Retratos

Portraits in downtown Ciudad Juárez.

In 2013, I was covering the aftermath of the war on drug trafficking announced by President Felipe Calderón in 2008, which resulted in the loss of the entire northern border. Murder statistics rose to a level that shocked the entire country, and drug use rates in Ciudad Juárez were seen as one of the worst periods for the city. This was because the cartels couldn't bring drugs into the United States, so they began selling them in the city for minimal amounts, which led to an increase in users. The border was in chaos.