Mexico’s presidential candidates sign commitment for peace with church leaders concerned by violence

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s presidential candidates on Monday signed a commitment for peace with Catholic Church leaders that proposes strategies to reduce the violence in the country.

During the meeting led by the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, presidential front-runner and ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum said she would be open to dialogue but didn’t to accept several criticisms of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s security strategy made by the religious leaders.

“I do not share the pessimistic evaluation of the current moment,” said Sheinbaum, who contended that not all Mexicans feel fear, distrust or uncertainty, as the church said in a document previously shared with all three candidates.

Sheinbaum said homicides dropped during the presidency of López Obrador. But organized crime has long controlled swaths of Mexico through violence and corruption. It has diversified beyond drug trafficking in recent years, extorting businesses big and small for protection payments.

According to the church leaders, Mexico suffers from a “deep crisis of violence and social decomposition.”

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