Governor Drains Govt Money for Pope Visit Ricardo Castillo - The News
go to original March 20, 2012

Guanajuato Governor keeps ‘investing’ in the visit of Pope Benedict XVI

GUANAJUATO – The excessive expenditures by “ultra-Catholic” Guanajuato state Governor Juan Manuel Oliva to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on Friday are being questioned by friends and foes alike.

Thus far, expenditures, according to Guanajuato government sources, have reached 138 million pesos. The construction of the ceremony facilities alone at the 1.5-billion-peso white elephant Bicentennial Park in Silao cost 75 million pesos, according to Guanajuato Public Works secretary Martín Malagón.

José Guadalupe Sánchez of the Center for Ecumenical Studies says that, as hosts, the federal and state governments have to spend all that’s necessary to welcome the Pope. However, later activities correspond to the Catholic Church, and there is no reason for governments to support religious activities.

Gov. Oliva allotted 35 million pesos for crowd security, including health and water services, and civil protection.

The state government has also revamped the places where Pope Benedict will spend time, such as the House of Count Rul in Guanajuato City, where the Pope will meet with President Felipe Calderón.

The Municipality of León has allotted 14 million pesos for parking facilities expansion, the placing of public toilet facilities, as well as revamping green areas to make this lovely and clean industrial city look better. The Municipality of Silao paid 5 million pesos to fix the lighting system on Cubilete Hill, where a giant image of Christ with open arms stands.

The state of Guanajuato, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Policies (Coneval), is one of the nation’s seven poorest states that together have 64 percent of the new poor in Mexico. León, according to the government agency, is the fourth poorest state, with a total of 600,145 disadvantaged, as the 2010 census data has shown.

Labor Party deputy Porfirio Muñoz Ledo sees politics behind President Calderón’s and Juan Manuel Oliva’s “political investment” in the Pope’s visit. “They are converting the Pope’s visit into an election campaign,” he said. “Calderón’s excesses are already too much, including taking public communion,” says Muñoz Ledo, a former Guanajuato state candidate for governor.

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!