For more than two weeks, Duranguito residents and neighborhood advocates from throughout the City have kept 24-hour watch over the historic buildings under threat of demolition in this besieged neighborhood.
Last night we kept watch throughout the night despite the heavy rains and will continue to do so until the City withdraws the demolition stipulation with the property owners which incentivizes them to illegally raze these historical buildings. The reason we are keeping guard is because do not trust either our City government or the rogue property owners to respect the law.
The City should not be above the law, but apparently it feels that it is. They should be accountable to all El Pasoan’s for their recent actions regarding the illegal hit-and-run demolitions and orders to the police department to carry out a siege in support of these illegal demolitions on September 12.
Rather than apologizing for its own failure to respect the law, the Mayor and several City Council reps have asked Senator Rodríguez today for an apology. We believe this is a clear diversionary tactic on their part. Senator Rodríguez is one of a handful of civic leaders who have steadfastly spoken out against the underhanded and discriminatory actions of a City and group of billionaire developers who have deliberately targeted one of the most vulnerable fronterizo communities in our City. Senator Rodríguez deserves our praise, not our condemnation for his courageous stance.
At today’s press conference, a group of young advocates who have been coordinating civic guard camp in Duranguito will explain why we believe it is the Mayor and City Council themselves who should instead apologize to all El Pasoans for their recent actions.
Paso del Sur invites all media to our press conference today at Camp Duranguito, corner of 208 Chihuahua Street, at 2 pm.
