Catholic Church CriticizesU.S. for Arms Trafficking

In the editorial of the Catholic weekly, From Faith, the Archdiocese of Mexico challenges the North American Union’s fight against drug trafficking.

The Roman Catholic Church has appealed to the U.S. government regarding illegal arms and narcotics trafficked to Mexico, which have claimed more than 30,000 Mexican deaths over the past 4 years. It has demanded a stronger stance from the Mexican government toward the North American Union and a more dignified position in our territory from the U.S. ambassador, Carlos Pascual.

An editorial entitled “Fast and the Furious: Presumed Guilty,” in the Catholic weekly, From Faith, of the Archdiocese of Mexico, revealed the limitless cynicism of certain governors from the super-powered, warlike economy we have as our neighbors to the north. Apparently, it added, the United States only cares when a U.S. official is affected by the weapons that they themselves sell, while the lives of so many thousands of men and women fall victim to their irresponsible attitude toward this nefarious trade.

The editorial denounced a country that closes its borders as often as it wants — free trade or not — to products representing the exceptional work of Mexicans (tuna, shrimp, tomatoes, avocados and much more), but keeps all its doors open, 24 hours a day, to the trafficking of narcotics. The editorial by the Archdiocese of Mexico said that the United States should not feel foreign to the violence caused by the drug war; on the contrary, they are the real culprit.

The editorial recalled comments by the U.S. ambassador in Mexico, in which he had said that violence at the border could no longer be controlled because of the failure of the Mexican government’s policy on the matter; regardless of the truth or the lack of it in this statement, we should, instead, inform ourselves regarding the responsibility they have for this serious problem.

Could we hear from the ambassador, himself, some expression of self-examination, before discrediting the effort made by our country against organized crime over the last four years?

What, effectively, has been done in the United States, over the same period, to attempt to control addiction and random drug use by its citizens? What are they doing to stop the smuggling of weapons into Mexico?

The journal states that Arizona was found to be one of the most reluctant states regarding Mexican immigration; however, it is one of the most lenient in allowing the transfer of illegal weapons to the hands of Mexican criminals, as are Texas, Colorado and California.

How soon can their borders be controlled to prevent this, or do they simply have no interest, asks the editorial — at the same time saying that, unfortunately, these weapons are responsible for more than 300,000 deaths in Mexico? Thousands were, no doubt, criminals, but many were blameless citizens, innocent children.

In this sense, the editorial recommends that it is essential for the Mexican government, as well as the U.S. government, to find better ways of relating and much more effective joint solutions to common problems.