Ciudad Juárez: Saga of a Legendary Border City by Oscar J. Martínez

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ciudad Juárez: Saga of a Legendary Border City by Oscar J. Martínez William F. Manger Ciudad Juárez: Saga of a Legendary Border City. Oscar J. Martínez. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2018. Pp. xi+330, photographs, tables, appendix, bibliography, notes, index. $90.00, hardcover, ISBN 978-0-8165-3721-1. $29.95, paperback, ISBN 978-0-8165-3722-8. Mexican border cities have long had an "unsavory reputation" in the United States and even interior Mexico (x). North of the border they are often associated with vice tourism, undocumented migration, the loss of factory jobs, drug trafficking, and violence. This is particularly true of Ciudad Juárez, the oldest and largest border city, which is the focus of historian Oscar Martínez's book, Ciudad Juárez: Saga of a Legendary Border City. Martínez, who grew up in Juárez, attended school in El Paso, and taught at the University of Texas at El Paso for many years, is the consummate guide to the economic and social history of Juárez and reminds readers that, as Mexico's sixth largest city, it also "represents a vibrant community" (4). This work expands on the author's first book, Border Boom Town: Ciudad Juárez since 1848, a classic in border studies published in 1978 [End Page 161] (University of Texas Press). The first seven chapters of the original work have been significantly revised using more recent publications and primary documents from both sides of the border. Moreover, the author broadens his discussion of illegal activities prior to 1980, and particularly the illicit trade in drugs, in an effort to better understand "the origin and evolution of the extraordinary lawlessness" that has beset Juárez and other border cities in recent decades (6). The book also has three additional chapters (ch. 8–10) that chronicle events from the past forty years emphasizing the rapid growth of the maquiladora industry, the international drug trade, and the unwieldy expansion of the city and its population since 1980. The first seven chapters focus on the major themes in Border Boom Town, including the impact of the railroads, the push for a free trade zone, the Mexican Revolution, Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II, and the expansion of the city's commercial and industrial sectors in the 1960s. They further emphasize the boom-and-bust cycles that adversely impacted the city and its residents following the arrival of railroads in the early 1880s and Juárez's increasing dependence on its twin city across the river. The exception to this was the years between 1885 and 1905, when a zona libre (free zone) was established along the border, and Juárez came to surpass El Paso economically. Following the elimination of the free zone, however, tourism increasingly served as the basis of its economy, leading to a growing external orientation. This further expanded with the enactment of Prohibition in 1919 when Juárez and other border cities turned to vice tourism and experienced a rise in smuggling and the international drug trade. The city was severely impacted by the end of Prohibition in 1933, however, as many saloons and gambling houses, along with other related businesses, closed or relocated north of the border. The city's reliance on tourism ended in the 1960s with the initiation of the National Border Program (PRONAF) in 1961 and the Border Industrialization Program (BIP) in 1965, which promoted industrialization through foreign-owned assembly plants known as maquiladoras. The goal of the former program was to expand the city's commercial and industrial sectors and reduce residents' reliance on El Paso for their shopping needs, while BIP sought to alleviate the high rates of unemployment. Juárez became the leading center for the maquiladora industry, [End Page 162] but the expansion of domestic industry was never fully realized as residents continued to spend much of their income in El Paso. The final three chapters focus on the post-1980 period, when Juárez "solidified its position as the maquiladora capital of Mexico" (147). Low wages and peso devaluations, however, resulted in a decline in the standard of living for workers. By the end...