Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 19 december 2019
Mexico president opposes bill to end church-state separation

By PETER ORSI "I do not think that modify- Catholics in the country.
Associated Press ing this principle helps — on Andrew Chesnut, profes-
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Presi- the contrary," López Obra- sor of religious studies at
dent Andrés Manuel López dor said. "... I think every- Virginia Commonwealth
Obrador said Wednesday one, the majority of Mexi- University, said Luévano's
he does not support a pro- cans, agrees that the lay initiative would appear to
posal to further relax Mexi- state should prevail, which benefit mostly evangelicals
co's strict legal separation the constitution establish- and other minority religious
of church and state, throw- es." The president said the groups in a country where
ing cold water on a draft lay state is not anti-religious, 81% are Roman Catho-
bill that would upend long- but rather guarantees the lic and the church enjoys
standing political doctrine rights of believers and non- more influence than prob-
in the country. believers alike. ably anywhere else in the
López Obrador said the "'Render unto God what hemisphere, despite the
initiative, presented last is God's and unto Caesar legal separations between
week by a senator from what is Caesar's'" López church and state.
his leftist Morena party, is Obrador said. López Obrador, who has
something that "should not The office of Sen. Soledad described himself as a
be touched" and "was re- Luévano Cantú, who pro- Christian "in the broad
solved over a century and posed the initiative, did not sense," allied during the
a half ago." immediately respond to 2018 presidential cam-
The proposal would modify a message seeking com- paign with a small political
the Law of Religious Asso- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador listens to ment. On Tuesday she said party heavily influenced by
ciations and Public Worship questions during his daily morning press conference at the via Twitter that the initiative evangelical churches, and
to eliminate historic lan- National Palace in Mexico City, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. was hers alone and not au- observers say his discourse
guage enshrining the "sep- Associated Press thored by the president or often tends toward the
aration of the State and their party, and that she quasi-religious or even mes-
churches." work in government facili- ligious domination of much believes in the rule of law sianic. Chesnut said evan-
Among specific measures, ties such as hospitals, rehab of the nation's life and the and the lay state. gelicals likely see an oppor-
it would reportedly allow centers and even military state actively persecut- "With respect, tolerance tunity to win more space in
religious groups greater ac- installations. ed the Roman Catholic and without taboos, we Mexican society under the
cess to all manner of me- López Obrador's party and church in the early part of can work together so that administration of a "fellow
dia, including TV, radio and allies control both houses the 20th century, prompt- thousands of religious as- traveler."
newspapers, relax regula- of Mexico's Congress, and ing a civil war known as the sociations in our country But López Obrador's com-
tions on church ownership without the president's sup- "Cristiada." can help Mexico become ments Monday reflect the
of property, provide for co- port, it's hard to imagine Many of the tougher anti- a country where we all live political inviability of the
operation between church the bill winning approval. clerical laws have been better-off," Luévano wrote. proposal after criticism
and state on cultural and The Mexican state long had eased in modern times, She described her faith as came from across the po-
social development and an antagonistic relationship particularly around the "Guadalupana" — that is, litical and religious spec-
allow "conscientious ob- with the Roman Catholic 1979 visit of Pope John Paul as a devotee of the Virgin trum, including both Cath-
jections" to law on religious Church. Nineteenth-cen- II, but separation of church of Guadalupe, who is the olics and the non-religious,
grounds. tury reforms championed and state remains firmly en- Roman Catholic patroness Chesnut added: "The lay
It would let ecclesiasti- by López Obrador's hero trenched as a core political of Mexico but also reso- state in Mexico almost has
cal authorities do spiritual Benito Juarez reigned in re- concept. nates with millions of non- a kind of sacred status."q

Puerto Rico heading into showdown over US ban on cockfights

By DANICA COTO cheered the news as some ting on them have been
Associated Press met with Gov. Wanda "part of our culture and
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Vázquez, who announced folklore ever since their in-
(AP) — Puerto Rico de- Monday that she plans troduction to Puerto Rico
fied the U.S. government to run in the island's 2020 in the 17th century."
by adopting a law on general elections. Puerto Rico has 71 cock-
Wednesday to keep cock- "There's going to be work!" fighting establishments in
fighting alive, seeking to exclaimed Domingo Ruiz, 45 municipalities licensed
protect a 400-year-old tra- who owns more than 30 by the island's Department
dition on the island despite cocks and has spent more of Sports and Recreation,
a federal ban that goes than half a century in the said Secretary Adriana
into effect this week. business. "We're going to Sánchez. She defended
Those in the cockfight- keep the fight alive." the cockfighting tradition
ing business cautiously Cockfighting generates and contended the U.S.
rejoiced amid concerns Governor Wanda Vazquez signs a bill into law in favor of an estimated $18 million government banned fights
over the U.S. territory try- cockfighting, despite a federal ban that goes into effect this a year and employs some for economic and not ani-
ing to sidestep a federal week, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. 27,000 people, according mal welfare reasons.
Associated Press
law that President Donald to the bill approved by Sánchez said a ban would
Trump signed a year ago. Aguiló, who co-authored Rodríguez said he expect- Puerto Rico's House and just drive the fights under-
"We are certainly chal- the bill, told The Associat- ed the fight to end up in Senate. The island's legisla- ground on an island mired
lenging a federal law. We ed Press late Tuesday be- federal court. tors had bristled at Trump's in a 13-year recession and
know what that implies," fore the announcement As word spread, those in move, noting in their bill still struggling to recover
Rep. Gabriel Rodríguez was made public. the cockfighting industry that cockfights and bet- from Hurricane Maria.q