The need for repair is evident on the Aztec Calendar. But, how should the City go about doing the repairs? (Kristopher Rivera/Borderzine.com)

Montezuma’s revenge – Tower of Babel replaces the Aztec Calendar

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EL PASO – After 58 years of exposure to the sandblasting winds rolling off the Franklin mountains, cracks have appeared on the Aztec Calendar in downtown El Paso as if a hard-riding Juan de Oñate had used it for jousting practice. But repairing the artifact that the Mexican consulate gave El Paso in 1953 as a symbol of friendship and respect is problem as complex as the ancient designs on the calendar itself. The calendar must be removed from its location in order for the Mexican consulate to agree to repair it but moving it could result in further, perhaps irreparable, damage. The city fathers want to relocate it to an indoor facility but activists want none of that. “We were all appalled so we did our research…and it is in fact, there’s contracts to remove it and give it to the Consulate,” activist Cemelli De Aztlán said.

Banda Guerra de la escuela secundaria Técnica 55 dirigida por el instructor Luis Raúl Aguirre. (Belinda Fernandez/Borderzine.com)

Miles celebran el Grito mexicano en la plaza central de El Paso

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EL PASO – Miles celebraron el Grito de Independencia de México en la plaza central de El Paso por segundo año seguido después de que Juárez canceló la fiesta del bicentenario de la independencia mexicana el año pasado. Las calles de Juárez quedaron silenciadas y muchos mexicanos no pudieron celebrar la jornada de la Independencia de México como en años anteriores. Debido a la cancelación del evento del Grito en Ciudad Juárez el año pasado, la fiesta realizada por el Consulado General de México en la Plaza San Jacinto aquí se a convertido en un evento mas grande. “Hemos visto el evento crecer de los cientos a los miles. Como vieron hoy, definitivamente se notó el incremento de gente asistiendo el evento”, dijo Frank Núñez, encargado del estacionamiento Mills Plaza.

Juarenses cross the border to celebrate “16 de Septiembre”

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EL PASO, Texas — Thousands, including many who crossed the border from Juarez, gathered to celebrate “16 de Septiembre” — 200 years of Mexican independence from Spain — at San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso. Festivities here drew more people than usual because public events in Juarez were curtailed due to the current drug-related violence there. Juarez residents were asked to celebrate at home with a televised ceremony. Others opted to celebrate in El Paso at Mexican Consulate sponsored festivities. “We came to celebrate because we heard a big party was going to take place,” said Juarez high school student Diana Mojarro, 17.

flee market at downtown El Paso

El Paso’s Voices on the 100th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution

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EL PASO — The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. In the following video, audio and slideshow presentations, El Pasoans give their views on the impact of the Revolution and the lasting meaning it still holds. Dow Jones Multimedia Training Academy students, Elio Leturia, Elizabeth Marsh and John Freeman and instructor Lourdes Cueva Chacón, thank Mr. Roberto Rodríguez Hernández, Cónsul General of México in El Paso, the consulate staff, Dr. Kate Bonansinga, Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, and the citizens of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez who shared their voices. Voices from El Paso