By IANS/EFE,
Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) : A group of gunmen shot at a women’s rights activist in this northern Mexican border city, civil society groups said.
Norma Andrade, one of the leaders of the May Our Daughters Return Home non-governmental organization was shot several times Friday by a group of armed men while leaving work in Ciudad Juarez, the All Rights for All national network of human rights organizations said in a statement.
The network added that Andrade, who is in a serious but stable condition at a hospital, “is the mother of Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, who was murdered in February 2001”.
She also is the mother of the director of the May Our Daughters Return Home group, Malu Garcia, who was forced to flee to Mexico City due to threats from suspected drug traffickers.
The Attorney General’s Office in Chihuahua state, where Juarez is located, confirmed in a preliminary report that the social activist was shot at least five times while she was getting into her car, attributing the attack to attempted auto theft.
But sources close to the activist told EFE that Andrade was the victim of an attempted homicide carried out by members of a Juarez-based drug cartel.