Politicians protected Guzman says priest

The priest in the town where the Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán was captured last weekend, has claimed Guzmán enjoyed the support and protection of politicians.

Fr Antonio Díaz Fonseca, parish priest in Los Mochis, on the west coast of Mexico, said the state of Sinaloa was riddled with crime and corruption. “If there was no relationship with politicians the drug gangs would not have proliferated in this way. They know they are operating outside the law but they go wherever they want, corrupting people so they can carry on with their business, shedding money left, right and centre.”

Fr Díaz emphasised that most people in Los Mochis are honest.  

“Los Mochis is a hard-working town where the people focus on making it a more prosperous place,” he told La Nación newspaper. “In Sinaloa and now in Los Mochis we have the reputation for being a haven for drug traffickers but in fact it’s a problem throughout Mexico.”

He appealed to Mexicans not to stigmatise the state because of its connection with Guzmán. “In reality Sinaloa has been beaten into the ground by this. We do not benefit in any way from the existence of drug trafficking here. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. It’s exhausting hearing constantly about another person who’s disappeared or been killed.”

Guzmán has run the ruthless Sinaloa cartel since 2003. He escaped from prison last year via a mile-long tunnel and was recaptured in a safe house in Los Mochis last weekend.

Meanwhile, Mexico is preparing for next month’s papal visit. Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera said Pope Francis was coming to bring hope to Mexico and the visit should “not be capitalised upon by politicians”.