist Arturo Alejandro Aguirre Torres painted a scene titled “Cutting a Flower From Our Garden,” portraying activists in defense of migrants and against femicide.
He said it is important for activists and artists to get together in protest events like this one, in which similar themes were repeated along the river.
The murals were painted in an area where there are three international bridges and they can be seen by thousands of pedestrians who cross the border between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas every day.
In recent years in this area, hundreds of thousands of migrants arrive to find their American dream blocked by razor wire, Texas National Guard officers, and the border wall on the Rio Grande. EFE
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