Catholic bishops in Mexico say they negotiated for possible peace accord with drug cartel leaders

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Roman Catholic bishop in Mexico says he and three other bishops met with drug cartel bosses in a bid to negotiate a possible peace accord in the violent southern state of Guerrero. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday he approved of such talks. López Obrador said it wasn’t the first time church leaders had held such talks, and that they have done so before in the neighboring state of Michoacan and in other states. The bishop said the talks failed, because the cartels and drug gangs didn’t want to stop fighting for territory in Guerrero. Those turf battles have shut down transportation and led to dozens of killings in recent months.