The idea has crossed the minds of a group that is on the margins of the Church community.
The majority of bishops, however, are against those who are suggesting the government should make pacts with the “cartels”
Mexico’s social fabric is in urgent need of restructuring as a result of high rates of violence. According to Mexican bishops, it is clear that the proliferation of criminal groups is the result of years of corruption and illegality.
A complete loss of values.
This is why prelates are opposing the suggestion put forward by social actors, that the government should “make pacts with the narcos” to establish peace.
The proposal brings to mind the alleged negotiations that took place between the mafia and the Italian secret services.
These agreements are supposed to have taken place in the ‘90s and according to the anti mafia lawyer, Piero Grasso, they prevented bombings against high level politicians from taking place.
In Mexico, the fight against drug cartels, which are becoming richer and more powerful by the minute, has spread to the streets, causing the deaths of thousands of innocent people who got caught up in acts of violence which is becoming more and more radical.
A case in point is the fire which recently broke out in a casino in Monterrey, in which 50 people lost their lives.
Another case is that of Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro, the journalist from Nuevo Ladero, on the Mexico – U.S. border, who was recently found decapitated.
In an interview with the Vatican Insider, the Auxilliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Tlalnepantla, Efraín Mendoza Cruz, declared that “it is not acceptable” for negotiations to be made with those who have caused and continue to cause so much harm to the Mexican people.
“You cannot try to mix oil with water” the bishop added. It is impossible to establish a pact with people who are not willing to work for the common good, the growth of a nation, the respect towards life and fundamental values. We are worlds apart and it is hard to understand the links of understanding and communication between some political representatives and drug traffickers.”
The prelate went on to say that in 2010, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) published a document entitled “May Mexico live a gracious life through Christ, our peace”, in which all members agreed to commit to promoting the reconstruction of Mexico’s social fabric, respect for the law and to offer hope to the Mexican people.
According to the prelate, in Mexico, awareness of the law has been lost and people live their lives in a “state of illegality”, a situation which the Church if fully conscious of. This is why it has launched an appeal to bishops and priests, urging them to retain their identity and not let themselves get lost in the existing confusion and uncertainty.
Even if the temptation to make a deal with crime seems to have penetrated some marginal sections of the Church, the need expressed by some social leaders for a radical change in the strategy adopted in the fight against drug trafficking, which may involve the return of the army to its barracks, has received much more attention in the Church.
When the war against the narcos began about five years ago, President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa’s administration decided to involve the army in a frontal war against the drug cartels. This was a forced decision given that a large section of the police forces is corrupt. But with the army, the level of violence fell.
The Bishop of the diocese of Saltillo, Raúl Vera López, represents the main voice of Catholics who are asking the government to withdraw the army from the streets, as they argue that it is the soldiers themselves who are responsible for the acts of violence against human rights in a number of places.
Groups that support the pacifist leader and former priest Javier Sicilia (who recently lost a son), have taken a similar stance, while the CEM is a bit more realistic.
At least their President, Carlos Aguiar Retes, seems to be. He considers the “collateral damage” caused by the merciless war against criminals, as inevitable.
According to Eugenio Lira Rugarcía, Auxilliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Puebla, aside from begging for the gifts of security, justice and unity, Mexicans need to create peace, a fundamental element for real growth and for the rights of each individual.
In an interview, he said that “the most important thing, is not to lose hope; there is a risk of convincing oneself that things are as they are and that nothing can be done to change them; it would be a mistake to think this. It is absolutely essential to maintain hope, firstly in God who never leaves us, and secondly in Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
“The real problem in the crisis we are experiencing, he added, is a loss of values. When human beings lose their horizon and they stop valuing their lives, their dignity and their fundamental rights, they are no longer treated as someone, but as something that can be seized, mistreated and used as objects by traffickers.”
He went on to say that bishops are convinced that the most important task ahead, is to rebuild society, following true values which allow for a healthy coexistence, ensuring the development of people and society.
“And that is an area in which the Church has a lot to give,” he concluded.