Chilpancingo-Chilapa Bishop José de Jesús González Hernández. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

On Wednesday, Feb. 14, five bishops from the Mexican state of Guerrero announced they had proposed a truce with local organized crime leaders to end violence in the region following the state government’s inability to curb the rampant cartel-borne brutality across Guerrero.

However, during Ash Wednesday’s mass at the Chilpancingo cathedral, Chilpancingo-Chilapa Bishop José de Jesús González Hernández revealed the cartel leaders refused the peace pact due to unwillingness to cede territorial control.

“They won’t let it go, it has cost them lives, it has cost them work, it has cost them so much to earn it and they won’t let it go,” said González Hernández. “So we must look for other ways to offer this mediation. They covet extortion payments, they desire money, desire power and with this we couldn’t reach an agreement.”

Despite their previous inability to make a truce, the bishop indicated that he and his fellow church leaders would continue to hold a dialogue with the organized crime bosses.

Likewise, González Hernández went on to say he believes that the Guerrero state government – led by National Regeneration Movement (Morena) Governor Evelyn Salgado – has the proper resources to find a compromise with the region’s cartels.

“We believe that the government has the solution, they also have the power, they have the resources, they have the means, but it seems that they have left us,” the bishop said Wednesday. 

“The state government does not want to find a way out of this problem. Maybe for two reasons: one, because it’s is simply not interested and the other, because he it’s colluding with some criminal organization,” added Bishop Emeritus Salvador Rangel.

When questioned about the bishops’ statements, Chilpancingo Mayor Norma Otilia Hernández Martínez said “I don’t know what the circumstance is, I couldn’t give you my opinion, I’m going to look for that source, but everything that can bring peace is worth it.”

Hernández Martínez was controversially pictured meeting with the leader of the Los Ardillos cartel, Celso Ortega Jiménez, in the summer of 2023.