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By KELIN DILLON

Just one day after leaders from the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) requested that all Mexican public office candidates sign the churches’ so-called “Commitment to Peace” against violence in the country, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) reacted to the proposal with agreement during his daily morning press conference on Tuesday, March 5 – though denied the church’s assertion that the upcoming elections are at risk of a “democratic setback.”

First announced on Monday, March 4, the church’s “Commitment to Peace” proposes putting safeguards against violence in place for Mexicans throughout the ongoing electoral process, which is set to come to a head during election day on June 2.

The document is expected to be presented to the presidential candidates during a closed conference on Monday, March 11, and will include security recommendations from more than 50 experts on violence in Mexico.

“This meeting aims to present, in a staggered manner, to the presidential candidate along with his campaign teams, concrete proposals regarding peacebuilding regarding social fabric, security, justice, penitentiary system, adolescents against organized crime and governance, as well as listen to the route to address these issues, what role peacebuilding plays and how they are going to incorporate these proposals into their government plans if they win the election,” said the CEM Monday.

When asked about the “Commitment to Peace” during his press conference Tuesday, López Obrador affirmed his support of the CEM’s initiative – with a caveat.

“It’s for the good of all, democracy first, the people,” said the federal executive at the time. “The other thing, although I do not agree that there will be democratic setbacks, I respect that point of view; I don’t agree, but I respect it. They have every right to demonstrate.”

“The federal government has a very good relationship with the Catholic Church and with all the churches, and we are not going to argue because that could also be a strategy of publicists: ‘let’s see, confrontation.’ No, it’s love and peace. We are free,” continued AMLO.

All three presidential candidates –  Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Jorge Álvarez Máynez – are expected to sign the “Commitment to Peace” come Monday, March 11.