Pubdate: Sun, 29 Aug 2010
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2010 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/townhall/ci_14227323
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: John Hall

ARTISTS, MUSICIANS RALLY FOR END TO JUAREZ VIOLENCE

Artists and musicians gathered Saturday in Downtown El Paso to hold a 
peace rally in protest of the violence in Juarez.

The Semillas De La Paz rally and art show took place at the San 
Carlos building at 501 Texas and featured live music and works by 
local artists.

The event raised money for a Juarez charity, Hands of Love and Hope, 
which provides food and shelter to orphans. Artwork was sold, and 
donations were taken at the door.

Artist Frank Rosales, who contributed his painting skills to the 
effort, said he wanted to show his support for the residents of Juarez.

"We're trying to bring peace," Rosales said. "We want to bring 
something positive as opposed to all of the negative things you hear."

He lamented the fate that has befallen Juarez.

"Everybody has a history with Juarez," Rosales said. "My parents took 
me there to shop and to eat; now it's just not safe to go over there anymore."

Rosales said that everyone he knows who used to live in Juarez has 
moved to El Paso, although his brother-in-law still travels to Mexico for work.

"You just have to stay positive and try not to think negatively, 
about what could happen," he said.

Dolores Guzman, who attended the event to show her support, said that 
several of her co-workers live in Juarez and that some have lost relatives.

"We're so grateful that we live here in the United States," Guzman 
said. "We pray that (the violence) never crosses over."

Bianca Cervantes, 26, said that she organized the rally to show that 
the violence and the misery it has produced could be confronted 
through positive means such as art.

"Every single thing out here was created with love, it's created with 
passion. No bullet can beat that. It lives on forever," she said. "I 
don't even question that it will work. It'll take some time, but I'm 
hoping that we can at least create a dent, a movement."

Juarez has been in the grasp of a vicious drug war between the Juarez 
and the Sinaloa drug cartels since 2008. More than 6,000 people have 
died in the wave of violence.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart