Cardinal: Crime increase is effect of Mexican transition to democracy

Published: 2006-12-01

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- An increase in crime is one of the side effects of Mexico's transition to democracy, said Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara. "Politicians are only looking for votes and avoid alienating voters at all cost," the cardinal told Catholic News Service in Mexico City in late November. "For that reason, we have a weak and impotent democracy in which nobody wants to enforce the law with a hard hand. Politicians don't want to be seen as dictators. "This is the price we pay for the transition to democracy," the cardinal said. He said there were groups in Mexico for which "life has no value." "These are the drug cartels that kill each other in turf wars," he said. "There are guerrillas, terrorists and even protesters who are willing to kill to further their agendas. This is the result of the total collapse of the Mexican criminal justice system. There is an atmosphere of lawlessness in Mexico that allows people to commit crimes with impunity, and this has led to an alarming increase in crime, especially in the last 10 to 15 years."

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