Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Mexican gangs target outspoken priests in drug war
Wed Jul 1, 2009 3:11pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Lizbeth Diaz
JACUME, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican drug traffickers fighting a brutal turf war are attacking priests and preachers who denounce cartel violence, shattering clerics' untouchable aura and breaking honor codes in the world's second-biggest Catholic country.
Gunmen killed a Catholic priest and two seminary students as they left a church in southern Mexico in early June.
Around 1,000 Catholic priests face constant threats from drug gangs across Mexico and as many as 400 have been directly warned to silence their criticisms of narco violence and extortions or be killed, the Mexican Bishop's Conference says.
Although the murdered seminary students are suspected of family ties to drug gangs, most priests say they are targeted for urging parishioners to stand up to traffickers.
"They threatened to burn me and my family alive," said evangelist pastor Bartolome Garcia, who fled a lawless hamlet where he worked near Tijuana on the U.S. border last year.
"They don't like it that we preach and criticize them," said Garcia, who preaches to farmers and the elderly in the bleak, semi-abandoned village of Jacume yards from the U.S. border fence.
Some 12,300 people have died across Mexico in a three-way war between rival cartels and the military since President Felipe Calderon sent thousands of troops to try to crush the cartels on taking office in December 2006.
The carnage of tortured bodies, beheadings and abductions stretches from Mexico's Caribbean to its desert border with the United States and has become a major concern for investors and Washington, worried that violence is overwhelming the country.
Since Mexico's most-wanted man Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman escaped from prison in 2001 and declared war on rival drug kingpins, the fight for supremacy has become so horrific it has broken many rules of the cartel underworld as gangsters even kill children.
Mexicans are increasingly fearful of the heavily armed cartels and the Catholic Church and evangelists are some of the few still speaking out, especially in rural areas dominated by drug gangs where the Mexican government has little control.
The archbishop of the northwestern state of Durango caused a media storm in April when he said that "everyone, except the authorities," knew Guzman was living in the state.
"The church's work in the countryside puts it in direct conflict with the cartels who don't want anyone, least of all priests, witnessing what they are doing," said Victor Sanchez, a security expert at the Tijuana-based research institute Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
NARCO DONATIONS
Churches appear willing to face those dangers to win back members as they lose ground to secularism in Mexico.
"We cannot deny the sacraments to anyone, regardless of whether they are involved in illicit activities," Tijuana's Archbishop Rafael Romo told Reuters. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Barak links settlement freeze to regional peace drive
Iran's presidential election
Aftermath of Iran's election
Up-to-the-minute news, photos and video of the aftermath of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election in Iran. Full Coverage
More International News
Honduras defies world pressure to restore president
| Video
Ahmadinejad's rivals defiant on Iran vote
| Video
Planes hunt for Comoros crash black box
| Video
Iraqi politicians of all stripes laud U.S. pullout
Pakistani troops clear Taliban stronghold in Swat
More International News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Michael Jackson names Diana Ross as possible guardian in will | Video
Suspected North Korea arms ship changes course | Video
Review: Firefox 3.5 makes browsing faster, easier and more fun
Wal-Mart's Health Scare
American adults getting fatter
California government declares fiscal emergency over budget
Michael Jackson shatters chart records
Life in North Korea: lies, potatoes and cable TV
UPDATE 3-Missing budget deadline, California readies "IOUs"
UPDATE 3-US experts urge stronger limits for some pain drugs
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Jackson fans gather in Harlem
Jackson mourned at Neverland
Jackson funeral announced
Franken wins Minnesota Senate seat
China protesters call for democracy
Zelaya appeals for U.N.'s help
China puts off Internet filter
Jackson to go to Neverland: reports
U.S. troops leave Iraqi cities
Private Fawcett funeral held
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.