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  • This Love Is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez by Robert Andrew Powell
  • Taylor Anderson
Powell, Robert Andrew. This Love Is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013. Pp. 294. $15.09, pb.

When author Robert Andrew Powell moved from his hometown of Miami to Ciudad Juarez in 2009, he voluntarily left the relative safety and security of the United States for the drug-war–torn northern Mexico right as the violence began to crescendo into a massive wave. He does not claim not to know this, either. Indeed, despite the book beginning by mentioning the Indios of Ciudad Juarez, his adopted team, Powell admits his attraction to Juarez came about because of the violence that plagues the border town: “It may sound morbid, but . . . all those murders! . . . I figured all the violence had at least made the city a cheap place to rent an apartment, which was indeed the case” (11). Powell claimed to be sort of homeless at the beginning of his journey and that, while he did not know what he was looking for, he was excited to be in Mexico in general and Juarez specifically.

This Love Is Not for Cowards details how passion for sport can act as a cathartic release for its fans while also acting as a sort of community outreach. In spite of the violence and danger inherent in living in Juarez, there are hundreds and thousands of Juarense who go about their normal lives, and that includes attending Indios matches at the Estadio Olimpico [End Page 364] Benito Juarez, supporting and cheering despite the substandard level at which the team plays. Powell writes about how, on the weekend that the Indios secured a promotion to the Mexican top flight, the local drug cartels murdered dozens of people. Yet the fans in the city erupted with passion and took to the streets. On this day, Powell writes, “La gente, the people, proved to be bigger than the cartels. The city showed it was more than violence. Watch the videos and see for yourself, Juarez is home to hundreds of thousands of people who strive only to dance and watch soccer and drink and love” (14).

When Powell arrives in Juarez, the Indios are bad, about as bad as a team can be. After winning just four games in the winter Clausura season, the Indios are relegated back to Mexico’s second division and disbanded the following season due to significant financial troubles that, in part, stem from the violence surrounding Ciudad Juarez. Advertisers are not providing enough income, the owner’s real estate business in Juarez suffers due to the violence, and those problems, combined with the team’s struggles on the field, mean that the financial stability needed to compete at the top level of Mexican football is lacking.

Despite its struggles, the team does have a loyal fan base that includes some dedicated away supporters. The chief supporters group calls themselves El Kartel, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the violence that troubles their city. El Karteleros live their lives to the extreme when they follow their Indios across Mexico, and they pride themselves on their heritage of being from Juarez. It would seem that their status as fans of the team that represents Juarez is worn as a badge of honor. Even the clubs owner, Francisco Ibarra, prides himself on being from Juarez, purchasing the team with the goal of creating a modern powerhouse of first-division football in the northern border town. His new modern plans for the club were approved just after the Indios secured promotion and just before the violence in Juarez soared to new levels. His goal of using the club to earn Juarez more respect and act as a stabilizing organization in the region crumbled quickly with the eruption of violence. Despite his advisors telling him to sell, he refuses: “I got in it for the soccer, but stayed in for the city, for the people” (51). Juarez’s mayor believes the team does as much good for the city as charities: “[T]hey do more for this city than...

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