CHRISTMAS WISH: DRUG WAR TRUCE

EL PASO - It is a simple Christmas wish.

Peace for three days in Juarez, Dec. 24-26.

No shootings. No killings. No executions.

In a bloody year in which Juarez was submerged in a war between drug
cartels and a crime wave with more than 1,500 homicides, an anonymous
e-mail floating in the borderland is asking for "a truce for Christmas
in Juarez."

The e-mail in Spanish is addressed to "narcos, capos, agents, hit men,
the press, those affected by violence, friends and others," and
narrates a conversation between a young boy and his uncle. The boy
wishes Santa Claus and el ninito Jesus to end the violence after the
boy witnesses his father's death.

"Don't let what happened to my nephew happen to any other children.
. If you are involved in this, I ask you, I beg you ... think of a
child you love and do it for them," the letter requests.

Whether the Christmas spirit will quell the killings is anyone's
guess. Threats, rumors and urban legends related to Juarez have spread
frequently this year through the anonymity of the Internet.

"If that type of message multiplies and reaches the hearts of the
people, it is a positive thing," Juarez city spokesman Jaime Torres
Valadez said about the proposed truce. "A message of peace,
tranquility and brotherhood is what we all want year-round, and
especially during this season."

Peace was elusive Friday. Deaths continued. In a Juarez hospital, a
4-year-old boy named Kevin Sanchez died of an accidental gunshot wound
received four days earlier while two men struggled over a firearm,
state police.

A Christmas wish is pending. Peace for three days.

Daniel Borunda writes for the El Paso Times, a member of the Texas-New
Mexico Newspapers Partnership.