Radio Bilingüe Premieres the News Documentary Juárez Case: The Crime of the Century, an In-Depth Look into the Murders of Women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

June 4, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Francisco, CA
Contact: Patricia Hernandez
(559) 455-5782
patriciah@radiobilingue.org

Freelance journalist Kent Paterson premieres the documentary Juárez Case: The Crime of the Century, a one-hour program delving into the mystery of the continuing killing of young women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. During the past decade, 370 women have been brutally murdered and 400 more are missing in this border city. Most are poor and worked in local maquila plants. He also draws links between the murders in Juárez and similar slayings in other cities of Mexico. Paterson, a contributing producer for Radio Bilingüe based in Albuquerque, features original sound and exclusive interviews with family members of the victims, former Mexican government officials, human rights activists, and Sergio Gonzalez Rodriguez, author of the book Huesos en el Desierto.

The news documentary will air on Wednesday, June 9 at 12:00 noon PDT on Línea Abierta, the only Spanish-language news and talk program distributed to the national public radio network in the United States. The feed will be available live over public radio’s satellite service and on the Internet via www.radiobilingue.org.

Following the special documentary, Línea Abierta will air a special one-hour roundtable discussion on the subject. The program, entitled Juárez and the Impunity, will focus on the special report that the federal commissioner appointed to head a probe on the killings is expected to release this week. This federal action was prompted by intense and increasing international pressure from human-rights organizations that have accused Mexican authorities of tolerating and failing to investigate the crimes. Facilitated by Línea Abierta’s host and executive producer Samuel Orozco, the roundtable includes invited guests María Guadalupe Morfin, special commissioner to prevent and eradicate violence in Juarez; Diana Washington Valdez, investigative journalist and author of the book Harvest of Women: A Mexican Safari; María López Urbina, special prosecutor to investigate the crimes against women in Juarez; and Norma Andrade, President, Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, Ciudad Juárez. The roundtable will air at 13:00 PDT.

Radio Bilingüe is the national Latino public radio network. With offices in San Francisco and Fresno, the non-profit network distributes news, information and cultural programming to about seventy stations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Funding for Radio Bilingüe’s informational service comes in part from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The California Endowment.

For more information, please contact Patricia Hernandez at patriciah@radiobilingue.org.

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