El Diario reports today that August sets a record for the lowest number of murders in the past 5 years. There were 34 homicides and 4 bodies were found in hidden graves with no indication of exactly when they were killed.  Though Diario says the total is 34, I will post 38, since the 4 hidden bodies won’t be counted otherwise.  The article quotes authorities being very optimistic and Juarez is now seeing fewer murders than in US cities–specifically New Orleans and Chicago. This is no small accomplishment. Especially since New Orleans is a much smaller city–pop about 400,000.  The article says that these cities often suffer 50+ homicides in a month. That has certainly been true recently in Chicago. Chicago has a population of nearly 3 million people–more than double Juarez. In Chicago this year, more than 300 people have been murdered and the city is projected to surpass last year’s total of 504.  So far this year there have been 128 murders in New Orleans.