Church in row over "purified" drug money
Wed Sep 21,11:50 AM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050921/od_nm/mexico_drugs_dc;_ylt=An9BwrcpAbRJq ySVMxEcxgTtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican bishop sparked a row with the government on Tuesday after he admitted the Catholic Church accepted alms from drug traffickers and that they were "purified" when they reached its coffers. Ramon Godinez, the bishop of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, said donations from drug gangs occurred "everywhere" in the country, adding that it was "not up to us to investigate where the money comes from," daily Reforma newspaper reported. "You don't have to burn the money just because it's bad. It's better to transform it ... I've known of cases (where) it's been purified," he added. The remarks caused controversy in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been gunned down this year in a spiraling war between rival drug gangs, many in cities along the U.S. border. Government spokesman Ruben Aguilar slammed Godinez's remarks at a news conference on Tuesday, telling reporters that "no one can allow organized crime to act with impunity." "Nobody can be allowed to receive illegal funds under any circumstances (and) no one can promote money laundering in this way," he added. In a bid to crack down on drug gangs, President Vicente Fox has sent hundreds of troops and federal police to frontier states this year. Godinez's remarks may have been out of step with the Catholic Church. Bishops in northern Mexico said earlier this year that the multibillion-dollar cross-border trade in cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines went against church teaching. 000. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpgUKB/pzNLAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
