If you’ll forgive a brief departure from the generally light-hearted tone of this site, I’d like to draw your attention to a deeply moving and troubling article by Linda Diebel on the Juarez murders. Due to the baffling indifference of both local and national authorities, the savage murders, rapes and unexplained disappearances of young women and girls from this Mexican border down remain largely uninvestigated, in spite of the fact that over 12 years the confirmed death toll has risen to nearly 400.

Also featured at the above link is a narrated iPoddable video presentation featuring images by Carlos Osorio and the music of Juarez musician Armando Santillanes.

Linda Diebel, who spent 7 years as the Latin American correspondent for the Toronto Star, is a three-time recipient of the Amnesty International Media Award and author of Betrayed: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa.