A documentary chronicling the devastating violence in the Mexican town of Juarez opens tomorrow in San Diego.
Juarez is a city of 1.5 million in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, south of El Paso, Texas. It's one of the fastest growing and most violent cities in the world. In 2010 alone, there were 3,111 murders. Filmmaker Charlie Minn set out to find out why the body count was so high. It's not clear how many of the murders are drug related. Minn said 95 percent of those crimes aren't investigated because of corruption and lack of police officers. He called Juarez the greatest human-rights disaster in the world.
"This film is devoted to the innocent Mexican people who have had to pay a dear price during this escalating violence," Minn said. "Those cries need to be heard and they need a voice."
Minn criticized the American media for under-reporting Mexico's violence. He says no one on this side of the border should think it's exclusively a Mexican problem.
"The United States is supplying all the cash and all the weapons to Mexico for the illegal drugs that come into the United States," Minn said. "It's no secret that the USA is the leading consumer for illegal drugs so anytime someone takes a drug here, that could be in exchange for a Mexican baby laying around with a hole in its head."
The documentary "8 Murders a Day" opens at the AMC Palm Promenade 24.
