Mexico Drug War: Narcos accept "papal truce" according to banners hung in Guanajuato

Translated by and posted on Borderland Beat Forum by Havana

An alleged organized crime group put 11 narcomantas in seven municipalities in the state of Guanajuato which accepted the request made by Archbishop of Leon, José Guadalupe Martín Rábago for the visit of Pope Benedicto XVl, who is expected to arrive on March 23, 2012


LEON, Gto. February 7.Yesterday, an alleged organized crime group put 11 narcomantas in seven municipalities of Guanajuato, which accepted the request by Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago on January 22 to , asked criminals to reduce violence during the visit of Benedict XVI Mexico, which will be March 23 - 26.

However, sources from the States Attorney said the truce prevents a rival cartel from operating in Guanajuato.



Pope Benedict XVI

On January 22, Martin Rabago made his request to members of organized crime: " collaborate even allowing all these people to come to a totally respectable act. No advantage to do something that would lead to an experience of grief and death" he said.

This wasn't the first time the Mexican Catholic Church called for a truce with narcos. In December 2010, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, did it twice. Last August, Conference Esiscopado Mexicano asked them to allow the tour of the relics of John Paul II.

On Jan. 28, the representative of the pope in Mexico, Christopher Pierre, said that the church didn't ask for a truce: "What we asked is for a change in mentality"

Narcos Accept Peace during Papal Visit

A criminal group operating in Guanajuato allegedly accepted the proposal of truce requested by Jose Guadalupe Martin Rebago for the visit of the Pope who is expected to arrive in Mexico on March 23.

Across seven different municipalities of Guanajuato, the cartel allegedly distanced itself from the attack on the Attorney General' Carlos Zamarripa Aguirre's body guards, in which the attacker was killed and an escorting officer was wounded in the leg.

 Sources at the Attorney General of Guanajuato reported that the contents of the discarded blankets said that the organized group antagonistic to the Sinaloa cartel has been responsible for the violents events in the Santa Fe residential subdivision.

The mantas allegedly show their agreement with the Archbishop of Leon and the proposed truce, days later rejected by Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio in Mexico, information released three weeks ago.

On Jan. 23, Martin Rebago called on organized crime to establish a truce, making free and safe the roads of Mexico to all those seeking to get to travel Guanajuato to see Pope Benedict XVl.

Given the insecurity of the roads to Guanajuato, mainly from the north, Martin Rebago appealed to the human sensiblity of assassins and drug traffickers in March to respect the population.

"To collaborate allowing all these people to come to a totally respectable act. No advantage to do something that would lead to an experience of grief and death.

"We believe in their hearts, which ultimately are human, there is sensitivity to respect the lives of people"

In the narcomantas yesterday, the truce alleged the condition to prevent Nueva Generación, allegedly linked to Joaquin El Chapo Guzman access to Guanajuato

Recall José Antonio Torres Marrufo, alias El Marrufo, líder de Nueva Generación, armed wing of the cartel Sinaloa in Chihuahua was detained in Leon, Guanajuato last week.

Calls For Peace

The Catholic Church leaders have called several times on members of organized crime to refrain from further offenses

On March 27, 2011, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Leon, Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago, called on drug dealers and hit men to repent their sins, withdrawing from the activity of death to obtain God's forgiveness. He admits that the punishment of excommunication imposed on drug traffickers in some dioceses have not had "much result."

On August 9, 2011, the Catholic hierarchy in Mexico called for a truce that would deter violence while the relics of Blessed John Paul II traveled to more than 100 locations around the country. Amid a climate of violence in parts of Mexico, the Mexican Bishops Conference called for the criminal to allow Mexicans to venerate the relics in the journey that began on 25 August.

On December 4, 2011, the Bishop of Cuernavaca, Alfonso Cortés Contreras, joined the call for Christmas truce, requested by the poet Javier Sicilia to the drug cartels, but also added his regret at the pain you have caused to the society.

The Catholic prelate specifies: "I am making a fraternal call to them, and on behalf of God to think that this is not the right path, that is not the path of peace, which is not the way to live as brothers and as human beings. "

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