After a 24-hour strike by doctors in Ciudad Juarez, the government has promised more security for health care professionals in that embattled city.
The governor of the state of Chihuahua, César Duarte Jaquez, designated hospitals in Ciudad Juarez "high-risk zones," and, according to the Juarez daily El Diario, the governor will create a permanent coordinating body of Municipal Police, Army, and Federal Police to provide special security for doctors and nurses in the city.
Triggered by the murder of one of their colleagues and a rise in kidnappings of doctors, medical professionals went on a 24-hour strike on Monday to bring attention to the hostile and violent climate in the city. If their demands for increased security were not met by the state government, they threatened to extend the protest.
Eleven doctors were kidnapped this year, and two of them killed. According to CNN Mexico, the year saw a record number of people killed in Juárez, as 3,000 died in drug-related deaths, a ten-fold increase since 2006.
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