Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders

Irene is Ivon’s 16-year-old sister. Ivon’s nickname for her is “Lucha,” after Mexican singer Lucha Villa. The captain of her swim team and valedictorian at Loretto Academy, she also works as their cousin Ximena’s personal assistant. Though her mother Lydia wants her to go to University of Texas at El Paso, Irene intends to go to college in California, where she will live with Ivon. 

In the first half of the novel, Irene is in a life stage between childhood and adulthood. She proudly shows off her new tongue piercing—a symbol of her autonomy—to Ivon, who responds, “Oh, God” (15). Irene looks up to Ivon and wants to join her when she and Ximena plan to meet Cecilia but is told she is not allowed. Irene is frequently teased about her age; in the car on the drive from the airport, Ivon says she and Ximena should feed Irene because “[s]he’s a growing kid” (15). When Ivon fails to take Irene to the fair, Irene is angry that “[a]ll she was was ‘the little sister’” (100) and decides to go by herself. At the fair, Irene feels self-conscious around the Mexican girls. She resents Myrna’s calling her a “pocha” and feels everyone can tell she is from the other side of the border. She shows her naiveté when she fails to pick up on signs that the people Raquel introduces her to are dangerous. She also swims in the Río Grande River, seemingly impervious to the laughter and teasing of onlookers who call her a “wetback.”

Despite her naiveté, Irene manages to survive her kidnapping. She refrains from letting her kidnappers know she speaks Spanish because she suspects that is why they have not yet killed her. She also makes a point of memorizing their names and taking in all the details of her surroundings. When Ariel tells her it is almost her “turn,” Irene “thought of Ivon and knew her sister would do whatever it took to escape” (293). She decides to fight, for “[i]t is her only chance” (293) at survival. Through it all, Irene shows a strength of character beyond her years.

Ivon’s oldest cousin, Ximena, is a social worker who is helping Ivon and Brigit adopt the unborn baby of Cecilia. Ximena is brash, honest, and hard-working. As someone who works with at-risk youth in a corrupt system, she is street smart and sharp; however, she is resigned to circumstances at the border that appall Ivon. When Ivon balks at how many people she will have to pay off or bribe when trying to adopt Cecelia’s child, Ximena responds, “Look, that’s the way things work over there” (16). Ivon calls her “callous” for thinking of a new plan for adoption shortly after Cecilia is killed, and Ximena responds that “‘of course’” she cares, but “‘[i]t’s just that I live here, okay?’” (55).

Despite her dedication to her job, Ximena demonstrates a reckless side. She gets in a car accident while intoxicated; because it’s her third offense, her car is impounded and she is taken to jail, requiring Ivon to post bail. Father Francis describes her as “operat[ing] on favors and debts” (32). Later in the novel, It is revealed that she is having a secret affair with Raquel, with whom she is “just experimenting” (194).

Ximena is also characterized by her dedication to her family. She organizes a family reunion on Father’s Day. When Father Francis suggests they stay in touch with Cecilia’s family, Ximena insists that her “policy” is to “stay out of it to protect my family” (60). She also withholds information from Ivon in order to protect her, including the truth of her car accident. While she had indeed been intoxicated, the accident was caused when a car that was following her tried to run her off the road. She did not want Ivon to know because, in the words of Father Francis, “‘[t]hat’s what she’s about, you know, protecting people’” (181). Ximena feels deeply, both for her family and for the people she helps. The walls she erects are necessary protection against the suffering she witnesses daily.

Father Francis, or “Frank,” is a priest in Juarez who started the organization Contra el Silencio, which conducts searches for bodies in the desert, “advocate[s] for the missing girls,” “picket[s] the courthouse” and the newspaper offices, and “protest[s] the silence of the authorities and the media” (40). While most of the murdered girls are Mexican, Contra el Silencio focuses on the American girls because the media and the mayor are trying to keep the American girls’ murders a secret. 

Father Francis has an arrangement with Ximena in which he helps her with adoptions, and she helps him with the Contra el Silencio. Ivon is initially skeptical of him for various reasons, like how he repeatedly mispronounces Ximena’s name, refers to her as an alcoholic, and tells Ivon to lie about her sexuality. Ivon is also wary of the fact that he is paid for helping with Ivon’s adoption. When she asks him whether this is how he “make[s] ends meet” (39), he explains that some of the money is for Contra el Silencio and the rest is for the birth certificate. Eventually, Ivon suspects him of being involved in the murders.

