Pachuca Blood

Article: Eduardo Beckett

Photos: D. Arredondo

On September 19, 2010, Jesus Alvarado a/k/a “Cimi” along with collaborating artists Victor Casas, a/k/a “Mask” and Trenzas Chicana Arts Collective unveiled “Pachuca Blood” a mural on a pillar under the Spaghetti Bowl located at Lincoln Park, 4001 Durazno St., El Paso, TX a/k/a El Chuco.
The mural depicts a “Pachuca", the female counterpart of the Pachuco. She is standing in front of the Santa Fe International Bridge where the strong current of the Rio Grande runs and divides two countries, El Paso, TX, USA and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua Mexico.

 

The Rio Grande quenches the Pachuca’s thirst. The great Rio Grande gives life as it also takes life.
The Puente Negro (Black Bridge) is also depicted in the mural. If you look close enough you will see people crossing the imaginary line that divides two countries. This imaginary line called the border has caused wealth, economic opportunity, NAFTA, international trade, exports, border security employment, “Operation Hold the Line,” death, destruction, security, border fences, infra red cameras, sensors, death, drowning, poverty, despair, narco-terrorism, narco violence, division of families, deportation, dehydration, hypothermia, heat stress, racism, scapegoats, heroes, international agreements, task forces, politics, rape trees, femicide, sweatshops, corruption, impunity, human trafficking, etc.

 

The border (hereafter La Frontera) is a complex terrain where cultures collide creating a unique border culture. La Frontera is a place where the forces of evil and good compete for a piece of La Frontera. La Frontera can give you great opportunity or it can swallow you up with the strong current of the Rio Grande. La Frontera is where the Pachuca lives.

The Pachuca is a survivor of two worlds. Two flags are draped by the Pachuca, a U.S. and a Mexican flag. She has one foot in Juarez and one foot in El Chuco. She is holding a heart in her left hand with six daggers piercing through the heart. Her heart is bleeding Pachuco Blood that runs through her veins.
The Pachuca is a strong border woman. She is resilient. She is beautiful. She lives in two worlds. She speaks calo. She is a survivor. She is street smart. She is educated. She can hold her own. She can survive in diverse worlds. She can be your mother. She can be your sister. She can be your grandmother. She can be your girlfriend. The Pachuca is self determined, she is independent, and she is a free thinker.

To the Pachuca, La Frontera is an imaginary line. However, the Pachuca is not detached from reality. She has been wounded by the suffering of women along La Frontera. She holds a heart with daggers that have pierced the hearts of women. Oppression, rape, inequalities, femicide, domestic violence, murder of her children, exploitation of her children, sexism, machismo, human trafficking of her children, glass ceilings, low wages, drugs that have been injected in the veins of her children, lack of educational opportunities for her children, rampant poverty, failure of governments to protect her sisters and her children along La Frontera. Governments along La Frontera who have failed to give economic opportunity to her children.
Corrupt government officials who live off the backs of her children.

Her pain is great, she must witness as her children are being slaughtered in Juarez in the name of the so called drug war. Nevertheless, the Pachuca is from El Paso and Juarez, she is a survivor. She can take the stab wounds pierced through her heart. She is self-determined, she creates her own identity, her own culture, she cannot be sold like a commodity, her culture is unique, she is the Pachuca from La Frontera.

The Pachuca embraces the Pachuco lifestyle. After all, the Pachuco is born out of the Pachuca. Every Pachuco has Pachuca blood. She is flanked by two Bombs (old vintage cars). These types of Bombs don’t kill. Rather, they bring a smile to all who witness these vintage cars cruising the borderland. They are explosive in expressing La Frontera culture. The Bombs see no borders as they are built by the Pachuca’s children who live in El Paso and Juarez. Although the international bridge separates her children they are united by blood, culture, tradition, pride, and unity.
The Pachuca’s children have been taught to respect their mother who gave them their Pachuca blood. They have been brought up to be proud of the borderland.

They have been taught to survive along the Rio Grande. They have been taught to heal despite all the stab wounds of life. This mural is dedicated to all the women of El Paso and Juarez. It is a testament of the strong will power of women along the U.S. Mexican border. It is also dedicated to all the Pachucas in La Frontera, and to the women who have lost loved ones due to femicide or any violence.

This mural is especially dedicated to all of the women in Juarez who have lost children to the so called narco violence in Cd. Juarez. May all the dead rest in peace.

 

 

Jesus "Cimi" Alvarado

ENLARGE PHOTOS

Jesus "Cimi" Alvarado

ENLARGE PHOTOS