Bishop: 'Mexico is a cemetery - government only goes to light a candle for the dead'

Bishop Arturo Lona Reyes

A retired bishop in Mexico has spoken out over the government's inaction in the face of massive criminal activity.

"Mexico is a cemetery, and the government only goes to light a candle to the dead": are the harsh words of His Exc Mgr Arturo Lona Reyes, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Tehuantepec, speaking about the indigenous territory of Chimalapas invaded by entrepreneurs and loggers from Chiapas and Veracruz, who threaten to destroy the environment.

During one of many peaceful demonstration of solidarity with the Chimalapas, Mgr Lona Reyes criticized the central and regional government and even ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico, calling them "incapable" of handling the situation. He stressed the dignity of the indigenous Zoque, who struggle to defend their land, while "governments act only when there are deaths and blood".

The Bishop said he wants to meet the Secretary General of the Government, Carlos Santiago Carrasco, to explain the situation, to ask for food for poor families in the area. The indigenous population, the Chimalapas, together with several NGOs have asked the government to intervene in the region to stop the destruction of the ecosystem, but the government has not responded.

The area of Santa Maria and San Miguel, of 600,000 hectares, has the greatest biodiversity in Mexico and Central America: at least 146 species of mammals, 140 of reptiles and amphibians, 316 of birds and 900 of butterflies. The land is ancestral property of the indigenous Zoque. Mgr Lona Reyes, has always worked alongside indigenous peoples and lives in the forest of the region, in among the Chimalapas population, and more than once has complained publicly the disinterest of the authorities.

Source: Fides