However, Ivon begins to trust Father Francis. After Irene is kidnapped, Ivon must admit that he is “really kind” to her and her family (169), and she “can’t imagine he could fake that level of caring” (169). He helps not only the Villa family but also Elsa and Jorgito: Ximena reports that “[h]e’s been calling all the hospitals and clinics in Juárez to locate the nurse who used to work for the Egyptian” (169). Father Francis also gives Ivon a list of clubs to visit in Juárez as she searches for Irene, and he informs her he is trying to make the Borderlines website take down the link advertising prostitution. When Pete McCuts is wounded in the shootout at ASARCO, Father Francis donates blood.

Father Francis, despite his faults, proves as dedicated, sincere, and shrewd as Ximena. He recognizes that the lives of these young women are devalued, and he is committed to giving the marginalized a voice. When the group finds Mireya’s body, he is undeterred by the condition of the body and ignores Laura Godoy’s pleas not to move it, making solving the crime his first priority. Though cautious with the families, who are often religious and traditional, he holds progressive beliefs, telling Rubí Reyna the murders are the result of the inability of “[t]he Mexican gender system [to] accommodate the First World division of labor or the First world freedoms given to women” (252). Though insensitive or obtuse at times, he is instrumental in helping not only Irene but many others who are suffering in Juárez.

Raquel is Ivon’s older ex-girlfriend. Though she is romantically interested in women—in fact, she is dating Ivon’s cousin Ximena—she stays in the closet out of fear of her bigoted and violent brother, Gabriel, for whom she works. 

Raquel is first described as “the woman who’d snapped Ivon’s heart in four pieces, one piece for each year they’d been together” (13). It is clear that Ivon still has romantic feelings for Raquel; she hears a song that makes her think of Raquel’s “black eyes and full red lips, the suavecito movements of her hips on the checkered dance floor” (13). When Ivon sees her for the first time in eight years, Raquel looks just like Ivon remembered her, “still slim and elegant” (70), with “arresting” eyes” (70). 

When Irene is kidnapped, Ivon worries that Raquel seduced her. When Ivon and Raquel met, the former was in high school, while the latter was an adult woman—eleven years Ivon’s senior. Raquel seduced Ivon, inviting her to coffee and being physically forward, inspiring arousal in Ivon “even before she realized what that arousal really meant” (126).

Raquel proves more complex as the novel progresses. She is described as elegant and poised in the beginning, but her behavior at the fair shows her to be impulsive and irresponsible. It becomes clear that Raquel is wrestling with unseen demons. Raquel needs “her neck squeezed or her face slapped so she could climax” (192); occasionally, physical fights with Ivon led to sex when they were together. After discovering their relationship, Gabriel forced himself into their apartment, dragged Raquel to his car, and threatened Ivon’s life. Even though she was in love with Ivon, Raquel broke up with her to protect her from Gabriel. These revelations of Raquel’s vulnerability make her more sympathetic, though no less at fault for her involvement in Irene’s kidnapping. 

At the end of the novel, Raquel visits Irene to give her a new CD player, and she helped prepare Jorgito to meet Brigit. This, as well as Ivon’s evident acceptance of Raquel and Ximena’s relationship, suggests that Raquel may find peace.

J.W. is a blond, white man in a cowboy hat who Ivon meets on an airplane. He makes insensitive comments about her race and sexuality.

It soon becomes clear that J.W. is one of the key players involved in the Juarez murders. “Lone Star” references become his motif, indicating that he is near. He lures 14-year-old Mireya into his car with a promise of free makeup and a part in one of his movies, then punches her in the face when she begs to be let go. A truck with his license plate attempts to run Ximena off the road. Scenes from Irene’s point of view in captivity show him arguing with Junior, angrily threatening to shut down their production when his orders are not followed. 

The revelation that he is Chief Detention Enforcement Officer demonstrates how widespread the conspiracy of the Juárez murders is and how the abductions are the product of a partnership between both sides of the border. J.W. detains Ivon on the Córdoba Bridge and accuses her of being a sexual predator, illustrating how those in authority exploit their power to cover up their own crimes. 

