Cardinal Rivera Carrera, listed as numero uno on Neil Young's list of top candidates to succeed Benedict when the time comes, has a chance to show his credentials to the world at large.
Mexico is going through something of a crisis at the moment. The opposition candidate who lost the presidential election is crying foul and saying he doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the election. Some of his supporters are calling for the formation of a parallel government. The poor and downtrodden have been disappointed so often that they can't get their man into office, observers believe this is the breaking point that could lead to civil conflict. Mexico's electoral system is said to be one of the most well-designed and implemented in the world, but the opposition is still crying foul.
I have yet to see anything in English on where the Church falls in all this. Certainly the Cardinal-Archbishop of Mexico City has a position. Where has he fallen? On the side of the legitimacy of the state and the properly elected president? Or has he fallen on the side of the opposition who are frustrated by their constant defeat at the hands of Mexico's silent majority?
Something else:
In considering this, an interesting parallel can be drawn between Mexico and Lebanon. Ninety years ago, Pancho Villa, the revolutionary general of Mexico, invaded the United States of America and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico. Villa's forces killed several US citizens and then proceeded to burn down the town. To counter this blatant violation of its sovereignty, the United States sent General Black Jack Pershing on the Mexican Expedition to capture Villa.
What was then viewed as a protection of a sovereign state's integrity is now viewed as excessive and unjustifiable by those who think that Hezbollah kidnapping Israeli citizens off Israeli territory is hardly cause enough to warrant any kind of response...
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