LA GUERRA MEXICANA di BRIAN L. FRANK

"I am a human being first, a journalist second, and a photographer third.""The journey is the destination."

mostly in the notorious barrios of Tepito and Nezahualcoytl in Mexico City.  However, in October, I also visited Juarez where, with the help of local journalists was able to document just a fraction of the rampant violence that has turned the border town into a war zone.
Ex-convict “Gerardo” holds his son on the streets of Tepito, the roughest neighborhood in Mexico City. Gerardo gave up his life of crime to raise his family and devoted his life to the worship of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death. Gang members on the streets of Tepito give him a big birth out of respect. Tepito is controlled by drug cartels, and access to the neighborhood is strictly guarded. Police are only allowed to patrol its streets 2 days a week.
Blood and gasoline glisten on the streets of Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico City. Neza, a notorios barrio on the outskirts of Mexico City, has become a barrio notorious for its gang violence.
Over 4000 people were murdered in relation to drug violence in Mexico last year. The drug war has escalated to new heights of violence never before thought possible as the Mexican Governments has scrambled to deploy troops to attempt to control a thoroughly deteriorated sitauation. Drug abusers huff glue and inhalants while dealers ply their trade on the streets of Tepito, Mexico City’s toughest neighborhood. Tepito is controlled by drug cartels, and access to the neighborhood is strictly guarded. Police are only allowed to patrol its streets 2 days a week.
Worshippers pray at the famous Santa Muerte altar in Tepito. The worship of Saint Death has become increasingly popular in poorer neighborhoods of Mexico and amongst gang members and those on the margins of society. Often, the families of victims can be seen praying next to the families of members of the criminal element, or gang members themselves.
Gang members and dealers line the streets of Tepitoto, Mexico City’s toughest neighborhood. Each tear coming from a gang member’s tattoo represents a murder committed. Tepito is controlled by drug cartels, and access to the neighborhood is strictly guarded. Police are only allowed to patrol its streets 2 days a week.
Gang members and dealers line the streets of Tepitoto, Mexico City’s toughest neighborhood. Tepito is controlled by drug cartels, and access to the neighborhood is strictly guarded. Police are only allowed to patrol its streets 2 days a week.
Patients stream towards medics on the streets at night in an all too common scene of violence on the streets of Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico City.
After crawling miles on bloodied knees, worshippers reach the famous Santa Muerte altar in Tepito and break down in tears. Worshippers are often family members of those leading a life of crime, or family members of victims of crime.
Clandestine graves are an all too common site in Juarez, Mexico. The city is gripped in a wave of violence as drug cartels battle each other and the federal authorities in the border town, which has lead to a more than ten-fold increase in homicides this year. Monuments such as this one can be found in well-known areas where bodies are regularly dumped. Eleven bodies were found piled one atop the other in this particular empty lot.
Brian L Frank/The Wall Street Journal>www.brianfrankphoto.com/
>http://www.vewd.org/