J.W. offers a picture not only of corruption in government but also of the exploitation of Mexicans by American factories. His orchestration of an operation to rape, murder, and mutilate poor Mexican girls is symbolic of America’s dehumanization of Mexicans who work in their factories to produce their goods. His film company makes money off others’ pain, and J.W. think of the victims as “pennies”—nearly valueless, expendable, and lacking in identity.

J.W. is killed in the standoff with the police and, much to Ivon’s frustration, is hailed a hero in the newspaper, as someone who died “holding the line” (326).

Pete McCuts is a new police detective who, “as the son of Judge Anacleto Ramírez, […] had certain privileges that few of the other detective in his unit could enjoy” (154). One of these privileges is being assigned Irene’s case, his first Missing Persons case because his father works with Ximena. 

When readers first meet Pete, he is on a stakeout and telling an amusing story. He is interrupted when the other two officers follow a suspicious sound, telling him to wait behind. Pete defies their orders and leaves the vehicle in case they need his help, which foreshadows how he constantly breaks rules in favor of following his instincts—a tendency that ultimately saves Ivon and Irene’s lives.

Pete blunders at first in his investigation. He offends Ivon, who believes he “looks like a high school kid” and “wonder[s] if he knows what he’s doing” (165), by using blunt, insensitive language to describe Irene. When he visits the Villa home to have them identify a pair of Irene’s pants, Ivon asks him to call Irene by her name, rather than refer to her as “a case” (226). He also suggests Irene’s disappearance is her fault. Though green, Pete is eager to improve, as evidenced by his habit of testing his abilities and his frustration when he realizes he has missed something. 

Pete is partly motivated to solve Irene’s kidnapping because of his attraction to Ivon. Pete is drawn to “masculine women” (223) and especially Ivon, whose position as a professor impresses him further. Rather than discourage him, Ivon’s chastisements excite and stimulate him. However, he is frustrated with her when she jeopardizes the investigation by passing out flyers of Irene in Juárez, “announcing to every possible perpetrator that the police were on his tail” (229). When he hears she intends to go to a rastreo, he decides that “[i]f he were worth anything as a man or a detective, he’d do the right thing and keep an eye on her” (231). Pete knows he would not be permitted to go to Juárez on his day off, and certainly not with his weapon, but he justifies his actions by telling himself “[h]e really didn’t have a choice” (231) but to protect Ivon.

Though Pete is attracted to Ivon, he is genuinely concerned about the Juárez murders—specifically the connection to sexual assault. Pete has been compiling data on all the sex offenders in El Paso and wondering why so many “were given one-way tickets to El Paso when they got out on parole” (234). He is “disgusted” and “outraged” by the fact that “no one had ever drawn a connection between the rising number of sexual perpetrators in El Paso and the escalating sex crimes in Juárez” (273)—and by the fact that El Paso residents were unaware that so many sexual offenders were in their midst. Therefore, Pete’s breaking of the rules is also a product of his frustration with the slowness of the law and his desire to act when others are stagnant. 

Despite his tendency to go against authority, Pete demonstrates reverence for his parents. He decides to tail Ivon in Juárez because “[t]hat’s what his dad would do” (231). It is suggested his interest in masculine women is inspired by his mother, “a butch-looking Mexican woman in overalls and work boots” (316). Pete is a young man looking to show he is worthy, both to others and to himself. Though his brash decisions put him in danger, they bring about the best possible results.

Lydia is Ivon and Irene’s mother and a widow. She is critical of Ivon, blaming her being a lesbian and getting a tattoo for her husband’s alcoholism and death. She worries that Irene will “end up like” Ivon (65) and complains that Ivon’s adopting a child will “embarrass” her “in front of the whole family” (66). Lydia has a tendency to be physically abusive—to the point where, when Ivon was younger, her aunt by marriage wanted to report Lydia to the authorities. 

Lydia’s brother, Joe, attempts to reason with her about her treatment of Ivon, telling her that her husband “was just looking for an excuse to start drinking again,” but Lydia insists “[t]hat lifestyle of hers killed her father” (130). Lydia also blames Ivon for Irene’s disappearance. 

The end of the novel suggests Ivon and Lydia will eventually reach an understanding because Lydia gets along nicely with Brigit, and she kindly offers to give Jorgito some food. Throughout Desert Blood, Lydia’s lack of acceptance has been a major factor in Ivon’s discomfort. Lydia’s relenting is a sign that Ivon will find peace in her relationship with her family and with El Paso.