February 6th 2012 – In Ciudad Juarez, the violence is a constant, human suffering a given, and trying to understand why the city has so many problems depends on who you ask. The people who live there are justifiably weary of the violence and the near-blanket impunity enjoyed by those who perpetrate it.

But then, sometimes you meet people that offer a glimmer of hope — like a group of young “angels” who since 2010, get together on weekends and sometimes during the week to stand at crime scenes and street corners, asking murderers to repent. Is it having an impact?

Violence over the past year has declined. Local Juarez newspaper El Diario reports that murders in January in 2012 were half what they were in 2011. Perhaps it’s just a momentarily lull, but the angels and their persistent determination suggest that Ciudad Juarez could emerge as something more than just a city of victims.

This video was shot, produced and edited by Deborah Bonello and published by Univision. You can see it here on their website if you live within the US.

November 30 2011 – Miss Bala, a Mexican movie that is a current Oscar hopeful and inspired by true events, follows beauty queen Laura Guerrero in her violent downward spiral into the hands of organized crime. Filmed, produced and edited for AFP by Deborah Bonello.

This report was produced for Time Magazine by Deborah Bonello.

Watch the video on Time’s website here.

Camera Assistant was Myles Estey - you can see his website here.

You can read the report by Human Rights Watch on their website here.

Photo: Laura Garcia and her family outside the club from where her brother Francis disappeared on March 1st 2010. The family believe Francis was taken by the Mexican military. Credit: Myles Estey.

Anonymity in Mexico is the only form of defence in the increasingly violent conflict involving the country’s drug cartels, government, media and public. It provides defence from reprisals, but also hands impunity to those acting with no identity, creating a vicious cycle of ambiguous, unreliable information and fear. And it is pursued by many of the actors in the drug war, mostly via the use of digital social networks – the newest front for the conflict.

You can read the full article here on the Guardian Comment is Free website.

October 18 2011 – A short video documentary by me for Univision on peace activist and poet Javier Sicilia and his potential to create real change here in Mexico. Watch the video here on Univision’s Tumbler.

October 14 2011 – Drug-related violence in many of Mexico’s states is driving businesses to set up shop in the relative safe haven of Mexico City.

For AFP by Deborah Bonello.

You can also see the video here on AFP’s YouTube channel in English and in Spanish.

Multinational-run factories employing tens of thousands are doing brisk business in Ciudad Juarez, even as local businesses in the Mexican border town wither, devastated by the high murder rate and extortion by drug gangs.

You can watch it here if the embedded video won’t work…..

You may remember this story I did a few months ago on survival techniques for journalists. I also produced a video on that course for the non-profit that runs it, Article 19, which you can see here as well as on their website.

This video was produced for AFP. You can also see it here on AFP’s YouTube channel.

Daniel Dominguez, one of the hard-worked crime reporters on El Diario, the biggest newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, was kind enough to let me spend the day with him last week. Here’s the report I produced for AFP, which you can also see here on YouTube. The same video is also embedded below, in case of geographical restrictions on the above.