A Mexican lawmaker from the ruling party said that organized crime, not elected officials, controls much of the country, warning that Mexico is “far from being a holy nation.”
Speaking at a Christian conference on the topic of “Kings and Priests, or Kings or Priests, or Neither Kings nor Priests,” Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes — an evangelical politician and deputy with the ruling MORENA party — told a large audience that “70% of Mexico is governed by drug cartels.”
“Let’s not deceive ourselves — organized crime appoints mayors,” Flores said during the event held at Centro Familiar Cristiano church. “In the beginning, organized crime financed political campaigns; later, they began appointing rulers; and now, they are the rulers.”
Flores, a lawyer with a Ph.D. in Legal Sciences from Harvard University, described Mexico’s political order as an “inverted power pyramid” and argued that the country’s moral decay has spiritual roots. “If a spiritual government does not rise in this nation, a civil government will not rise either,” he said. “We are not seeing the fruits of Christians.”
His comments came amid continued violence and insecurity across Mexico, where drug cartels control large areas despite ongoing government crackdowns. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration reported major anti-narcotics operations that included large drug seizures, the dismantling of hundreds of clandestine laboratories, and thousands of arrests for high-impact crimes.
Still, security analysts say homicides and disappearances remain high, with several states described as “war zones.” Earlier this year, the U.S. government designated several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. President Donald Trump later notified Congress that the United States was in an “active armed conflict” with the cartels.
Flores Cervantes’ remarks drew attention partly because of his political affiliation. The MORENA party, led by Sheinbaum, has often downplayed Mexico’s crime rates. Flores has also been criticized for openly expressing his Christian faith in political settings.
In April, he held a press conference inside the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro to promote the “March for Jesus” in Mexico City, standing alongside pastors and church members. Critics accused him of breaching the country’s secular principles.
Flores defended his actions, saying his participation was protected by constitutional rights to free expression and religious belief. “Respecting secularism does not mean being anti-religious,” he told reporters at the time.
Flores, known among evangelicals as the founder of the now-defunct Social Encounter Party (PES), lamented during his recent lecture that believers have failed to influence society. “We are neither kings nor priests, because if we truly had that identity, we would be influencing and governing,” he said tearfully.
Rejecting the idea of a single political savior, he added, “That leader will not exist. What I hope is that this society will turn to my Lord and become a holy nation.”
He concluded his message by warning that Mexico’s leaders are turning toward “darkness.” “Something is wrong with the spirituality of our rulers,” Flores said. “The kingdom of darkness is in this nation because our leaders are invoking deities they should not be invoking.”
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.
