Bishops allege complicity in rise of drugs gangs

Argentina’s bishops have emphatically criticised the Government of Cristina Kirchner for its failure to prevent powerful drug gangs infiltrating the country, suggesting political corruption is to blame, Isabel de Bertodano writes from Buenos Aires.

In a document published to coincide with the end of their plenary assembly last week, the bishops said the rise of the drug cartels was “alarming” and that it was the responsibility of the Government to deal with it.

“We understand that the situation has boiled over with the complicity and corruption of some of those in positions of leadership,” said the bishops in their document. “It is suspected that members of the security forces, justice officials and politicians collaborate with the mafia.” For many years Argentina was a small player on the Latin American drugs scene, but over the past decade, the country has become an increasingly profitable marketplace for traffickers who, unlike in countries further north, face little retaliation from the police and military. In the northern diocese of Santa Fe alone, 200 people have been killed in conflicts between warring gangs this year.

The bishops warned that Argentina was approaching a situation from which it would be difficult to turn back. “If the political and social leadership do not take urgent action, it will take a long time and the spilling of much blood before the mafia groups which are gaining so much ground can be beaten,” they said.